This is a long overdue review!
I received a message from my friend Scott Murphy before this record was released but due to the year being unexpectedly busier than I could predict, here I am writing about this release months after it’s out.
But stll, maybe this is just a displaced review (and not late?)
But let me gather my thoughts and share them here…
Junta opens jazz saxophonist Scott Murphy’s debut album, with a hypnotic groove that sets the mood. This piece is probably the strongest most developed track on this LP. I really dig the vibe on this and the syncopation is the melody is tight. Daniel Chu takes a nice solo that leads back to a part of the melody before we hear Murphy take a solo and then it’s back to Chu for a bit before more from Murphy… and we the theme returning. There’s a feeling of hopeful optimism in this melody which is a great way to start the record.
The aptly titled Interlewd is certainly short but gives an interesting break before the next full piece kicks in. But You Ain’t No Dancer is features snakey melodic lines broken by feel changes and punctuating beats. Janek Gwizdala’s electric bass solo here is classic Gwizdala with really vocal phrases and chromatic ideas that are always lyrical. Then we hear Scott Murphy take centerstage again as he sneaks in and it appears to be a solo over a different set of changes. It’s a short one and we get to hear Daniel Chu on keys taking us to the final section of the piece. Padget Fresh Nanton does great on drums giving this section what it needs.
Next up we get another shorter piece, Lewdterin – a clever play on interlude.
The following piece Intro To, appears to be an intro to the next piece… but the spacious rubato changes gives us a chance to hear Scott’s emotive playing accompanied by just Daniel Chu on keys here.
Follow The Right Light is the longest piece on this record, and begins with the drums followed by Gwizdala taking a solo with harmonic accompaniment by Chu. The melody has a nice doubling with the sax and bass for some bit before the song builds up. We get to hear Daniel Chu seemingly take a solo, until I realize it’s really Murphy’s solo on sax as Daniel Chu playing thematic material from the melody as the backdrop to the solo. The sax solo here is probably the one that showcases Murphy’s playing the most on this record. The outro restatement of the theme also doubles a drum solo feature for Padget Fresh Nanton.
Closing the record is another shorter piece entitled Space Turbulence. This track is just under 2 minutes but man really a bopping tune (in that head bopping sense, not in the bebop language sense). The effects and textures on this are a really nice contrast to the driving drum fills, and man the keys are nice too here.
All in all, this is an interesting debut from a wonderful musician. For me, when I first heard the record, I initially wished that this was a longer album… but now listening to it again I feel that this is a good duration of an artistic statement from Scott Murphy. My hope is that this will be the beginning to many more records in the future.
Rating: 4/5
Find out about Scott’s work here: https://www.scottmurphy.co.uk/index.html
Get a dream of form here: https://scottmurphymusic.bandcamp.com/album/a-dream-of-form
I received an advance review copy of this album courtesy of Scott Murphy. Thanks Scott!
About Scott Murphy:
Scott Murphy’s musical journey began at the age of twelve with the Dumfries Youth Jazz Group (DYJG) with whom he had the pleasure to play in Spain, France and Switzerland. Through his involvement with the DYJG Scott subsequently became lead tenor saxophonist with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland (NYJOS) (playing with the likes of Mark Lockheart, Mike Walker,Malcolm Edmonstone and Chris Batchelor amongst others) and the Strathclyde Youth Jazz Orchestra (SYJO). These experiences drove Scott toward beginning a BA Applied Music Degree at the University of Strathclyde before accepting an offer from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s (formally RSAMD) to become one of only six students to undertake their groundbreaking jazz performance degree that year.
Following joining and becoming lead tenor saxophonist with the internationally acclaimed youth group the Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra (TSYJO), Scott embarked on his studies under the tutelage of Scottish saxophone icon Prof. Tommy Smith at the RCS. Through extensive tuition with Tommy (as well as with Julian Arguelles, Paul Towndrow and Konrad Wiszniewski) Scott has received a saxophone education of exceeding quality. During his time at the RCS Scott had the privilege to perform some of the world’s top musicians including Randy Brecker, Arild Andersen and Bill Evans as well as some of the finest in the UK such as Alyn Cosker, Jacqui Dankworth and Steve Hamilton. Graduating with honours in 2014 Scott immediately set about forming a unique voice in British music.
As a key member of Scottish instrumental collective Fat-Suit Scott contributed various compositions and arrangements three of the group’s recorded albums and various smaller projects under the group’s banner. A move to Kuala Lumpur in 2016 saw Scott become one of the most active members in the city’s music scene regularly playing with the region’s top musicians all over Asia. Scott formed the group NewSound with Malaysian jazz maestro John Dip Silas to showcase original music and they subsequently performed at the Singapore Jazz Festival, the Borneo Jazz Festival while releasing the acclaimed album “Bearing Witness” through ‘pH Music 指数音乐”.
Since relocating to Hong Kong in 2018, Scott has had the pleasure of appearing alongside multiple Grammy™ winners, world acclaimed Jazz artists and numerous Pop stars. Highlights include recordings/appearances with Kendrick Scott, Will Vinson, Janek Gwizdala, Hins Cheung (張敬軒), George Lam (林子祥), Rubberband, Billy Ocean and many more incredible musicians. As well as with his own projects he is a member of Tjoe Man Cheung’s #NTBM, Patrick Lui’s Jazz Orchestra and is regularly heard performing his own compositions with a variety of musicians in the city as well as further afield in China and Japan. He released his debut solo recording “a dream of form” with a world class quartet including Janek Gwizdala, Daniel Chu and Padget Fresh Nanton on April 20th 2024.
Outwith jazz Scott regularly plays various styles of music including Rock, Pop, Hip-Hop, Funk, Ska and Classical. He has appeared alongside artists such as Billy Ocean and Pat Kane (Hue & Cry) as well as at world renowned venues such as Singapore Jazz Festival, London Jazz Festival, Glasgow Jazz Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival, Borneo Jazz Festival, Budapest Jazz Club, Marina Bay Sands and many more across Europe and Asia. Radio appearances include BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio 3 as well as television appearances on MTV Asia, the BBC, STV and local broadcasters from Aberdeen to Poland. He has also been a featured performer and commissioned composer in Hong Kong at the Freespace Jazz Festival (as a composer/artist) of groundbreaking multi-sensory audio/visual experience ‘Jazz Imaginarium’) and Hong Kong International Jazz Festival.
As an educator, Scott has lead masterclasses on behalf of SYJO and as part of Fat-Suit. 2017 saw him conduct the first ever FOBISIA Jazz Ensemble in the Intermediate Music Festival in Kuala Lumpur. He has been invited to host masterclasses around Malaysia in Penang, UiTM and UPSI with his group NewSound. He’s also been an instrumental tutor as part of the BBC Big Band for Lockerbie Jazz Festival, a specialist jazz tutor with SYJO for East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire Councils and an International Educator at the Art Jazz Cooperative Festival (Ukraine). Scott currently teaches a plethora of eager students at Harrow International School in Hong Kong for whom he is a woodwind specialist.
Scott’s versatility has lead to him become an extremely in demand and busy musician in Hong Kong where he enjoys a wide and diverse spectrum of performances, recordings, arrangements and teaching.
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