Jackie Paris and Mark Murphy had a lot in common. Both were hip club singers with bop flexibility and a natural sense of swing. But where Paris took Charlie Parker as his inspiration, Murphy was more enamored of Miles Davis. Murphy, of course, began his recording career nearly 10 years after Paris, and while Paris had his best years at the start of his career, Murphy didn't become a household name in jazz circles until 16 years after his first album in 1956.
Today would have been Murphy's 91st birthday. He died in 2015.
I want to take you through 10 clips by Murphy before he left for London in 1963, where his career took off and he met his long-time partner, Eddie O'Sullivan. Tomorrow, I'll take you through his Muse catalog starting in 1972.
During the early years, Decca and Capitol tried to turn Murphy into a pop singer, often with mixed results. Even on straight-up fare, his jazz side was always trying to break out. By the time he recorded two albums for Riverside in 1961 and 1962, that side was given more leeway.
Here are 10 of my favorites clips during Murphy's pre-London period:
Here's Irresistible You from Meet Mark Murphy recorded in 1956 for Decca backed by an orchestra arranged and conducted by Ralph Burns...
Here's Little Jazz Bird in 1957 on Let Yourself Go for Decca, also with Ralph Burns...
Here's This Could Be the Start of Something Big from This Could Be the Start of Something for Capitol in 1958, backed by an ensemble arranged by Bill Holman: Conte Candoli and Pete Candoli (tp), Jimmy Rowles (p), Bobby Gibbons (g), Joe Mondragon (b), Mel Lewis (d) and Carlos Mejia (cga)...
Here's I Didn't Know About You from Playing the Field in 1960 for Capitol with a band arranged by Bill Holman: Conte Candoli, Ray Triscari, Stu Williamson and Al Porcino (tp); Frank Rosolino, Lew McCreary and Bob Fitzpatrick (tb); Joe Maini and Al Thomson (as); Med Flory and Bill Perkins (ts); Jack Nimitz (bar); Al Hendrickson (g); Jimmy Rowles (p); Joe Mondragon (b) and Shelly Manne (d)...
Here's Milestones from Murphy's Rah album arranged by Ernie Wilkins for Riverside in 1961 with Blue Mitchell and Clark Terry (tp); Wynton Kelly (p); Art Davis (b); Jimmy Cobb (d) and Ray Barretto (cga)...
Here's Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most in 1961 on Rah with the Ernie Wilkins Orchestra, featuring Bernie Glow, Joe Wilder and Ernie Royal (tp); Jimmy Cleveland and Urbie Green (tb); Wynton Kelly (p); Barry Galbraith (g); George Duvivier (b); Jimmy Cobb (d) and Mark Murphy (vcl) with Ernie Wilkins (arr,cond)...
Here's Li'l Darlin' from the same album, but with another incredible ensemble: Clark Terry, Joe Wilder and Ernie Royal (tp); Jimmy Cleveland and Urbie Green (tb); Wynton Kelly (p); Barry Galbraith (g); George Duvivier (b) and Jimmy Cobb (d)...
Here's Stoppin' the Clock from the same album with the same personnel, plus Ray Barretto on conga...
Here's It's Like Love and Fly Away, My Sadness, with the Al Cohn Orchestra— two sides of a Riverside bossa nova single in 1962, probably with the personnel in the next clip...
And here's Fiesta in Blue from That's How I Love the Blues! for Riverside in 1962 arranged by Al Cohn and featuring Nick Travis and Clark Terry (tp), Roger Kellaway (p), Bernie Leighton or Dick Hyman (org), Jim Hall (g), Ben Tucker (b), Dave Bailey (d) and Willie Rodriguez (cga,tamb)...
Bonus: Here's Murphy on TV’s Jazz Scene USA in 1962 singing a masterful rendition of God Bless the Child...
A special thanks to Mark Rabin.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Mark Murphy's early recordings at Fresh Sound here.
