Saxophonist David Murray returns to the New York jazz scene in a new role

From the 1970s through the ’90s, David Murray was a titan of New York’s downtown culture. He was a brilliant jazz saxophonist who crossed social and stylistic borders, and a composer who collaborated with poets, writers and photographers, feeding the era's interdisciplinary energy.

In the late ’90s, Murray followed his heart — and a more global music-minded outlook — to Paris, where he spent two decades working with musicians from the Caribbean and Francophone West Africa.

Now, having returned to New York City, the 67-year-old Murray is regaining vitality as a jazz elder — a quality and status he's revealing this week at the Village Vanguard with a quartet of great young musicians.