Mark Murphy - Bridging A Gap

In 1972, Mark Murphy returned to the USA after living and working in the UK for much of the 1960s.  He’d recorded off and on for a variety of European labels, then in November 1972 he made his first of sixteen albums for Joe Fields’ Muse records. 

Bridging A Gap is quite unlike anything that Mark Murphy had recorded previously.  Moody, bluesy and largely consisting of rare* and contemporary songs, such as Michel Columbier’s We Could Be Flying and Peter Nero’s Sunday In New York.  The LP effectively works as a marker for what would come over the next forty years - the most vital stage of his career had begun. 

Combined with his velvet brown baritone, the man’s reading of lyric and melody on this record is remarkable – quite unlike any other singers that I had heard previously.   It’s almost as if Mark Murphy was conducting the band with his voice.  Meanwhile, David Matthews’ charts for the young Brecker Brothers are the icing on the cake.  The record begs repeated plays and also practically insists on a new voyage of discovery.  Listen to this album and the odds are that you’ll want to lay your hands on anything and everything that he put his name to. 

And there’s the problem.  In his own words, Mark Murphy’s albums weren’t released – they escaped.  Here in the UK, none of his albums – least of all the Muse records – stayed in the racks for very long.  Albums released for other labels either went out-of-print quickly or were only available sporadically.  This situation was largely brought about by his frequent and well-attended appearances in the UK (mainly at venues such as London’s Jazz Café and Pizza on the Park).  In pre-internet days, it is safe to say that tracking down Mark Murphy albums almost became a sport as one hopped from back street shop to megastore in what was often a fruitless search.

In the mid-90s, the Muse label was sold to Joel Dorn – several compilation albums drawn from the label’s back catalogue appeared on an assortment of labels, mainly 32 Jazz.  As far as we can tell, everything ever released (by anyone) on Muse is now out-of-print, reissued or otherwise, and has been for some years.  This accounts for the high prices currently being demanded (and paid) for all of the Mark Murphy albums on Muse - or even 32 Jazz.

Here then is the first of the Muse albums.  Many of these have appeared on the internet in vinyl rips of varying quality**.  Until the records are reissued in one form or another, have a listen to Bridging A Gap – ripped lovingly from an exceptionally clean copy of an LP album***.

Track listing: -

1.       Come And Get Me

2.       Sausalito

3.       She's Gone

4.       Steamroller

5.       We Could Be Flying

6.       Sunday In New York

7.       Gee Baby Ain't I Good To You

8.       No More

9.       As Time Goes By

10.   I'm Glad There Is You

The Players: -

Bass – Ron Carter

Drums, Percussion – Jimmy Madison

Guitar – Sam Brown

Piano, Organ – Pat Rebillot

Tenor Saxophone – Mike Brecker

Trumpet – Randy Brecker

Muse MR 5009 (1972)

download here

* Rare as in scarce as well as eclectic!

** Not helped by the fact that American copies of Muse records were seldom pressed in the best quality vinyl. 

*** I’d love to be able to offer the complete set of the Muse/Murphy albums on here, but that would mean raiding my CD collection.  Hmm.  Not sure if I really want to do that.  This is a vinyl blog, after all. Let me think about that.