Like a Kiss That Never Ends [Audio CD] David Murray Quartet; John Hicks; Ray Drummond and Andrew Cyrille

David Murray is such a voracious force on tenor saxophone, naming a band of his a "power quartet" is a little like naming a boar "wild." No matter what setting he is in--quartet, octet, pan-African ensemble, gospel group--he blows lights out with his blend of gutbucket classicism and squealing modernism. But Like a Kiss That Never Ends certainly does deliver his most sustained jolt of front-and-center tenor in a while. Backed by pianist and longtime bandmate John Hicks, mainstream bassist Ray Drummond, and free-jazz drummer Andrew Cyrille, Murray sinks his teeth into an engagingly varied program, including a breakneck blues and a fine-tempered ballad, an energized free-bop workout, and the Spanish-tinged title cut. The last-mentioned song, which recalls the richly melodic tours de force of the late tenorist George Adams (and his departed piano partner Don Pullen), draws complexity from layered rhythms grounded in Cyrille's brisk march patterns. An unexpected bonus is Murray's thoughtful bass clarinet rendering of "Let's Cool One," a rare excursion by this artist into the Thelonious Monk songbook. --Lloyd Sachs