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| Mark Murphy (photo credit unknown) |
Mark Murphy was born in the Syracuse, NY area in 1932. His
family appreciated and played music and their involvement lit a spark in young
Murphy who liked to sing and started piano lessons at the age of seven. He completed his college studies receiving a
degree in Arts and Drama from Syracuse University in 1953. While in Syracuse, Murphy
played at a night club called the Embassy Club where he was first discovered
when singing by actor/dancer Sammy Davis Jr. who gave the singer a connection to TV host
Steve Allen. Murphy moved to New York City in 1954 to pursue his career as both
an actor/vocalist, and Allen subsequently gave Murphy his first national appearance
on his show in 1958. Murphy claimed influences included vocalists Peggy Lee,
Nat “King” Cole, June Christy, the trio Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, and Ella
Fitzgerald, but he was also affected by jazz artists like piano giant Art
Tatutm, bebop saxophonist Charlie Bird and trumpeter Miles Davis.
Murphy used his own sonorous, agile baritone voice like a
wind instrument. He could navigate the
changes in the music like a horn, adding bebop improvisations, scats and
vocalese to his vocal repertoire. Murphy used poetry or storytelling in a hipster
banter style that was all his own. He was a true innovator of the art of
singing and his influence can be heard in modern vocalists like Kurt Elling and
Giacomo Gates.
Murphy recorded over fifty albums as a leader from his first
Decca recording Meet Mark Murphy from 1956 till his last one A
Beautiful Friendship: Remembering Shirley Horn on Gearbox records in
2013.
Murphy was nominated for six Grammy awards and was known for
his writing lyrics to jazz standards like Oliver Nelson’s “Stolen Moments,” a
less popular version of Bill Evans “Waltz for Debby,” and Freddie Hubbard’s “Red
Clay.”
Over his career, Murphy lived in NYC, London, Los Angeles,
San Franciso and ended up at the Lillian Booth Actors Retirement Home in Englewood,
New Jersey where he passed, after an extended illness, at the age of eighty-three.
My choice for today’s song of the day is his version of
Freddie Hubbard’s “Red Clay” and comes from his Mark Murphy Sings
on Muse released 1975. Produced by Helen
Keane, who also managed the pianist Bill Evans, the album had a stellar cast of
musicians in support including David Sanborn on alto sax, Randy Brecker on
trumpet, Michael Brecker on tenor sax, Joe Puma on guitar, on double bass Harvey
S, Don Grolnick on keyboards, organ and piano, Sue Evans on percussion, Jimmy
Madison on drums, and arranged by Dave Matthews. There was only one Mark
Murphy.