Description
Label Review.
2013 album.
Our Overview.
Mark Murphy one of the greatest jazz voices of all time teams up with Gearbox Records for ‘A Beautiful Friendship’ his final ever recording - a must have for fans and a true audiophile recording that has wowed the hi-fi world.
In his time, vocalist Mark Murphy has been described as hip, cool, swinging, fearless, gruff, and eccentric (among other things). Some— but most definitely not all—of these terms could also be applied to Shirley Horn. So it's fitting that Murphy should pay tribute to his compatriot, as he does on ‘A Beautiful Friendship: Remembering Shirley Horn’, even though Murphy acknowledges that the two vocal legends didn't know each other too well.
This four-track vinyl EP (accompanied by a download code) was first envisioned by pianist/arranger George Mesterhazy who had worked with Horn and Murphy but died before the project was completed, so it was left to Murphy's manager, Jean-Pierre Leduc, and Gearbox Records' Darrel Sheinman to produce what became a tribute to Horn and Mesterhazy.
Four songs, four lessons in how to sing. Murphy shows how to craft a vocal and make every syllable sound like it was written about no-one else but him. A superb tribute, from a fine singer who's most assuredly still in the game.
His legendary vocal style (one that Ella Fitzgerald claimed was every bit as good as her own) is playfully, flirtatiously close in your ear, taking you through the deeps and shallows of emotion.
“The pleasingly heavy 180gm vinyl sounds fantastic, with lots of space around the vocal” - Jazzwise
“Murphy shows how to craft a vocal and make every syllable sound like it was written about no one else but him” - All About Jazz