If compositions titled after his current wife and his son are any indication, then the great tenor saxophonist David Murray, 69, is in a pretty sweet space these days. Leading an impeccably attuned quartet that hit a Swiss studio immediately following a tour, Murray blows as powerfully and lucidly as ever on Francesca (Intakt), his 100-and-somethingth release. Sentimental? Perhaps. But you won’t find a teaspoon of schmaltz over the course of an album that toys with balladry while also offering plenty of space for heady interventions by piano goddess Marta Sanchez. Bassist Luke Stewart buoys Murray’s vaunted sax muscularity, which is punctuated by bass clarinet vehicles such as “Richard’s Tune” by Don Pullen, an homage to another paterfamilias—A.A.C.M. founder Muhal Richard Abrams.