It was the jazz equivalent of a love-in when Mark Murphy opened a two-night engagement to a packed house at Renards last week. In the process, he confirmed why, at 67, he is still regarded as one of the finest jazz singers of his own - or any other - generation. Impeccable time, deft and sure control of pitch, an ear that can take him unerringly through the most difficult of changes, especially when he scats, he is jazz to the manner born.
And, not incidentally, the epitome of hip, as he showed with his opening take on All Blues to Oscar Brown's lyrics. In the exposed quartet setting - Alan Broadbent (piano), Louis Stewart (guitar), Michael Coady (bass) and Kieran Philips (drums) - Murphy made it clear from the start that he was going to take chances; no safety net was sought or required. The superb solos from Broadbent and Stewart that followed set the tone for the rest of the evening, which grew steadily better as the concert went on.
The Miles Davis acknowledgments continued with the rest of a first set which included Autumn Leaves, Bye Bye Blackbird, On Green Dolphin Street, Milestones and Murphy's personal tribute, a lovely ballad called, simply, Miles. Throughout, his ability to rework the material much as a solo instrumentalist would - even using the microphone expressively to add to his impressive control and manipulation of dynamics - showed what a consummate jazz musician he is.
With, perhaps, more familiar and certainly more accessible material, the second set worked even better, as bass and drums relaxed. Murphy introduced But Not For Me with a stunningly-executed unaccompanied verse, while his and Broadbent's unnamed ballad, taken as a duet, was a lovely performance. A quartet of blues, Jelly, Jelly, Twisted, Parker's Mood - the last with a virtuoso recital of a passage from Jack Kerouac's novel The Subterraneans - and C Jam Blues showed what he and the group could do with a venerable form.