David Murray Quartet feat. Francesca Cinelli

For half a century, the quartet has been a cornerstone of saxophonist David Murray’s extraordinary career. He was, after all, a co-founder of the pioneering World Saxophone Quartet, but the four-pieces under his own name offer an astounding who’s who of jazz—Lester Bowie, James Blood Ulmer, Ed Blackwell, Sunny Murray, and Fred Hopkins, just to name a few. Capable of shifting between a velveteen purr and a colossal roar, Murray’s saxophone has been the centerpiece of all those bands. In 2024, on the eve of his 70th birthday, Murray debuted a new quartet of fantastic young players, including pianist Marta Sanchez, bassist Luke Stewart, and drummer Russell Carter. That quartet’s wonderful and lauded debut, Francesca, led to Murray’s first deal with Impulse! and a 2025 follow-up, Birdly Serenade, with an unexpected twist: Its eight tunes are based on birdsong.

When Murray’s wife, the writer and fashion designer Francesca Cinelli, was invited to a writing retreat in the Adirondacks, he opted to accompany her, leaving their home near Central Park. But before they left, the producer Randall Poster showed the couple his enormous 2022 project, For the Birds, a musical compendium where stars cut a track inspired by nature’s best melody makers. Poster asked them to create their own sequel. They both got to work in the Adirondacks, with Cinelli writing poems about birds that prompted Murray to respond with his own pieces. A charismatic entertainer with a background in acting, Cinelli even shows up on one of the tracks, “Oiseau du paradis.” Cinelli, also an expressive and playful singer, has since performed with Murray’s quartet multiple times, from the Blue Note in Milan to festivals in Spain. She joins a new version of Murray’s quartet—bassist Dezron Douglas, drummer Chris Beck, and pianist George Burton—at Big Ears 2027.