Contemplative, Playful, and Eclectic: Mike Murray Finds His Sound on PJCE Records with March of the Gene Keys.

PJCE Records, Portland's most active jazz record label, is proud to announce the upcoming release of March of the Gene Keys, a contemplative guitar trio album with delicate beauty by Mike Murray. This captivating album marks the end of an extensive search by Murray to find musicians that fully embrace his vision - a vision that brings a wide range of influences and approaches to improvised music that result in a collection of works that are dynamic, playful and evocative. Shawn Wang (bass) and PJCE Records stablemate Chris Lee (drums) certainly share Murray’s vision and provide the constant interplay and sensitivity that his music demands. From the shifting meters of “The Sacred Now” and “Cluster Cuss” to the harmonic density of “Fuss with Russ” (dedicated to mentor George Russell), to the noise influenced opening of the title track, to the Arnold Schoenberg meets Charles Mingus feel of “HUS Blues” or the lyricism of “Here and There” this music covers a lot of territory. Four of the tracks feature the acoustic guitar (both nylon and steel string) giving the music a wide color palette for this format. The record is largely inspired by a book called The Gene Keys by Richard Rudd which takes a deep dive into the journey of self discovery.