Cy Coleman Archive

Mark Murphy – Midnight Mood

by Audiophile Audition | Feb 12, 2018 | Jazz CD Reviews

A delicious session of top flight vocal inventiveness  Mark Murphy – Midnight Mood – MPS0212419MSW 36:59**** ( Mark Murphy – vocals; Jimmy Deuchar – trumpet; Ake Persson – trombone; Derek Humble – alto saxophone; Ronnie Scott – tenor saxophone; Sahib Shihab – baritone saxophone + flute; Francy Boland – piano; Jimmy Woode – bass; Kenny Clarke – drums ) Mark Murphy died in October 2015 at the age of 83 and with him a style of hip singing that only had a few similar innovators, such as Giacomo Gates and Kurt Elling. Throughout his life, Murphy stayed true to his craft that encompassed a singular vocal style that often bent out of shape vocal lines, and threw in brief passages of vocal scatting that kept the tunes close to jazz styles.  In this re-release of the original 1967 recording, Murphy was backed by some key members of The Francy Boland-Kenny Clarke Big Band for a pleasurable session of top flight vocal inventiveness. Murphy starts out with an example of his prowess, as he laces into the Duke Ellington/Ben Webster composition “Jump For Joy” in a cappella intro that leads to a recapnition for the band, followed by his scatting for […]