Spud Murphy

Lyle " Spud " Murphy ( born August 19, 1908 in Berlin, Germany as Miko Stephanovic; † August 5, 2005 in Los Angeles ) was an American multi-instrumentalist and bandleader of the early jazz and film composer. In particular, as an arranger and songwriter, he played a role in the development of big band sounds of the swing era.

Life and work

Spud Murphy comes from a Serbian immigrant family, was four years old with his mother in the United States and grew up in a Mormon family related in Salt Lake City, Utah. He took on the name of a childhood friend, first learned Althorn the father of Red Nichols, then clarinet and saxophone. At age fourteen he had to eke out his life as a musician and was with groups like Rainbow Seven and Jeff's Hot Rocks go. 1927/1928 he played with Jimmy Joy, 1928 at Ross Gorman and Slim Lamar ( oboist ). In the early 1930s he worked as a saxophonist and arranger for Austin Wylie Jan Garber, Mal Hallett and Joe Haymes, finally for Benny Goodman ( 1935-1937 ). During this time he also provided arrangements and songs for the Casa Loma Orchestra, Isham Jones, Les Brown, Fletcher Henderson, Bob Crosby and many other musicians.

From 1937 to 1940 Murphy led his own big band and took 1938/1939 on Decca and Bluebird Records. In the 1940s, he lived in Los Angeles where he worked in the film studios and participated in numerous film scores, and he also taught ( System of Horizontal Composition ). In the 1950s he recorded two jazz-oriented albums and had a short combo that dealt with music of the Third Stream; his later career focused on classical and film music. He has authored 26 books, including about his own system of composition (Equal Interval System), which was studied by Oscar Peterson, Bennie Green, Herbie Hancock, Gerry Wiggins, Buddy Collette and Quincy Jones. In 2003, his friend, the conductor Dean Mora, a number of older arrangements Murphys on a tribute album ( Goblin Market ). Murphy died in Los Angeles, two weeks before his 97th birthday. He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park ( Glendale ).

Discography

  • New Orbits in Sound (GNP Crescendo Records, 1955-1957 )
  • Gone with the Woodwinds ( Contemporary Records, 1955)
742835
de