This Is Hip: The Life of Mark Murphy

Description

When Mark Murphy died in October 2015, some of the obituaries mourned the passing of the greatest jazz singer in history. Murphy was the last of his kind, a hipster of the Kerouac generation, who rejected the straight life of prosperity and numb consumerism. With a catalogue of more than 40 albums under his own name as well as numerous guest appearances, Mark Murphy was a consummate improviser, who never sang a song the same way twice. He could have enjoyed a successful mainstream career in the vein of Mel Torme or Jack Jones. But his ambition was greater - to be an artist, to rebel against the commercial music industry and to carry the jazz vocal flame wherever it led him. Murphy was a master of scat and vocalese, of songwriting and the spoken word. He expanded the jazz singing repertoire, adding his own lyrics to instrumentals like John Coltrane's Naima, Freddie Hubbard's Red Clay, and Oliver Nelson's Stolen Moments. Unrivalled as an interpreter of ballads, he was able to express longing and regret to a degree lacking in any other jazz singer. For years he roamed the world, playing thousands of gigs. Rediscovered in the Eighties by a new audience of jazz dancers, and again in the 21st century by a digital generation who remixed him and invited him to guest on their recordings, he remains a crucial though unjustly neglected figure in vocal jazz. This Is Hip is more than a biography: it also explores Murphy's innovative approaches both to singing and to the teaching of singers. Based on numerous interviews with those who knew him best, the book delves into a performing and recording career that spanned 60 years and earned him five Grammy nominations.

Get the book

Amazon.com

Search the book

eBay.com

Search the book

Similar books

• 

  Bloody Mary: My Story

  By Mary Coughlan

  In this funny, moving and typically outspoken memoir, Ireland's best-loved jazz singer pulls no punches.

• 

  Bloody Mary: My Story

  By Mary Coughlan

  Since she rose to international fame in 1985 with her seminal Irish jazz album Tired and Emotional, Mary Coughlan s battles with addiction, the problems in her personal life and career have been well documented.

• 

  Billie Holiday: A Biography

  By Meg Greene

  Presents a biography of the African American woman who, despite a turbulent life, became one of the most famous singers in the history of jazz.

• 

  The Jazz Singer

  By Richard Woodley

  The Jazz Singer

• 

  Swingers and Crooners: The Art of Jazz Singing

  By Leslie Gourse

  Describes the lives of notable jazz singers, traces their influence on one another, and investigates the impact of different innovators on the development of jazz music.