Search - Mark Murphy :: Sings Mostly Dorothy Fields & Cy Coleman

Masterpiece

Lisa Hindmarsh | Northern New Jersey, United States | 05/24/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For every vocal jazz fan who considers Mark Murphy the stuff of current and future legend, there are almost an equal number who find him impossible to listen to. I fall into the category of the former - to me he is an artist without peer, a true master of style, interpretation and technical skill. I can also understand why some do not like his sound. It is an acquired taste, lacking the sheer beauty and perfection of tone prized by many artists and listeners, but the variety of colors and sounds he can produce leave me in awe of the scope of his talent. That said, this 1977 recording is one that virtually all vocal jazz fans will acknowledge is an unquestioned masterpiece, even those who would not claim to be Murphy fans. Featuring primarily the music of Cy Coleman and lyrics of Dorothy Fields, whether collaborating together or with others, this collection of 25 songs is no question a must-have. "April Fooled Me", an obscure Fields collaboration with Jerome Kern, is in my opinion the finest and most perfect piece of jazz singing I have EVER heard. That two minutes and twelve seconds is worth the price of admission alone, along with the stunning "I'm Gonna Laugh You Right Out of My Life", but there are so many other marvelous performances: a yearning and sexy "Alone Too Long" (the way he sings "I'd kiss you if I dared/I want to, but I'm scared" gives me the tingles every time), a great swinging version of "When in Rome" (which I've loved ever since I heard Barbra Streisand's version many moons ago), the beauty and wonderful irony of "On Second Thought" and "Seesaw", and oh man, the scat on "Exactly Like You" - NO ONE scats like this man! BUY IT - every track is superb - if you're a fan of great vocal jazz, you've gotta have this one in your collection!"

Ear candy

Lisa Hindmarsh | 11/22/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD is stocked with great songs done by a great singer at the top of his game. The recording was made in 1977 for the NPR series on American popular song hosted by Alec Wilder. Several CDs have been released from the tapes of this series. On all of them, the singers are gratifyingly loose, seemingly guided by the attitude that this is for radio, we need to be professional, but it isn't for posterity, so let's let our hair down a little. That outlook produces a lot of very nice performances. On this CD, you know Murphy is just tossing off these performances, probably without a lot of forethought or practice. But his voice was superb in 1977, and he was very experienced as a singer by then. The vocal resources he brings to bear in these performances stagger me. And, as I say, the songs are great ones - written by Dorothy Fields or Cy Coleman. (Lyricist Carolyn Leigh probably deserved a headline here as well.) For me, the absolute highlight of the CD is the great Jerome Kern/Dorothy Fields song "April Fooled Me," a perfect song, performed perfectly. The amount of worldly experience Murphy implies in his vocal stuns me every time I hear it. A close second among favorites on the CD would be "I'm Gonna Laugh You Right Out Of My Life." Here again, I can't imagine a better performance. But the fact is, the more I play this CD - and it's in my CD player constantly - the more favorites I discover. There's the hard swing of "When In Rome," upbeat numbers like "I Love My Wife" and "That's My Style," and more lovely ballads like the neglected "Alone Too Long" and "Remind Me." Each of these collections from the NPR series has a song or two by Alec Wilder thrown in, and one of the Wilder songs here, "When Yesterday I Loved You," is a very creditable and almost unknown song. Loonis McGlohon's trio, which is sometimes maligned, sounds great on this outing. This ought to be one of the cornerstones of any collection of American popular song and/or vocal jazz."

Genius

Bryan Lowe | Seattle, WA USA | 12/27/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This mans intrument is his voice... and he can do so much with it! Amazing. Such style... class.... cleverness... sensitivity. He used every ounce of that instrument... every subtle variation possible. And his sense of timing!! Amazing. What a jazzy swing on I Love My Wife... what understanding on April Fooled Me. The tune.. I'm in the Mood for Love... can really get corny. But in his hands it is new again. Not all tunes on the disc hit me.. but an easy 70% do. So.. do you enjoy jazz voice? If so... you need to own this disc.For all the new generations that are discovering Tony Bennett... good for you. You've found a great singer...probably one of the best of his style. But you owe it to yourself to discover this music done by the best of HIS genre! A different sound... and a sound of jazz genius I think!Can't just stop with Mark Murphy on this disc. I enjoy the trio playing with him as well. Wonderful."