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MURPHY, Mark

(b 14 March 1932, Syracuse NY; d 22 October 2015, NJ) Jazz singer. Singing jazz is no way to get rich, and male singers are even rarer than female ones, but Murphy did it for decades. 'It's a harmonic thing with me. Harmonics and time ... Some nights I sing ballads and I love the melodies because they go and they sit right on top of the harmonies. Then someone will write, ''Gee, he wasn't singing jazz that night.'' Then I come here and sing a tune and the reviewer says, ''Yeah, but he wasn't singing the lyric.'' ' (Quote from an interview in Cadence by Bob Rusch.) He also scats, and has loyal fans around the world and in three generations.

His first LP on Brunswick was Meet Mark Murphy c.1956, then three on Capitol (arranged by Bill Holman) including This Could Be The Start Of Something (Steve Allen title track) and Playing The Field (half big-band tracks); then Rah! and That's How I Love The Blues '61-2 on Riverside. He had begun by singing jazz versions of top 40 songs and saw rock drive jazz vocalists out of the marketplace; he worked in Europe '65-75; recorded in England; Midnight Mood '67 was made in Germany on MPS; except for Sings Dorothy Fields And Cy Coleman '77 on Audiophile and Night Mood '86 and September Ballads '88 on Milestone he recorded mostly for Muse, for a fee rather than royalties, but with artistic freedom: Bridging A Gap, Mark II and Mark Murphy Sings '75, Stolen Moments and Satisfaction Guaranteed '79, Bop For Kerouac '81, Brazil Song with group Viva Brazil '83, Living Room '84 with Ted Curson and Grady Tate, Sings Nat's Choice (Nat Cole Songbook Vol. 1), Nat Cole Songbook Vol. 2 (both later on one CD), and What A Way To Go '90. He also has a duo album with Sheila Jordan on Muse, One For Junior '91; The Dream with the Dutch Metropole Orchestra on Jive (good arrangements mostly by Rob Pronk) compiles tracks '69-91, an excellent overview of Murphy's development as a confident improviser. He made over 40 albums altogether.