Mark Murphy

There is never much doubt that Mark Murphy is a jazz singer. He continues, even after 40 years of recording, to take wild chances on this CD. The first few songs on the set are fairly straightforward (if one can consider an uptempo rendition of "Baltimore Oriole" to be conventional). The music, which includes originals by Donald Fagen and Pat Metheny then becomes funky for a bit; from the sixth number on, the performances are quite modern yet not really classifiable as anything but creative jazz. Each song features Murphy's eccentric singing (which sometimes finds him jumping between low notes and falsetto) and there is a lot of variety in mood and style. Sometimes joined by background singers and an electric keyboard and at other times by an acoustic trio, Murphy makes each selection both unpredictable and memorable. Although not for all tastes, this CD does an excellent job of showing where Mark Murphy was musically in the late '90s. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide