Live at Club 43 • April 23, 1966 (2LP)

During his little-documented British years, Mark Murphy transformed from a promising young jazz singer into the wildly inventive vocal artist who would later redefine the genre. Live At Club ’43 captures Murphy in 1966, six years before his breakthrough Muse recordings, already leaping between low notes and falsetto, reshaping melodies, scatting with fearless imagination, and sounding unlike any other vocalist of the period.

Supported by pianist Joe Palin, bassist Alan Cooper, and a young Tony Oxley, Murphy reinvents standards such as “Sometimes I’m Happy,” “Tenderly,” “A Foggy Day,” and “Gone With The Wind,” while also delving into blues, vocalese, and rapid-fire bebop. Heard here in previously unreleased performances, Murphy is at a pivotal moment - far from the U.S. but on the brink of discovering his singular voice.