Dave McMurray

Dave McMurray operates as a Detroit-rooted saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist who also composes, arranges, and directs ensembles. On saxophone, where he commands every horn spanning baritone to soprano together with flute, McMurray displays sharp melodic insight paired with a full, grounded timbre. Confidence and creativity define his approach whether he engages jazz, rock, R&B, funk, pop, or folk. International notice arrived through his longstanding role in Was (Not Was), which preceded hundreds of sideman appearances alongside Albert King, Geri Allen, Iggy Pop, Gladys Knight, and the Rolling Stones. His first project as leader, Secret Life, surfaced on Timeless Records in 1989. Warner Bros. then signed him, yielding The Dave McMurray Show in 1995. Solo activity produced his earliest club and radio success with “My Brother & Me” from the 1999 Hip Bop Records album Peace of Mind. The association with that jazz-funk label ended with the widely praised Nu-Life Stories in 2003. McMurray additionally held the position of musical director for Motor City R&B singer Kem. Blue Note subsequently became his home, issuing the well-regarded Music Is Life. The next year he assembled the multi-generational spiritual soul-jazz and funk collective Black Light Collective, which delivered its self-titled Ropeadope debut in 2020. In the year that followed, McMurray steered a roster of Detroit notables through Grateful Deadication, a funky jazz excursion across Grateful Dead repertoire. Grateful Deadication, Vol. 2 arrived in 2023.

Born and raised in Detroit, McMurray took up tenor saxophone in childhood and accumulated experience in local clubs and workshops. Recordings by John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley shaped his outlook, as did direct guidance from pianist, educator, and film actor Willie Metcalf, Jr. Early touring experience came with blues guitarist Albert King, after which he collaborated with pop, funk, and rap performers. The year 1981 highlighted his already signature range when he participated in two notable sessions: Kins, the debut by Detroit avant-jazz figures Griot Galaxy, with whom he had performed since the mid-1970s, and the self-titled Ze Records debut by Was (Not Was). The following year he joined the Was (Not Was) circle on Sweet Pea Atkinson’s Don’t Walk Away and appeared on the group’s own cult favorite Born to Laugh at Tornadoes in 1983. Session calls from jazz pianist Geri Allen and R&B vocalist Millie Scott arrived in 1986 and 1987, followed in 1988 by work on Was (Not Was)’s international hit What Up Dog?. McMurray issued his own first solo album, Secret Life, on Timeless Records in 1989, earning positive critical attention.

Throughout the 1990s the musician accumulated extensive studio and concert credits. In the decade’s first year he contributed to Bob Dylan’s Under the Red Sky, Iggy Pop’s Brick by Brick, blues artist Larry McCray’s Ambition, and Was (Not Was)’s Are You Okay?. 1993 found him on Big Chief’s Mack Avenue Skull Game and the Winans’ All Out. The Rolling Stones’ Don Was-produced Voodoo Lounge featured him in 1994, and the next year he joined the Don Was-assembled band for Brian Wilson’s I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times. McMurray rejoined Warner Bros. in 1996 for The Dave McMurray Show, on which he composed, produced, engineered, and mixed while performing on horns and keyboards and providing vocals; its sole single, “Keep On Rising,” achieved international club success.

McMurray closed the decade and the century with continued high activity. Alongside his own composing, producing, and recording he maintained ties to an eclectic roster that included Kid Rock, Gerald Alston, Ofra Haza, B-52s, B.B. King, Nancy Wilson, and Johnny Bristol. Signing with Silva Screen’s Hip Bop imprint in 1999, he released the album Peace of Mind, which yielded the international hit single “My Brother & Me.”

The new century positioned McMurray as a premier sideman. He served a decade as musical director for Kem while also appearing on projects by the Temptations, A. Spencer Barefield, and Kid Rock, and he issued Soul Searching in 2001 and Nu-Life Stories in 2003, both for Hip Bop. In 2002 he joined the ESP2 configuration alongside Adam Holzman, Bobby Broom, and others for Tribute to Miles and sustained his association with Bob James on Morning, Noon & Night and Urban Flamingo. Hip Bop released the 2005 compilation My Brother & Me: The Best of David McMurray. Additional work during this period encompassed Tim Bowman, Randy Crawford, Gene Dunlap, and Kid Rock. McMurray independently released I Know About Love via CDBaby in 2011. Two years later he played a central alto saxophone role on Geri Allen’s Grand River Crossings (Motown & Motor City Inspirations) with trumpeter Marcus Belgrave. The Love Remixes appeared as a digital-only set in 2014, spotlighting his mixing skills. 2017 brought appearances on Robert Bradley’s Down in the Bend and on French rocker Johnny Hallyday’s live album Rester Vivant, plus a Griot Galaxy reunion performance at the Detroit Festival of the Arts.

Late in 2017 McMurray joined the Blue Note roster. He participated in José James’ Lean on Me and released the full-length Music Is Life with his D3 band in April, generating club hits “Naked Walk” and “Freedom Ain’t Free.” An international tour followed, after which he formed a fresh ensemble.

Surveying the Detroit music community he had helped sustain for five decades, McMurray envisioned a unit capable of fusing the power, grit, and sophistication of the D3 jazz band with club music, hard-grooving jazz-funk, and uplifting spiritual soul and pop. He therefore established Black Light Collective together with bassist Ibrahim Jones, drummer Jeff Canady, and keyboardist Maurice O’Neal. Vocalist Isis Damil, pianist/vocalist Malik Alston, and local leaders Kenneth Gill on trombone and Allen Dennard on trumpet completed the horn section. Signing the group to Ropeadope, McMurray recorded at Detroit’s Feeder Loft with engineer Salar Ansari and longtime associates that included keyboardist Luis Resto, trumpeter Rayse Biggs, percussionist Larry Fratangelo, guitarist Adell “Showboat” Shavers, and djembe master Sowande Keita. Black Light Collective’s self-titled debut appeared in July.

Almost exactly a year later, in July 2021, McMurray returned on Blue Note with Grateful Deadication. Leading most of BLC plus guitarist Wayne Gerard, he guided listeners through ten selections from the Grateful Dead catalog in jazz arrangements. The first single, a cover of Jerry Garcia’s and Robert Hunter’s “Loser,” featured guest vocals by Bettye LaVette and Bob Weir. The album reached number 13 on the jazz albums chart.

Grateful Deadication, Vol. 2 emerged in May 2023. Once again employing his acclaimed Detroit band, McMurray enlisted country singer Jamey Johnson for lead vocals on the opening single “To Lay Me Down.” Bob James guested on “The Other One” and “If I Had the World to Give,” while Oteil Burbridge appeared on “Scarlet Begonias.”