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In truth the cover photo of Mr. Murphy shows he has (finally) aged a little. Certainly the pace is downtempo on the album. Perhaps one of his biggest fans is Gilles Peterson, as he never misses an opportunity to play one of his classics or include one on his jazz compilations.

The last one was the The Kings Of Jazz (‘My Favourite Things’) and the remake of ‘Stolen Moments’, which is on this new album. Stolen or otherwise, moments, or specifically, time has been on Murphy’s mind according to the sleeve notes. Not surprising really as he’s been described as “one of the great singers of our times” ever since his very first album for Decca in 1956.

Half a century on, he covers tracks by Johnny Cash (‘So Doggone Lonesome’), Coldplay (‘What If’) and Alan Jay Lerner (‘Too Late Now’) but it’s the remake of ‘Stolen Moments’ that stands out. While that’s almost inevitable, the Oliver Nelson classic is cut to miserly 2 minutes 40 with two reprises around a Till Brönner /Murphy track, ‘Love Is What Stays’. Actually that ‘sandwich’ is a little too tender but there’s one other brilliant track on the album. That’s the Kerouacesque poem of the introduction to ‘The Interview’ with the birds singing in the park in the background before getting down to proper 50s scat; oh! daddy-o baby with an orchestral string arrangement and some soprano by Peter Weniger! This is so cool!

The band shines on ‘Angel Eyes’ (nothing to do with Roxy Music) especially Till Brönner on the flugelhorn but there’s far too much lounge jazz for me like ‘My Foolish Heart’ (featuring Lee Konitz on alto) and the Coldplay track and ‘Once Upon A Summertime’. That one is so SmoothFM but you can’t deny, Murphy can still turn in a performance. He is a real vocalist.

The Coldplay track features Don Grusin on Rhodes. Grusin was a giant of 80s jazz in the US and Japan (GRP and all that) but if you’ve never been a fan of all that stuff, hunt out 3 Days of the Condor which was a bit of an eye opener for me recently.

Perhaps Verve could get some inspiration from Murphy’s appearance with the Five Corner’s Quintet on ‘Jamming (With Mr. Hoagland)’ and the Nicola Conte remix but Love is What Stays does not have enough spacey jazz scats for me.

Getting back to the Peterson-Murphy connection, it wasn’t that long ago ‘Dingwalls’ was, of course, on ‘Gilles Peterson & Patrick Forge Presents Sunday Afternoon At Dingwalls and not long after that, Gilles was in the box at Shiftless Shuffle staring in awe at the cover of Rah!, still looking and sounding great (includes another Murphy jazz classic, ‘Milestones’).

Hectic Mix nominations: ‘Stolen Moments’, ‘The Interview’. ‘Angel Eyes’

Reviewed: Mark Murphy — Love is What Stays (Verve) Cat. No.: 06025 1714489
Release Date: February 2007 Format: CD
Tracklisting
1. Stolen Moments (Oliver Nelson/Mark Murphy)
2. Angel Eyes (Matt Dennis/Earl Brent)
3. My Foolish Heart (Victor Young/Ned Washington)
4. So Doggone Lonesome (Johnny Cash)
5. What If (Coldplay)
6. The Interview (Mark Murphy)
7. Once Upon A Summertime (Michel Legrand/Eddie Barclay/Eddy Marnay/Johnny Mercer)
8. Stolen Moments (1st reprise)
9. Love Is What Stays (Till Brönner/Mark of Murphy)
10. Stolen Moments (2nd reprise)
11. Too Late Now (Burton Lane/Alan Jay Lerner)
12. Blue Cell Phone (Mark Murphy)
13. Did I Ever Really Live (Albert Hague/Allan Sherman)

Links:
www.markmurphy.com
Gilles Peterson :: Tracklistngs :: 25 January 2007
Solomon Ilori — ‘Igbesi Aiye (Song of Praise to God) (Honest Jons)
Mario Biondi — ‘A Child Runs Free’ (Schema)
Mark Murphy — ‘Stolen Moments’ (Verve)
Gilles Peterson :: Tracklistings :: 12 September 2002
6. Mark Murphy- ‘Stolen Moments’ (Muse)
8. Mark Murphy- ‘My Favourite Things’ (Riverside)