 Mark Murphy This 1961 album remains the best place to go to hear quintessential "singer's singer" Mark Murphy, who never got anything like mainstream success, but who has long been revered by musicians as a consummately cool cat. To me, Murphy stll comes off as a pop vocalist despite his tremendous musicality, falling about halfway between Tony Bennett and Mel Torme on the jazz scale. The best moments ("Stoppin' the Clock," never done better; a vocal "Milestones") make a strong case for Murphy as an enormous talent, but many of the other cuts (particularly the ballads) tend to dilute the power of Murphy's "big" voice. Interestingly, what would probably make this album essential is not included on the CD issue – a somewhat legendary, notorious rewriting of "My Favorite Things" that was pulled after the first LP pressing after Oscar Hammerstein threatened legal action. This bit of daring is exactly what Rah! lacks, and the fact that a straight reading of "My Favorite Things" is substituted only hammers the point home. Murphy's voice is most similar (in timbre and approach) to Scott Walker's, though considerably less bombastic, and Murphy's virtually flawless way of wrapping himself around a melody carries many of the songs that would otherwise be merely fair ("Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most," "Angel Eyes"). Murphy is at his best on uptempo cuts or serious brewers like "Out of This World." "Doodlin'" and Annie Ross's "Twisted" show off Murphy's scat/vocalese chops and show a somewhat forced sense of humor. I'm sure lots of people think Rah! is the bee's knees – it may be that I'm getting burned out on jazz vocalists – but it just seems like this has all been done elsewhere, and generally better. The band is great: Clark Terry, Blue Mitchell, Urbie Green, Wynton Kelly, Bill Evans, and Jimmy Cobb among others giving Murphy the ideal musical bed to do his individualistic free-falls. This is a tradition of singing that has not really been carried forward with the exception of people like Kurt Elling, who seems to be drawing more on Tom Waits half the time. Murphy is undoubtedly an important performer, and I usually champion the comparatively unknown "underdogs" (see Blossom Dearie), but I guess I just don't connect with this "jazz for the love of jazz" sort of jazz. I mean, I love jazz, but it's gotta be something I can feel! I'm not a robot like that big-breasted robot on "Voyager," you know.
Review by Darkfart |