Mark Murphy

Mark Murphy often seemed to be the only true jazz singer of his generation. A young, hip post-bop vocalist, Murphy spent most of his career sticking to the standards -- and often presented radically reworked versions of those standards while many submitted to the lure of the lounge singer -- during the artistically fallow period of the 1970s and '80s. Marketed as a teen idol by Capitol during the mid-'50s, Murphy deserted the stolid world of commercial pop for a series of exciting dates on independent labels that featured the singer investigating his wide interests: Jack Kerouac, Brazilian music, songbook recordings, vocalese, and hard bop, among others.

Born in Syracuse, New York, on March 14, 1932, into an intensely musical family (both parents sang). Mark began playing piano as a child, and studied both voice and theater while at college. He toured through Canada with a jazz trio...

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Mark Murphy Albums

5 records