Although at the beginning of his career his playing style was reminiscent of Albert Ayler’s powerful phrases, twenty years later California saxophonist David Murray was already a more traditional post-bop proponent and an extremely active improviser who constantly combined his love of classic jazz with an impulse pushing him to explore further. Hamid Drake’s holistic approach to music, on the other hand, includes a spirituality taken over from Alice Coltrane, but the artist also has his own world of ideas and has assembled a fascinating global team to bring them to life. The concert crowning the 19th Jazztopad Festival will be an excellent opportunity to find out.