Mark Murphy: Wild and Free - Live at the Keystone Korner
When Mark Murphy died in October 2015, the obituaries claimed that
he had been almost the last of his kind. Murphy, it was said, was a man
who embodied the spirit of postwar bohemia, the ‚On The Road‘ Kerouac
generation who fought against the straight life of prosperity and numb
consumerism they saw all around them. With a catalogue of more than
40 albums under his own name as well as numerous collaborations, Mark
Murphy resisted orthodoxy. He could very likely have enjoyed a successful
mainstream career had he remained a crooner in the vein of Mel Tormé
or Jack Jones, but he had greater ambition to carry the jazz vocal flame.
He was a consummate improviser, who never sang a song the same way
twice. It is that Mark Murphy we encounter here in a historic engagement
at the Keystone Korner which was his only performance in the club.
Familiar Murphy favorites are here along with a few surprises with Mark‘s
voice alternately thundering and whispering through the inspired setlist.
Mark Murphy – vocals
Paul Potyen – piano
Peter Barshay – bass
Jack Gobbetti – drums
Babatunde Lea – percussion
