We Got By

Dave McMurray and Kem. Photo: Blue Note

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“You bring the beans girl, I will find some wine”

Dave McMurray and Kem release delicious, massively laidback, cover of Al Jarreau’s We Got By

Veteran saxophonist Dave McMurray – check him out with Don Was and the Pan Detroit Ensemble recently reviewed on marlbank – has released a new single, ‘We Got By’, featuring vocalist Kem, ahead of his forthcoming album on Blue Note Records. The track, a cover of the 1975 Al Jarreau classic, marks the culmination of a 30-year musical connection between the two Detroit-based artists.

LORD KNOWS WE GOT BY: The supremely smoochy song has also been interpreted in a smooth jazz treatment by Chris Walker feat. Will Downing & Dave Caceres on their We’re in This Love Together – Celebrating Al Jarreau (2019) album

The single is the first release from McMurray’s new album, I Love Life Even When I’m Hurting, which is to be issued on 14 November. The album’s title and theme of resilience were inspired by a conversation McMurray had about the passing of a friend. He commented on the importance of affirming life “even when I’m hurting.”

Remember the TV private eye show Moonlighting that many of us were all completely bewitched by in the 1980s? Well, Jarreau performed the title theme. I heard him live back then no but oh quite a bit later at a mind blowing outdoors festival at Ally Pally called Jazz on a Summer’s Day in 1993 on a formidable bill that included Courtney Pine, Bheki Mseleku who I interviewed backstage and Brecker Brothers.

The album features nine tracks, with six written by McMurray. It was recorded at Rustbelt Studios in Royal Oak, Michigan, and co-produced by McMurray and his long-time collaborator Don Was. The project sports a tasty lineup of Detroit musicians, including Was and Ibrahim Jones on bass, Luis Resto and Maurice O’Neal on keyboards, Wayne Gerard on guitar, Jeff Canady on drums, Mahindi Masai on percussion, and Herschel Boone on vocals. Kem (aka Kim Lamont Owens) like Dave hails from the Motor City.

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