Few people realize how influential Mark Murphy has been to today’s most popular singers such as Kurt Elling. His sense of freedom within the groove has been a paradigm shifter for male vocalists since these early classic sessions first came out. Last year, Fresh Sound released his complete collection of Decca recordings; now they move forward a few years on this 2 cd set of 3 albums and a few scattered singles.
The first album, Playing the Field, still has Murphy in a more conventional atmosphere with an orchestra conducted and arranged by no less than Bill Holman and including gents like Bill Perkins/ts, Jimmy Rowles/p and Shelly Manne/dr. A few trio dates have Murphy regaling in “But Not For Me” while the big band sessions including a punchy “Playing the Field.” Excellent commercial music, and even within that framework Murphy displays his nascent talents by doing things like holding the last note on “Put the Blame on Mame” about 15 seconds longer than you think is possible, doing dynamic calisthenics on “Swinging on a Star” and playing harmonic games on “As Long as I Live.” Still, nothing prepares you for the next stratospheric leaping forward session session, RAH, from 1961 where Ernie Wilkins leads a band with Clark Terry, Blue Mitchell, Jimmy Cobb and Wynton Kelly through smoking takes of “Twisted,” “Milestones,” and “Doodlin” that snap and sizzle like sizzling hot and sour soup. Even better, the haunting reads of “Angel Eyes” and “Li’l Darlin” will make you run under the blankets for protection. WHEW!
The next year had Al Cohn leading an orchestra that included Jim Hall/g, Dick Hyman/key, Roger Kellaway/p and Clark Terry/tp and some wonderfully bluesy tunes such as “Going to Chicago Blues” (which has some BBQ flavored organ by Bernie Leighton) and “Blues in the Night” while Murphy still delivers a few surprises with a hotly hip take of Horace Silver’s “Senor Blues” with a sizzling bass, as well as a fun loving “Everybody’s Crazy ‘Bout the Doggone Blues.” Of course, Murphy’s signature stamp is all over this material making even this staple of material evoke a rainbow of colors. The singles from the same year sound like something that tried to be the soundtrack to Town Without Pity, but do include a wonderfully dramatic “Fly Me to the Moon” as well as a latiny “Why Don’t You Do Right” showing that jazz vocals can have commercial as well as artistic appeal. Anyone around these days that can make that claim?
Fresh Sound Records