Mark Murphy (singer)
Mark Howe Murphy ( born March 14, 1932 in Syracuse, New York) is an American jazz singer. After Reclams Jazz Encyclopedia, he is one of the most popular jazz singers ever. He is regarded as the Woody Herman of vocalists, too fascinated by interesting currents to be confined to a single, in-house sound ". [ Friedwald 1]
Life and work
Mark Murphy was born in upstate New York where he sang at high school in the dance band of his brother and various local bands. After he was discovered after completion of the school in the early 1950s by Sammy Davis Jr. and invited in the TV show, led the recommendation of Tony Scott to Nat Hentoff, who gave it to Milt Gabler. So he published first by Decca Singles and 1956 his first album Meet Mark Murphy, in which he was accompanied by Ralph Burns Orchestra; it was followed by the album Let Yourself Go -Dann Murphy moved to Capitol; the productions of this label were aligned on hits on the pop market, but have not been commercially successful.
Among his important early LPs are the two Riverside albums Rah! with the orchestra by Ernie Wilkins, which was dedicated to bebop classics, and That's How I Love the Blues with Tin Pan Alley songs and blues arrangements by Al Cohn. This includes references to Murphy's big band blues à la Count Basie and the Kansas City Jazz, New York traditions of Benny Carter and Benny Goodman or the Chicago Jazz by Earl Hines and Billy Eckstine and even older material by Joe Turner and Pete Johnson, but also by Horace Silver. [ Friedwald 2]
In 1963 he had his version of " Fly Me to the Moon," a hit in the U.S. charts. In the following years he gained popularity in Europe and was almost more of a presence in the U.S. market. Between 1973 and 1986, Murphy recorded fourteen albums for the label Muse Records, such as with the Brecker Brothers classics of modern jazz as Naima or Red Clay; He also sang an album with the songs of Nat King Cole. During this time he became one of the leading jazz vocalists, the author Will Friedwald considers " his career exploring all genres [ dedicated ], which was known in jazz. So he experimented by he incorporated between songs seamlessly into the music stories and sayings and singing combined with text recitations and poetics. One of his most popular works is the muse album Bop For Kerouac, on which he set to music poems by Jack Kerouac. " Murphy changed the techniques, like other singers to change the songs; often he joins them together like the pieces of a medley. (...) In his way, there is not a trace of stuffiness or pretense; he takes rather pretend to be one of the most exciting jazz -influenced artist and has success with it by mastering the subtleties and nuances of infinite diffizilen jazz. " [ Friedwald 3]
Emerged in the 1980s, some albums for Milestone, where he was accompanied among others by Claudio Roditi and Art Farmer. In the 1990s he worked with Ack van Rooyen and Jack van Poll. As of 1999, followed by a series of albums for High Note Records. In 2005 he published the ballad album Once to Every Heart, which was created in collaboration with the German jazz trumpeter Till Bronner. Followed in 2007 with the album Love Is What Stays further cooperation with Bronner.
Murphy also sings in style of vocalese jazz solos by musicians after which he frequently but provides you with Scat with clever own texts, and second, his personal style improvisation extends not only to the melody but also the lyrics.
Awards
Murphy won the Downbeat Leserpoll as the best jazz singers in the years 1996, 1997, 2000 and 2001; he was still nominated six times ( incl. Stand 2005) for the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal
Disco Graphical Notes
- This Could Be The Start Of Something ( 1958, Fenn Music 2010 as 2in1 CD with Hip Parade ) with Bill Holman
- Hip Parade ( 1959) with Bill Holman
- Rah! ( Riverside Records, 1961) with the Ernie Wilkins Orchestra
- That's How I Love the Blues ( Riverside, 1962) with Clark Terry, Snooky Young, Roger Kellaway, Jim Hall
- Midnight Mood (1967, 1970, MPS - Most Perfect Sound Edition, 2005)
- Bop for Kerouac ( Muse Records, 1981)
- September Ballads ( Milestone Records, 1988) with Art Farmer, Oscar Castro- Neves
- Another Vision ( September Records, 1992) with Ack van Rooyen
- Some Time Ago (High Note Records, 2000) with Dave Ballou, Steve LaSpina, Winard Harper
- Once to Every Heart ( Verve Music Group, 2005)
- A Beautiful Friendship: Remembering Shirley Horn ( Gearbox Records, 2013), with Alex Minasian, Curtis Lundy, Steve Williams, Till Bronner