Fuji Rock’s jazz component is pretty solid, but the inclusion of David Murray’s Big Band this year as the final headliner on the Orange Court stage is something special. Like the Bassekou Kouyate ensemble that preceded them, they were a kind of family group. Murray, in the time-honored style, introduced each member of the 20-something-stong orchestra individually, in order to show off the group’s pedigree. But he couldn’t avoid effusion when he introduced the lead vocalist, Macy Gray, who is better known as a quirky soul singer. In fact, Murray bowed to her larger fame by playing songs she had written, and she returned the concession by covering his material.

Dressed in a red sequin evening dress and sporting a feather boa, Gray looked even more exceptional, and we’re not even including that impressive Afro. Wielding a raspy instrument, she strutted the stage to wild applause, interacting with the soloists and Murray himself, who, despite the fact that he was the boss and a formidable tenor saxophonist in his own right, deferred to her sudden impulses, which are many and frequent.

Why didn’t somebody think of this before? Gray’s charisma, combined with Murray’s big band nature, made for one of the most spontaneous shows I’ve seen, here or elsewhere. -Phil