If you’ve been listening to WRTI for the last month or two, you’ve probably heard saxophonist Dave McMurray’s most recent Blue Note Records release, I LOVE LIFE even when I’m hurting. At times funky, at other times poignant, McMurray’s late 2025 album has been one of our favorites on the air.
McMurray’s previous two albums are Grateful Deadication and Grateful Deadication 2, jazz tributes to the Grateful Dead, the pioneering band that lost a founding member, guitarist Bob Weir, last week. In the wake of that news, and just prior to McMurray’s show with Don Was and the Pan-Detroit Ensemble at Ardmore Music Hall, we had the following email exchange.
Julian Booker: The title of the new record, as I understand it, was born out of the death of a friend and your focus on finding beauty and positivity even in the darkest of times. In this opening track, “This Life,” you state “It’s my duty to live, it’s my pleasure to love.” To me, that feels particularly important in a time where there is so much chaos and brutality hanging over our society. Can you talk about how the spirit of the album title impacted this record, especially the six original songs it features?
Dave McMurray: “This Life” was actually the last song I wrote. It encapsulates the whole record. This is a very tense time in the U.S. and the rest of the world. When I wrote the poem I was initially thinking about physical traumas. But fear and anguish in society is becoming commonplace today. I wanted to offer something positive & uplifting. Sometimes we have to find something to live for. We all need some positive reinforcement. I do understand life can be rough. Pain is a powerful deterrent to life, but a little kindness & compassion goes a long way. It’s great to receive it and to give it. You’ve got to “Find Your Peace” in this turmoil. Despite the current situation, there is great joy in Life. We have to tap our inner strength to survive. A stranger’s smile can be powerful.
The first song I wrote was “Just A Thought,” which I wrote for my wife and daughter. The next song was “The Jungaleers” for my high school, Southeastern. That was the mascot name. I’m from the east side of Detroit, a lower/middle class neighborhood of Black working families. Society wasn’t giving us students a lot of hope. I actually received a scholarship to Cranbrook, a prep school, for my last 2 years, but I retained my relations with Southeastern and my friends. Lately I’ve been running into old friends from Southeastern and of course, they all turned out great! Business owners, workers with great jobs being productive members of society. I knew I had to write a song about their resilience. The song has a driving Afrobeat with a lot of energy. I imagined strength, pride, and defiance. Every song on the album has an aspect of Detroit with positivity.
As you just mentioned, the album is also inspired by your hometown of Detroit. Knowing the musical history of the city, but very much coming from an outsider’s perspective, I’ve long felt a kinship between cities like Philadelphia and Detroit, places that have a deep importance in the history of the United States and whose residents have a fierce pride about their community, but are often misunderstood by others. Would you elaborate on your feelings about Detroit and how your life-long experiences there helped shape the new album?
There is definitely a kinship between Detroit and Philadelphia. These are two urban cities with personalities and strong pride. Music is powerful and important to the city. People from Detroit remain Detroiters, even if they have moved to another city…especially musicians. It remains a part of them. Philadelphians seem to have the same attitude. The pride, the love, the knowledge, the competition all make for great musicians and great people. Sometimes that’s hard to understand, looking at the city’s finances. But that has nothing to do with love of the people and general makeup of the city.
Detroit has been in the forefront of every type of music. Growing up I tried to immerse myself in all genres of music. I would turn on the radio, turn the dial, and play to every song, no matter the genre. I love all types of music. This technique has served me well in my session playing through the years.
On I LOVE LIFE even when I’m hurting, you include a recording of Yusef Lateef’s “The Plum Blossom.” In some ways, your arrangement stays true to Lateef’s classic Eastern Sounds version, but I find that it also plays with the rhythm to add an overtone of funk and psychedelia to the song, which not only works really well for the composition, but as a throughline for the new record as a whole. How has Yusef Lateef’s work influenced you throughout the years and what drew you to “The Plum Blossom,” in particular, to be featured on this album?
I am a big Yusef Lateef fan. He was a great multi-instrumentalist that always pushed the boundaries of composition and sound. That influenced me to play different woodwind instruments. He also was a proud Detroiter that always kept his roots in the forefront. He embraced Eastern sounds, gospel, funk and soul. I saw him once and it stayed with me my whole life. I always loved his flute compositions, so I knew I would include one on my album. “The Plum Blossom” lent itself to the funky/psychedelic flavor of the album. I wanted people to groove and hopefully get lost in the music.
You choose to include “The Wheel” as the album’s closing track; it was also the closing track on Jerry Garcia’s fantastic 1972 record, Garcia. Of course, this wasn’t your first time approaching the music of the Dead, as you released two wonderful collections of Grateful Dead interpretations in 2021 and 2023. How did you initially come to the music of the Dead and what led you to decide to record these records?
Initially I didn’t know a lot about the Grateful Dead. It was always intriguing to me that people loved the music so much that they would travel with the band to get the whole experience. Don Was actually introduced me to their music. I was also intrigued with Ornette, Branford, and Clarence Clemons playing with them. But, I didn’t really get it. With a lot of listening, a light bulb finally went off in my head. I realized they were having group improvisations, not unlike Weather Report. I started looking at all the YouTube videos of them and immersed myself in their music. The first song I recorded was “Dark Star.” Learning that song was a lesson in itself. I listened to many versions of the song. After recording it, I felt the magic. I knew I could fit into the music. I listened to the catalog everyday to feel the next song that spoke to me. Pretty soon, I had a whole album done. Their catalog is so vast that I still had songs I wanted to do, so I did Grateful Deadication 2. It’s definitely been a wild ride into Dead culture. I was lucky enough to play at Terrapin Crossroads, before it closed. I loved the audience. I’m very grateful that they have accepted me into their world.
For many Grateful Dead enthusiasts, the band’s career is largely defined by its live eras, which highlight the band’s ever-evolving and differing sounds. I’ve always been partial to ‘73-’74 and ‘77-’78, which seem to find a consistency in groove that, while certainly not absent, was not as strongly defined in other eras. Is there a period of the Dead that you find yourself gravitating towards, or an album or song(s) that repeatedly speak to you more than others?
It’s funny, I always ask people about Grateful Dead songs to record. I definitely gravitated to the ‘76-’78 period, but I love songs in every period. The melody and the groove is key for me. The melody has to be strong, so that people can recognize it without words. When I’m playing the melody I feel like I’m singing it. One of my greatest compliments was someone saying it “sounded like Jerry was singing the melody with the sax.” That is definitely my goal. I repeatedly listen to different versions to lock in. Blues for Allah is one of my favorite albums.
You had the opportunity to record with Bob Weir (on a great version of “Loser” with Bettye Lavette from the first Grateful Deadication album) and perform with him live alongside The Wolf Bros. Could you talk a bit about your experiences with him on and off stage and how those opportunities inform your relationship with the music of the Dead?
I sat in with the Wolf Bros in Detroit twice. First it was the trio. Man, it was incredible. The first song I did was “Eyes of the World.” I was just being introduced to the song. The structure of the song is very complicated, even though it’s an easy listen. It was so much fun. I was hooked! Bob reacted favorably, so I played on 2 other songs. The next time I played with the expanded group with horns & strings. I just stayed on the stage and played most of the set. I felt right at home. Hearing of him passing was definitely a big blow. I had aspirations of playing with him, possibly a tour. I’m grateful for my interactions with him. It will stay with me.
Getting Bob Weir on “Loser” was a dream. Getting Betty LaVette on the track was already exciting, but Bob Weir…whew! The Wolf Bros. were rehearsing in SF. Don Was, Jay Lane and Jeff Chimenti played on the arrangement. When Bob heard the track with Betty LaVette singing, he said “where is my track?” The next thing Don sends me a picture of Bob playing. I was ecstatic.
Again, Dave, thanks very much for taking the time to speak with WRTI!
I really appreciate the support. Philadelphia has always been one of my favorite places to play because of the rich history of the city. A special thanks to you, Julian, and WRTI!
