David Murray

Live At Sweet Basil, Vol. 1 is the first record of the David Murray Big Band, taped over three nights at Sweet Basil in New York in August 1984 and released by Black Saint the following year. Murray wrote and arranged all four pieces, and the band was conducted by Butch Morris. Twelve musicians are credited. Tom Hull, in his 2020 guide to Murray's records, names this album as the start of the saxophonist's big band work, which continued in the 1990s with Morris on DIW.

The recordings were made on August 24, 25 and 26, 1984, with Kazunori Sugiyama as engineer, Murray producing and Giovanni Bonandrini as executive producer. Murray plays tenor saxophone and bass clarinet. The reeds include Steve Coleman on alto and soprano saxophone and John Purcell, and the brass trombonist Craig Harris, cornetist Olu Dara, trumpeter Baikida Carroll, Vincent Chancey on French horn and Bob Stewart on tuba. The rhythm section is pianist Rod Williams, bassist Fred Hopkins and drummer Billy Higgins. Lovers opens at just over eight minutes. Bechet's Bounce runs twelve minutes. Silence is the shortest at under six minutes, and Duet For Big Band, at sixteen, closes the record.

Black Saint CD 120085-2 of the album first released on LP in 1985 as BSR 0085; Discogs lists CD pressings with this barcode as reissues.