eMusic Brings Jazz Great David Murray's Catalogue To Light

NEW YORK, March 27, 2006 -- eMusic, the world’s largest retailer of independent music — and the world’s second-largest digital music service after iTunes — announced today that 26 rare and out-of-print recordings by influential jazz musician David Murray are now available for the first time digitally and exclusively on eMusic for three months.

David Murray, tenor saxophone and bass clarinet player, began his recording career more than 30 years ago, releasing more than 100 albums that have earned him countless awards including a Grammy (1989); a Guggenheim Fellowship (1989); and the Bird Award (1986) among others. Murray’s family recently secured the digital distribution rights to his master recordings on DIW, the Japanese jazz label Murray recorded for in the late 80’s and early 90’s. The 26 releases span an eleven-year period and have previously been unavailable, out of print, or simply very hard to find in both the U.S. and the E.U.

“eMusic excels at promoting and contextualizing music like David Murray’s with expert editorial and reviews, and at reaching sophisticated jazz consumers, who make jazz one of our top-selling genres,” said Rob Wetstone, eMusic Vice President of Label Relations. “Murray has been a favorite of eMusic’s jazz fans and we know they’ll be excited to hear these new titles which haven’t been available previously in the U.S. or Europe.”

In 1980, Murray was declared Artist of the Decade by the Village Voice, and in their 2006 guide to Murray’s music, seven of the DIW titles were highlighted, including; Sketches of Tokyo, Deep River, Shakill’s Warrior, Real Deal, Ballads for Bass Clarinet, and The Long Goodbye.

These highly sought after recordings demonstrate why Murray has become one of the most influential and highly regarded free jazz artists around the world. Each recording on eMusic will be accompanied by detailed notes from eMusic jazz columnist and National Public Radio contributor Kevin Whitehead.

“David Murray is one the most important (and fun to listen to) tenor saxophonists of the last 30 years,” said Whitehead. “He has made many fine records, owing to quality of his robust sound, the range of his influences from the swing era to the avant-garde, and the array of settings he records in, from duos to quartets, octet to big band.”

David Murray titles now available as MP3 downloads on eMusic are as follows:

1986: David Murray, N.Y.C. 1986
1985: John Hicks/David Murray, Sketches of Tokyo
1986: David Murray & Jack DeJohnette, In Our Style
1988: David Murray, Deep River
1988: David Murray, Ballads
1988: David Murray, Lovers
1988: David Murray, Spirituals
1990: David Murray, Special Quartet
1990: David Murray Quintet, Remembrances
1991: David Murray, Shakill's Warrior
1991: David Murray Big Band, David Murray Big Band
1991: David Murray Quartet +1, Fast Life
1991: David Murray Quartet, Death of A Sideman
1991: David Murray & Milford Graves, Real Deal 1992: David Murray Octet, Picasso
1991: David Murray, Ballads For Bass Clarinet
1993: David Murray Quartet,Tenors
1994: David Murray Quartet,Shakill's II
1994: David Murray, The Tip
1994: David Murray, Jug-A-Lug
1992: David Murray Big Band, South of the Border
1993: David Murray Quartet, For Aunt Louise
1991: David Murray/James Newton Quintet, David Murray/James Newton Quintet
1994: David Murray Quintet, with Ray Anderson and Anthony Davis
1996: David Murray, Love and Sorrow
1996: David Murray, Long Goodbye: A Tribute to Don Pullen

About eMusic
eMusic (http://www.emusic.com) is a specialty digital entertainment retailer that has been at the forefront of offering MP3 downloads and customer-friendly prices since its inception in 1998. The company is focused on serving customers aged 25 and older by offering independent music and audio books in a universally compatible format at a great value. It is the world’s largest retailer of independent music and the world’s second-largest digital music service after iTunes, with more than 3.5 million tracks from 27,000 of the world’s leading independent labels and thousands of titles from top audio book publishers. To super-serve its more than 400,000 customers, eMusic provides award-winning editorial content, a vibrant online community and unrivaled music discovery tools. eMusic’s subscription-based service offers free music downloads or one free audio book at sign-up, giving consumers an inexpensive, low-risk way to explore great new music and books they wouldn’t find otherwise. Based in New York with an office in London, eMusic is available in the U.S. and all 27 E.U. nations. eMusic.com Inc. is wholly owned by Dimensional Associates, Inc., the private equity arm of JDS Capital Management, Inc.

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Media Contacts: Cathy Halgas Nevins eMusic 212-201-9201 or cnevins@emusic.com Denise Yantin eMusic 212-300-2885 or dyantin@emusic.com Amy Welch Charm School PR for eMusic 718-852-6463 or amy@charmschoolpr.com