I suppose the blues purists will say that much on this record has little to do with the blues. but I doubt if even the virginmost of them all will deny that it is a damn fine vocal disc.
Murphy has a fine voice, exceptional timing and control, and knows what jazz phrasing is all about; he is in fact a real and genuine jazz singer. Like Annie Ross, Lambert or Hendricks the voice is exceedingly instrumental in timbre, the control of dynamics and nuance based on what the singer has heard and learnt from being a keen and studious listener to the best in jazz. Sometimes his range and flexibility are such that he almost does too much, but everything he does, even the falsetto bits, are done to fix the attention.
Meaning Of The Blues, Jelly Jelly, Wee Baby and the enormously attractive Señor Blues are the pick of the bunch – and funnily enough these are the true blues. He doesn’t quite get into the feel of Going To Chicago, and I think his handling of Mother Of Sin is a little too dramatic, but he manages to wring interest from that old railroad ballad Blues In The Night, and his Blues In My Heart is finely melodic. Doggone, which stems from 1917, is both played and sung with fine high humour – vaudeville at its best, and it doesn’t sound out of place in this collection. Al Cohn’s arrangements and the instrumental backing to Murphy’s singing is all one could wish for.
Discography
Going To Chicago: Señor Blues; That’s How I Love The Blues; Jelly Jelly Blues; Blues In My Heart; Fiesta In Blue (19 min) – Rusty Dusty Blues; Blues In The Night; The Meaning Of The Blues; Everybody’s Crazy ’Bout The Doggone Blues; Blues, You’re The Mother Of Sin; Wee Baby Blues (19½ min)
Nick Travis, Clark Terry or Snooky Young (tpts); Bernie Leighton or Dick Hyman (org); Roger Kellaway (p); Jim Hall (g); Ben Tucker (bs); Dave Bailey (d); Willie Rodriguez (con/tamb). N.Y.C., 1963.
(Riverside RLP 441 12inLP 37s. 6d.)
