Mark Murphy - Midnight Mood

180-gram vinyl

Analog remastering from the original tape

When he died at the age of 83 in October 2015, the local papers, were restrained in their obituaries. For many jazz fans and cognoscenti, singer Mark Murphy was vastly underrated; they are right, as his prolific six-decade-long artistic career attests: during that career Murphy exhibited an inventive stylistic range that covered blues to bebop on through to modern jazz. His 1967 MPS recording lands in the middle of his "European decade," and it is one of the most beautiful, striking documents of his skills.

Midnight Mood is characterized by the sophisticated dialogue between voice and eight musicians from the Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland-Big band, but it begins a cappella: Murphy welcomes us with Duke Ellington's "Jump For Joy" as he walks the vocal tightrope without a net, at the same time offering us a taste of his unorthodox scat singing. With "I Don't Want Nothin'" the ensemble offers us a swinging, bluesy, mischievous miniature, while Murphy's voice on "Why And How" shifts towards a noticeably darker tinge, surrounded by short penetrating solo interludes from the band. "Alone Together" reveals a masterpiece of phrasing over syncopated piano play; "You Fascinate Me So" emphasizes Murphy's romantic ardor.

"Hopeless" unfolds with overwhelming intensity à la Sinatra, and "Sconsolato" is served with a casual Hispanic flair. With subtly nuanced tenderness on "My Ship" and "I Get Along ...," Murphy evokes a depths-of-night ambience in dialogue with the keys, while "Just Give Me Time" reflects a dark sensuality that swaggers between Swing and Bossa.

Side A

1. Jump For Joy

2. I Don’t Want Nothin’

3. Why And How

4. Alone Together

5. You Fascinate Me So

Side B

1. Hopeless

2. Sconsolato

3. My Ship

4. Just Give Me Time

5. I Get Along Without You Very Well

Customer Reviews (5.00 Stars) 1 person(s) rated this product.

Mark Murphy's Transcendent Late 60's 'Tour De Fource' posted on 12/03/2017 5 Stars Reviewer: Stephen Norvell Widely regarded as Murphy's best recording from his years living abroad in Europe, Midnight Mood is an album of great Historic Significance. Recorded in Cologne, the Audio Engineering of this Album was superior to the engineering of Murphy's earlier works on the Riverside Label. This LP from MPS does not disappoint. The Vinyl is quiet, allowing the magnificence of Murphy's Vocalese and the accompanying Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Band to be fully appreciated. Midnight Mood would be the first recording in which Murphy's rich signature Baritone Voice would fully develop from the higher Baritone Voice of his Twenties, preceding his legendary 1972-1994 recording contract with Joe Fields' Muse Label. Mark Murphy is among the best of American Bossa Nova Jazz Singers. For more than a decade, Murphy's Concerts at the Birdland Jazz Club in NYC typically reserved the second set of the evening for Bossa Nova Jazz. Murphy's recording of Sconsoloto is exceptional! Encore!!!

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