I Stepped Onto a Bee

I Stepped Onto a Bee
Studio album by
Sunny Murray, John Edwards, and Tony Bevan
Released2011
RecordedAugust 19, 2010
StudioEastcote Studio, London
GenreFree jazz
LabelFoghorn Records
FGCD014
Sunny Murray chronology
Sonic Liberation Front Meets Sunny Murray
(2010) 		I Stepped Onto a Bee
(2011) 		Boom Boom Cat
(2011)

I Stepped Onto a Bee is an album by American drummer Sunny Murray, bassist John Edwards, and saxophonist Tony Bevan. It was recorded in August 2010 at Eastcote Studio in London, and was released in 2011 by Foghorn Records.[1][2][3]

Reception

In a review for The Wire, Andy Hamilton wrote: "The shorter tracks here bring a focus to the trio's surprisingly spry interplay as a dynamic working group... [Murray's] famous banshee wail may have been replaced by a low grumble, but when the cymbals start to churn and seethe, he's still capable of creating his own weather system."[4]

Ken Waxman of Jazz Word stated: "the wit of the proceedings, coupled with the intensity in Bevan's playing, brings to mind some of [Sonny] Rollins' mid-century sax-bass-drum milestones like Way Out West... the balance among the three never shifts. It may be Murray who slows down the tempo to medium, or Edwards whose plucks stabilize it, but overall the results are concurrently impressionistically emphasized and steely inventive."[5]

Stewart Lee commented: "Bevan and Edwards are in uncharacteristically bluesalicious mode here. Having spent a lifetime dodging melodies in search of transcendence, they circumnavigate the carvery to load up on fat licks. Murray kicks against walking bass and ecstatic solos, and sonic screwdrivers the cymbals, delivering a joint high."[6]

Track listing

All compositions by Sunny Murray, John Edwards, and Tony Bevan.

  1. "Part I" – 9:04
  2. "Part II" – 7:29
  3. "Part III" – 6:16
  4. "Part IV" – 5:28
  5. "Part V" – 4:16
  6. "Part VI" – 9:20

Personnel

  • Sunny Murray – drums
  • Tony Bevan – tenor saxophone
  • John Edwards – double bass

References

  1. ^ "Sunny Murray: I Stepped Onto a Bee". Jazz Music Archives. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
  2. ^ "Foghorn Records FGCD014 I stepped onto a bee". EFI. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
  3. ^ "I Stepped Onto A Bee". Bandcamp. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
  4. ^ Hamilton, Andy (June 2011). "Modern Composition". The Wire. No. 328. p. 61.
  5. ^ Waxman, Ken (December 25, 2011). "Tony Bevan / John Edwards / Sunny Murray". Jazz Word. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
  6. ^ Lee, Stewart (June 11, 2011). "Sunny Murray, John Edwards, and Tony Bevan - I Stepped Onto a Bee". StewartLee.co.uk. Retrieved December 28, 2022.