Speaking in Tongues

David Murray grew up in a Pentecostal family, so this 1999 album of hymns and gospel songs, with Fontella Bass on lead vocals, makes sense. The band features trumpeter Hugh Ragin (whose solos might be more thrilling than Murray’s), guitarist Stanley Franks, keyboardist Jimane Nelson, funk bassist Clarence “Pookie” Jenkins, drummer Ranzell Merritt and percussionist Leopoldo Fleming. The opening version of “How I Got Over” will have the congregation on its feet, and much of the rest of the album is traditional and equally well-known material like “Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Seen,” “A Closer Walk With Thee,” and of course “Amazing Grace,” which Murray plays on bass clarinet.