Mark Murphy has long been acknowledged as an almost perfect example of the dedicated, unswerving jazz singer; rather incredibly, his career began with the efforts of a couple of major labels to present him as a suave, smooth, teenage-idol type of pop vocalist. This album represented his first escape into uncompromising jazz. Backed by some unusual Ernie Wilkins arrangements (all brass and rhythm), Murphy’s repertoire ranges from jazz-oriented evergreens (“Angel Eyes,” “Green Dolphin Street”) to lyrics added to instrumental jazz classics (“Milestones,” “Doodlin’”).

with Clark Terry, Blue Mitchell, Joe Wilder, Bernie Glow, Ernie Royal, Jimmy Cleveland, Urbie Green, Melba Liston, Wynton Kelly, Bill Evans, Barry Galbraith, Sam Herman, George Duvivier, Art Davis, Jimmy Cobb