Mark Murphy: Midnight Mood

© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

“The singer who has most influenced Murphy, by his own reckoning, is Peggy Lee.

"She has such a creative approach through the lyrics," he said, "as opposed to Sarah Vaughan's creative approach through the music. Peggy is always creative: she never stops experimenting and trying out things. That's one reason she's never a bore. She's inconsistent but never dull.

"Next on my list of favorites, among the women, would be Lee Wiley. She's one of those rare phenomena, like Billie Holiday, who create a whole new way of singing without really trying.

"Betty Carter kills me when I see her, but she doesn't record well. There's something about her voice that they just haven't captured. I think she's just about the greatest jazz singer around.

"Among the men, I'd say. . . . Well, Johnny Hartman's voice is my favorite for a male singer. As a technician, Mel Torme is my favorite. For the feeling, Ray Charles.”

- Mark Murphy as told to Gene Lees

Source: Downbeat Magazine

November 7, 1963.

As the proud owner of This Could Be The Start of Something [Capitol Records T-1177] which was released in 1959 replete with Bill Holman’s Big band arrangements, I’ve been listening to Mark Murphy sing for a long time.

And from that time until his death in 2015, I’ve taken every opportunity to listen to him both in person and on record because he has always remained in my estimation, the epitome of a Jazz singer.

The problem with that term - “Jazz Singer” - is that over the years there has rarely been any consensus as to what it means.

I suppose, ultimately, what makes a Jazz Singer is largely a reflection of how one hears the music.

When it comes to Mark Murphy, however, there seems to be a universal consensus that he is indeed, a Jazz singer.

Mark worked at becoming a Jazz singer and he’s continued to do so for over 50 years.

He shared the following thoughts on the subject with Michael Bourne, DJ of the popular Songbirds program on WBGO radio:

“‘The definition of a jazz singer is a singer who sings jazz,’ said Mark Murphy with tongue-in-cheek, although, actually, he's a definitive jazz singer himself.

He scats with bravado. He improvises melodically, harmonically, rhythmically, and with the lyrics. He writes vocalese lyrics to jazz instrumentals and also writes his own songs. He can break hearts on a ballad, plumb the deepest blues, bossa like a Brazilian, or wing harder and hipper than just about anyone.

‘A lot of singers attempt to sing jazz, use aspects of jazz in their arrangements, but without really getting into the whole thing,’ he continued in a 1975 interview with me for notes on the album Mark Murphy Sings.

‘l think the test is The Jazz Singer Test.  You take a singer and three musicians and you put them in a room, or a pub like I used to do in London. I had this trio. The piano player couldn't read. The bass player couldn't read. The drummer read, but it didn't matter. I gave them a list of tunes. We never rehearsed. We just got up. I gave them the keys, and I counted off, and it happened. Because we were all Jazz musicians. I think that's the test. If a singer can get up and cut that, he's really doing it."

One of Mark’s most definitive statements in the vocal vernacular of Jazz was his 1967 Midnight Mood LP which he made with a small band made up of members of the Francy Boland and Kenny Clarke Big Band which they recorded together in Köln

[Cologne] Germany in December, 1967 for the MPS label.

It has recently been issued with enhanced sound as an MPS CD [0212419MSW] with distribution by Naxos of America, Inc. and press by Michael Bloom Media Relations who kindly sent along the following annotations which I thought I’d share with you as they provide an excellent and succinct overview of the music on this recording.

Foreword to the New Edition

“When he died at the age of 83 in October 2015, the local papers were restrained in their obituaries. For many jazz fans and cognoscenti, singer Mark Murphy was vastly underrated; they are right, as his prolific six-decade-long artistic career attests: during that career Murphy exhibited an inventive stylistic range that covered blues to bebop on through to modern jazz.

His 1967 MPS recording lands in the middle of his "European decade", and it is one of the most beautiful, striking documents of his skills. "Midnight Mood" is characterized by the sophisticated dialogue between voice and eight musicians from the Kenny Clarke Francy Boland Big Band, but it begins a cappella: Murphy welcomes us with Duke Ellington's "Jump For Joy" as he walks the vocal tightrope without a net, at the same time offering us a taste of his unorthodox scat singing.

With "I Don't Want Nothin'" the ensemble offers us a swinging, bluesy, mischievous miniature, while Murphy's voice on "Why And How" shifts towards a noticeably darker tinge, surrounded by short penetrating solo interludes from the band. "Alone Together" reveals a masterpiece of phrasing over syncopated piano play; "You Fascinate Me So" emphasizes Murphy's romantic ardor. "Hopeless" unfolds with overwhelming intensity a la Sinatra, and "Sconsolato" is served with a casual Hispanic flair. With subtly nuanced tenderness on "My Ship" and "I Get Along Without You Very Well", Murphy evokes a depths-of-night ambience in dialogue with the keys, while "Just Give Me Time" reflects a dark sensuality that swaggers between Swing and Bossa.

• STEFAN FRANZEN Translation: Martin Cook

Original Liner Notes

“So you finally got past looking at the photo layout on the front and turned to the sleeve notes. Well if you are in a record shop and you are thinking about buying this disc, do it. If you at home, put the disc on the turntable and listen. Why should you take my advice? Well I will tell you that this record has some of the finest vocal talent in the jazz world today available for your ears by simply dropping a pick-up arm to the wax.

The pleasure that I get from listening to these recordings started on a cold December day in Cologne. The Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band had had three hard working days in the recording studios recording radio programmes and LP material. The boys in the band were tired. On the fourth day Mark Murphy arrived to record with an octet. Any lesser band would have given an inferior performance, but not this band. The spark that lives in this international combo was lit. The atmosphere became electric and things began to happen. Mark, in a glaring red sweater, stood in a relaxed pose in front of the band, held one hand just to the side of one ear and sang his heart out. Playbacks were listened to in the control room with all the guys giving their advice. This was music being made by giants. Of the many times that I have heard Mark Murphy sing on record, none has ever come up to the standard of this.

Now Mark Murphy is an american singer who has never really received the recognition that he deserves. Ask a musician which jazz singers he rates and among the names you will usually find Mark Murphy. The public in England also digs the Murphy sound as he was voted number two singer in the world section of the "Melody Maker" publication polls in 1964 and 1965. The winner was Frank

Sinatra but Mark was very close. From his student days, when he was working as an actor, to the times when he studied singing, Mark has been moving steadily through to his goal. The very top of the singing profession. What reasons can be given for the obvious success of Mr. Murphy? One reason, to my mind, is that elusive quality that so many singers lack talent. He has it.

On now to the music and to side one in particular. This side consists of music for medium late listening and jumps off to a fine start with Mark singing unaccompanied at the beginning of the Duke Ellington-Ben Webster composition "Jump for joy". Later on the band swings on the Kenny Clarke Jimmy Woode number "I don't want nothing". Next comes a moody original from British trumpeter Jimmy Deuchar with lyrics by Mark Murphy himself. The title being "Why and how". For a tight band sound listen to "Alone together" and this side is concluded by a number on which Mark sings and trombonist Ake Persson plays all the right things That is "You fascinate me so".

Side two contains music for the real late night listener. This is midnight plus music as you can hear on the two tracks where Mark sings with Francy Boland's velvet touch on the piano keys giving that something extra to "I get along without you very weil" and "My ship". Jimmy Woode, bassist with the band, contributed the second track on this side. He himself has a great talent for lyric writing and is also a fine singer. Dig the latin touch on "Sconsolato". In conclusion we have the Boland-Woode composition "Just give me time" that features in the Italian film "L'lnvito".

... Well there we have it. The magic of Mark Murphy. Please excuse me while I make myself comfortable and listen to the whole thing again.

• Keith Lightbody

You can checkout Mark’s vocal styling on this track from Midnight Mood.

"Sen's Fortress" - The Laurence Fish Quintet

© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

In the video game, Dark Souls, Sen's Fortress is dark castle filled with monstrous reptilian guards, boulder throwing giants and numerous traps such as massive swinging axes, giant rock slides and other dangerous aspects. It serves as the gateway to Anor Londo [the next level of the game to be mastered].

For today’s generation of musicians interested in finding their way through the conundrum of Jazz, I would imagine that the quest associated with successfully solving video games serves as a metaphor for achieving the goal of creating accomplished Jazz improvisation.

Put another way, finding one’s way through Sen’s Fortress serves as an analogy for having reached a point in the music where some level of accomplishment has been attained while also serving notice that there are still many challenges ahead.

Like video game segments which often take many tries before they are mastered, playing Jazz is very much a trial and error process in which one often fails more than one succeeds.

But once you get hooked on the process of making Jazz, you understand how to learn from these failures and apply this gained knowledge toward your next attempt at playing a solo, or writing a composition or forming a tighter rhythm section.

Pianist Laurence Fish explains it this way in the insert notes to his self-produced CD: Laurence Fish Quintet: Sen’s Fortress:

“It is a great pleasure to share with you this album, the heartfelt consequences of my musical journey so far. My tastes are traditional. I like music that is beautiful and/or fun to listen to, and I like Jazz that swings, grooves and tells a story. Hopefully you do to.”

Laurence is joined on this musical journey by Tom van der Zaal, alto sax, Casper van Wijk, tenor sax, Matheus Nicolaiewsky, bass and Eric Ineke, drums, with Nanouck Brassers joining in on two tracks on trumpet and flugelhorn.

In his insert notes to Sen’s Fortress, Laurence notes that “the repertoire includes five of my own compositions and a blues by Casper van Wijk, together with some old standards [Things Ain’t What They Used To Be, Close Enough For Love, Ghost of A Chance, Love Is a Many Splendored Thing and Jobim’s Ligia].

He goes on to say that: “Sen’s Fortress is a challenging place in a great game, and a place that is in some ways symbolic of where I find myself at this time of my life. Where training is put to a test, a gauntlet that must be run for more doors to open, a halfway point yet a beginning, where things start to get interesting.”

What a great awareness for one so young. I wish I had such a clear understanding of the road-yet-to-be-travel when I was first coming of age in the music.

As I listen to the efforts of Laurence and his fellow musicians on Sen’s Fortress, I am pleased by the sonority of the band, the interesting nature of the original composition which hold my attention and serve as the basis for some fine solos and the fact that the music does indeed swing and groove. In this regard, these “Young Turks” were well-served by asking Master Drummer Eric Ineke to assume the drum chair for this maiden voyage recording.

Some of the things I found most pleasing about the recording was how well it held my interest from beginning to end; it’s eleven [11] tracks are well-paced allowing the music to be fully expressed between the ballads, medium tempo and fast tunes.

Both Tom van der Zaal on alto sax and Casper van Wijk on tenor sax have rich tones and their solos are marked by well-executed phrasing and by a good flow to the ideas they are trying to express. On the two tracks on which he appears, Nanouck Brassers, adds the texture implied in his last name to full effect.

Bassist Matheus Nicolaiewsky locks in with Eric to ring the “wedding bells” the bassist Chuck Israels like to hear between bass and drums and his solos finding him utilizing the full sound of the instrument to play his phrases. I mean who likes a bass that doesn’t sound like a bass?

While Eric does his usual fine job of booting things along in the drum chair, he is somewhat restrained so as not to overwhelm young players who are still deep in concentration as they find their way through their solos.

This is formative Jazz, if you will, a beginning. But if the music on Sen’s Fortress is any indication, I for one will certainly look forward to listening to the next phase of the Laurence Fish Quintet’s adventures in The Land of Jazz.

You can find out more about Laurence and Sen’s Fortress by visiting his website at www.laurencefishmusic.com.

And you can checkout the group’s sound on the following audio-only file:

Martial Solal Solo Piano: Unreleased 1966 Los Angeles Sessions

© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

“Martial Solal has always gone his own way, along a straight and rising path which compels respect: some forty years without ever deviating from the goal to be achieved.”

- Philippe Baudoin, Jazz writer and critic

“The lyricism, the reassuring feeling that things were on the right path, the audacious attitude of a musician who plumbed right to the depths of himself and made music from Jazz and Jazz from music. It was from Martial that I secretly went to the Club Ringside each night to draw these things from.”

- Bobby Jaspar, tenor saxophonist, writing in the magazine, Jazz Hot, in 1955

“What first attracted me to Solal's music were dismissals of it as 'not jazz'. It may appear too easy a paradox, yet almost the best advice that one can offer to people who want to find out about jazz is to attend to those whose work is supposedly 'not jazz'. Besides their music often being of high quality in itself, it may offer a rethinking of jazz essentials and even, in a few cases, indicate a new direction for the art.”

- Max Harrison, Jazz writer and critic, October, 1967, Jazz Monthly

“Idiosyncratic,” “ individualistic,”  “independent” - all are words often used in association with pianist Martial Solal’s approach to Jazz.

Jazz musicians and Jazz fans alike have been making these comments about Martial style dating back to his first appearances at Club St. Germain and the Ringside in the mid 1950’s when as part of the house rhythm section he accompanied Americans passing through Paris including J.J. Johnson, Clifford Brown, Don Byas, Bob Brookmeyer and Lucky Thompson, among many others.

Writing in the sleeve notes to Vogue sessions from this period which present Martial in solo, trio, quartet, sextet and big band sessions, Mr. Baudoin went on to say:

“One senses in him, particularly since 1954, a desire to expand the language of piano and harmonics, to use all the registers of the instrument to the full, a desire not to neglect its percussive possibilities, to separate the two hands to the maximum (contrapuntally) or, on the contrary, to bring them together as is linked and in parallel movement during forward passages.

He also maintains a constant vigil to ensure that he never allows himself to succumb for the easy, to the temptation of the pretty, to the warbling of the keyboard player or to the showing off of the bravura virtuoso.

Such musical discipline (rare in Jazz) demands a mastery of technique of a very high order, which must be maintained unceasingly if its aspirations are to be met.”

In the October, 1967 Jazz Monthly, I found the following observation by Max Harrison to be similar to my reactions to Solal:

“What first attracted me to Solal's music were dismissals of it as 'not jazz'. It may appear too easy a paradox, yet almost the best advice that one can offer to people who want to find out about jazz is to attend to those whose work is supposedly 'not jazz'. Besides their music often being of high quality in itself, it may offer a rethinking of jazz essentials and even, in a few cases, indicate a new direction for the art.

Thus each considerable stylistic change in Duke Ellington's output was greeted by his followers as a betrayal of what had gone before, as a subsidence into 'not jazz'. But, as Edmund Wilson says, "It is likely to be one of the signs of the career of a great artist that each of his successive works should prove for his admirers as well as for his critics not at all what they had been expecting, and cause them to raise cries of falling-off.”. Later musicians were able to go one better than Ellington, and the work of Lester Young, Charlie Parker and Ornette Coleman among others was proclaimed as 'not jazz' almost from the moment they appeared.

Sure enough, Solal proved to be among the best jazz pianists. Like Django Reinhardt, the guitarist, he is not merely outstanding among European players but within the whole context of the music. This is no place for a biography, yet it should be noted that Solal was born at Algiers in 1927, made his first attempts at jazz during 1940, and reached Paris in 1950. The first record the present writer encountered was Kenny Clarke plays Andre Hodeir, on which musical interest is largely divided between the scores and Solal's contributions. He is prominently featured and takes long, strikingly imaginative solos, Bemsha swing containing one of the best. However, Solal is a natural jazz musician and besides fitting into the sophisticated compositional climate of Hodeir's writing he could, in 1957, take a perceptive and sympathetic role in some recordings with Sidney Bechet. Impressive is the way Solal is able to simplify his harmony to accommodate the older man yet still produce ingenuities like the re-harmonisations of that repeated-note figure in It don't mean a thing.

Solal has a very fine keyboard technique —that is, skill in employing his instrument, which is not the same thing as facility, which is what all too many pianists have. Solal possesses that kind of agility, too, as it happens, but he uses it instead of being used by it. …

Not surprisingly, a lot of his music - and some of that on Solal’s earlier discs - seems fragmentary at first, but, as with Art Tatum, continued listening reveals an underlying unity.”

After his long tenure with Columbia Records, George Avakian moved to RCA Victor and made these comments about Martial in the liner notes that he wrote for Martial Solal at Newport ‘63 which he produced for that label.

“Years and years after he has already made it in other segments of the American press, a musician in the world of Jazz begins to hope that someday he’ll break into Time magazine. But pianist Martial Solal, an Algerian-born Frenchman who plays more like and American than perhaps any other foreigner in the history of this highly American music, hit Time within two weeks of his arrival in New York.

The accolade was well-deserved. Solal is known by every American Jazzman who has ever worked in Europe; he has played with the best, and has earned their warm respect for his originality and across-the-board musicianship. But the American Jazz public had hardly heard of this extraordinary pianist, characterized by Time as an ‘amazingly adept virtuoso’ who ‘pursues unconventional harmonic flights’ and whose ‘imagination is rich to the point of bursting.’ …

Hearing Martial Solal is a rewarding experience whether one chooses to analyze his work, or just enjoy it passively. His most obvious characteristic is a gift for musical invention; he puts all his resources to the creation of melodic variations which are easy on the ears, but are nonetheless brilliantly imaginative, original, and so tastefully understated that on first hearing one fails to realize the full value of what he has offered.

For instance, his technique is one of the most prodigious in Jazz, yet it is never exploited for its own sake, but only in the service of completely musical ideas.

Solal has a rare sense of sonority; … he evokes sounds and emotions which are richer than one expects from so limited a palette as the piano.

As an improviser, he develops his variations in a long-lined shape which retains elements of the original melody to a degree that is often forgotten in this day of stating a theme at the beginning and ending of a piece, with no reference to it in between.

Thematic development and variation and changes of tempo are all well-integrated in his balanced work, which leaves plenty of room for improvisation but none for boredom.”

What impressed me most when I heard his early recordings was Martial’s utmost confidence, enthusiasm and individuality.

I agree with Richard Cook and Brian Morton when they note in their Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, 6th Ed.: “We do not exaggerate nor is it possible to overestimate the sheer artistry of Solal’s work. He has an astonishing gift for complex voicings, There can be few better straight-ahead piano improvisers anywhere in the world. He is also a remarkable composer, creating complex themes out of simple intervals and brief melodic lines.”

All of this, by way of background, brings me to the recent Fresh Sound CD Martial Solal Solo Piano: Unreleased 1966 Los Angeles Sessions [FSR CD 943]. It contains a dazzling array of Martial’s pianism from his first decade in the music that agonizingly has not been commercially available for over half century!

Jordi Pujol, the owner/operator of Fresh Sound and producer of the disc, explains how it all came about in the following insert notes to the CD:

“In June 1966, invited by the shrewd American producer and author Ross Russell, Martial Solal traveled to Los Angeles, where he recorded these forgotten and unreleased solo piano sessions. Russell was a well-known personality in the jazz scene after he launched the legendary Dial Records in 1946 just to record Charlie Parker while the young bebop altoist lived in the city. Russell's label released some of Parker's best works, and for two years he was also his personal manager. It was his obsession and admiration for his genius, that it induced him to write the moving biography "Bird Lives!," published in 1973.

After Russell shut Dial down in 1949, he spent several years away from the music scene, but he never quite abandoned his love for jazz, and so in 1966 he decided to return to the record business. He organized a series of recordings with the goal to start a new label—strangely enough, the news went totally unnoticed by jazz magazines at the time.

For this new venture, Russell rented Whitney Studio in Glendale—which had a wonderful Steinway—and produced his first album in March, a Joe Albany trio session (first released on FSR-317). Martial Solal's recordings took place a few months later, in June 19,20 and 21, and resulted in three solo piano albums. Unfortunately Russell's project didn't work out, and Solal's recordings remained stashed away to gather dust until 1983, when the late record producer and businessman David Hubert located and preserved them. Fresh Sound purchased them in 1993 from Hubert.

Trying to find out more information about these sessions, I contacted Solal himself, who kindly explained what he remembers about them:

"Unfortunately I don't have much to tell you about Ross Russell. I think I met him in Paris, where he offered to organize a recording session. He had given me a copy of the book he wrote about Charlie Parker (The Sound). He said he had a little money and that he wanted to start a record company. I was very proud and very happy, of course. I went to Los Angeles. He kept telling me during the recording that he liked it, etc. Since he was happy with the results, we continued, up to three sessions. Afterwards, I did not see him again.

As for Ross, he seemed to me like the quiet type, discreet, perhaps shy.

He was, I believe, around sixty at the time."

Prior to this trip to Los Angeles, Solal had visited the United States twice. In 1963, when American jazz audiences had hardly heard of the pianist, producer George Wein decided to invite him to play at the Newport Jazz Festival — Wein, artistic director of the festival, had heard Solal's trio in Paris and was fascinated by his technique and original conception of his playing. However, for his American debut, Solal encountered an unexpected problem — the Union (American Federation of Musicians) did not allow him to bring the two other members of his magnificent trio, he was only authorized to play accompanied by two local musicians. Meanwhile, bassist Guy Pedersen and drummer Daniel Humair, very upset by the Union's decision, stayed in Paris.

Solal traveled to New York on May 10th, almost two months before the date of the festival, because Wein had arranged for him a 6-week run at the Hickory House, 52nd Street's last remaining jazz club. Bill Evans was going to leave for Los Angeles by himself to play at Shelly's Manne-Hole, which gave Solal the chance to play with Evans' superb rhythm section — bassist Teddy Kotick and drummer Paul Motian. His playing made a great impression on those hearing him for the first time. "First of all," wrote Ira Gitler in Down Beat, "he is a man with a prodigious technique, and though he does not show off with it, the listener is nevertheless well aware of his facility. As good as Kotick and Motian are, Solal's technique often made them seem superfluous, in the sense that when he elected to keep changing his pace, they were at odds with him."

After the enthusiasm he generated at Hickory House, the pianist conquered the difficult public of Newport, where he appeared with the same trio on Sunday, July 7th, in "a short set that showed how much more closely together Solal, Kotick and Motian have drawn since the trio first opened at Hickory House in June. Perhaps their set seemed short because it was so well played," wrote Gitler in his concert review for Down Beat.

Following his triumphant Newport performance, Solal's engagement at the Hickory House was extended until August 27. He then visited Canada to play at the Montreal Jazz Festival, and was also engaged to perform at the Casa Loma club, where he stayed until mid- September. After his successful American tour, he returned to Paris, where he rejoined Pedersen and Humair. The trio was scheduled to appear in two concerts. The first was at the Berlin Jazz festival, and the second at the first Lugano jazz festival on the 20th, organized by the city's Jazz Club. Needless to say, the trio was the highlight of the festival.

His second visit to the US was in December 1964, when he flew to San Francisco to make his first West Coast appearance, a two-week engagement at El Matador. After closing, he went to Los Angeles persuaded by Leonard Feather, to participate in a Blindfold Test organized by Down Beat.

In August, back in Paris, he organized a new trio with bassist Gilbert (Bibi) Rovere and drummer Charles Bellonzi, two of the most gifted musicians in France. This trio achieved the same heights as his previous effort, and was even considered steadier and even more brilliant than the previous one.

Come June 1966, Solal returned to Los Angeles by himself to record the sessions at hand for Ross Russell. A trip that stayed under the radar, and that Martial vaguely remembers "When he came to pick me up at the airport," Martial recalls, "I asked if I could stay at the same hotel from before, because I had really enjoyed my stay in 1964. When we arrived in front of the hotel, it did not exist anymore... So Ross took me to a nice hotel in the center, and then we went straight to the studio."

Now we can finally hear these three amazing piano sessions, compiled and remastered in two CD volumes. For our enormous pleasure, we discover Martial Solal at its best. He fully displays his incontestable talent, dazzling virtuosity and invention, but also his good taste and sense of humor in the execution. The originality of his conception, paired with his elegant control and technique, put him on a par with the great American pianists.

From his piano emerges a great number of effects, with no trace of gratuitousness or superfluity. His melodic lines are perfectly legible and his changes of rhythm absolutely justified, as they reinforce the balance of the discourse and stimulate the swing much more than they dispute it.

I think back at the time, Martial Solal explained better than I could his influences and personal tastes in jazz pianists:

"Admittedly, like everyone else, I admire Art Tatum, his virtuoso side, his independence with both hands, his immense harmonic knowledge (he had something better than his own system: he had them all), but I think he did not always use his technique and his knowledge appropriately. The juggler often concealed the musician. I rather followed Teddy Wilson in my youth, another example of a great technician if there was one, and in whom I found a kind of perfection of execution. Today, opposite of Tatum, at the other pole, there is Thelonious Monk, who impressed me more than any other keyboard specialist. I like all of his themes foremost, but everything he writes is great. I also like his austerity, he strips anything superfluous of his piano playing. Tatum's skill is something, but 1 find the musical integrity of Monk much better."

—Jordi Pujol

If anyone can complement the unique angularity of Monk's music and make it more humorous and delightfully quirky than it already is it's Martial Solal. Checkout this version of Blue Monk to hear what I mean.

Laurie Dapice - A New Face in Vocal Jazz

© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

"A Buried Treasure"

- Rodney Yearby Sr; Journalist Utica Phoenix News.

"A Beautiful Voice; One of the Best in the World"

- Todd Barkan; Keystone Korner Jazz Impresario.

"One of the Best Projects that has come in here; your Originals hold their own up against these old classics; A Beautiful Album"

- Alan Silverman; Grammy Award winning Mastering Engineer

At the outset, please let me qualify the word “new” in the title of this piece to mean new to my ears and not necessarily new to the music

Upon encountering it for the first time in recent weeks, what I enjoy most about Laurie’s singing is that the Jazz inflection associated with it was not forced or overstated.

Let’s face it, while we appreciate the huge footprint that Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, Peggy Lee and a host of other sterling vocalists who populated the Jazz scene for most of the second half of the 20th century, their respective talents are beyond imitation.

While all vocalists who sing in the Jazz idiom today can reflect their influence, it is markedly better for them to find their own way or style if you will and that’s exactly what Laurie has done in her debut recording.

By way of background, Laurie Dapice: Parting The Veil was self produced in 2014 and you can purchase it as a download or audio CD from CDBaby.

In her notes to the recording Laurie gets her debts paid in quick order by acknowledging the inspiration she has received from: “Abbey Lincoln, you are like the breath of life; necessary. Your light was luminous, your music is instrumental and our time together changed my life. I most certainly applaud your courage. Billie Holiday, Abbey Lincoln, Shirley Horn, Sarah Vaughan, Nina Simone, Nancy Wilson, Anita O'Day and Ella Fitzgerald! You made the dream very real.”

Not bad company, eh? If you agree with the premise that Jazz is mostly learned and not taught, then you have to admire Laurie’s excellent choice of vocal models from which to learn how to realize own her dream.

What helped me to set my ears concerning Laurie’s vocal Jazz style is her choice of three songs from the Great American Songbook, one Negro Spiritual - Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child and one from the book of Jazz Standards - Gigi Gryce’s Social Call.

These familiar tunes served as a point of departure to help me better appreciate Laurie’s work on Abbey Lincoln’s more obscure Just for Me and on her two, originals.

That long-standing argument on the subject of what (and who) is or is not a jazz singer has always struck me as particularly pointless. The fact is that the singer's art is a separate one, halfway between the musician's and the actor's. One could say that it partakes of both — but one would be wrong. For the contrary is actually the case: both acting and the playing of musical instrumental music derive from singing.

The function of the singer is, and always has been, to tell stories in a musical context. Whether or not a particular singer understands the nature of his function and can fulfill it well is another matter, but the function is nevertheless there - to bring out the dramatic poignancy of the situation expressed in the lyrics, and to do it in a musical way.

Now, a singer may choose to emphasize the dramatic aspect of his task (as Sinatra does), or the musical aspect of it (as Sarah Vaughan usually does), but he or she slights the other aspect at his own peril.

Laurie Dapice, it seems to me, has ‘roots’ — not just in the short-term way in which jazz buffs use that term, but in the longer run of history. That is to say, she is, whether consciously or otherwise, in touch with the tradition of musical storytelling. If it happens that she stresses the musical side of the art, it is her prerogative to do so. But she doesn't ever slight the dramatic.

And this is what makes Laurie’s debut recording so wonderful; for one so young, she gets it: dramatic musical storytelling comes through her “parting of the veil” and announces her arrival as a significant new face on today’s Vocal Jazz Scene.

Sheila Anderson, author and on-air host, WBGO, 88.3 FM [New York] offers more observations about Laurie’s abilities and the music on

“There are a number of reasons why this project is outstanding. From her noteworthy song selections, to her impressive arrangements (she wrote them all), to her clear tone and sublime pitch, Laurie Dapice's debut release hits all the right notes. A vocalist's strengths are singing clear and precise melodies, understanding the lyrics and how to communicate them. Listen to the moving intro featuring Art Hirahara on "Midnight Sun" before bringing in the rest of the rhythm section, where Laurie takes her time and comfortably nails the notes, illuminating the beauty of the song.

Laurie has been careful to select compositions that have a deep meaning for her while paying homage to vocal icons, like Sarah Vaughan, Nina Simone and Abbey Lincoln. Her carefully constructed arrangements of "Just for Me," "Throw it Away" and "Feeling Good" avoid imitation of their versions while staying true to their forms. Notably, her rendition of "Social Call" as a slow/mid-tempo blues, with Elias Bailey laying down a grooving, soulful bass line, may surprise many. In addition to her arrangements, Laurie has included two originals, "Goodbye Summer" and "Winter Waltz", bringing to mind contemporary singer/songwriters such as Carmen Lundy, Rene Marie and Esperanza Spaulding.

With the assistance of well chosen, notable musicians who skillfully execute her vision, this recording evokes a unique vibe. Akua Dixon, takes a swinging solo on "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To" and a beautiful arco opening on "Feeling Good". The versatile, multi-reedist, Paul Lieberman adds his unique sound, be it Latin flavor, ballad, blues or up-tempo. On two selections Rufus Reid lends his warm delicate and seasoned sound. Aaron Graves' poignant solo, along with Yoron Israel's accented drumming, captivate the haunting melody of the final selection "Motherless Child". From the first note to the last, Parting the Veil is a work that reveals the signs of true artistry.” - SHEILA ANDERSON, AUTHOR, ON-AIR-HOST, WBGO, 88.3FM