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Jazz Articles about Mike Murley
The Nimmons Tribute: Volume 1 - To The Nth
by Jack Bowers
The big news in Canadian jazz circles in 2019 was that musician and educator Phil Nimmons had retired—at age ninety-six. His decision marked the end of several eras that began more than seventy years ago and included forty-six years as a music teacher at the University of Toronto, ten acclaimed recordings as leader of his own groups, numerous honors as an educator and musician, a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005 from the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of ...
read moreMike Murley: Taking Flight
by Don Phipps
Mike Murley's Taking Flight is a candlelight romance of well-chosen covers and two original compositions. At times, Murley's sax sound is slightly reminiscent of Ben Webster while, when he plays ballads, one can hear echoes of John Coltrane. In short, his sound is sweet and warm. Combining this sound with the elegant contributions of his bandmates gives the album a sophisticated appeal, like sipping a cosmopolitan in black tie at a glass bar. Eschewing a drummer, Murley's ensemble ...
read moreThe Mike Murley Quintet: Extra Time
by Jerry D'Souza
The Mike Murley Quintet has been together for over ten years, and this is its fourth release as a group. Murley leads some of the finest musicians anywhere, and they are all Canadian. Their music is outstanding too, which makes any release worth salivating for. It is a moot point to say that each outing finds them in a more compact groove, but the ease with which they understand each other helps create an atmosphere where they can pick the ...
read moreMike Murley/Ed Bickert/Steve Wallace: Live at the Senator
by Dave Nathan
This trio of excellent Canadian musicians have been performing together for the last couple of years and are captured in a live performance from the Top of the Senator, one of Toronto's jazz venues. This session features standards plus a couple of Mike Murley originals. Murley's sax, which is out in front on most tunes, is definitely from the Lester Young school with a Stan Getz tone. With his handling of such tunes as “I Should Care" it's obvious that ...
read moreVarious Artists: The Power of Beauty: A Tribute to Stan Getz
by Jack Bowers
For the third in its ongoing “tribute" series (the first two honored Oscar Peterson and Wes Montgomery), Radioland Records engaged the services of half a dozen of Canada's finest tenor saxophonists and asked each of them to compose a tune to articulate his impression of the late Stan Getz's virtuosity and to record a second piece that exemplifies Stan's stylistic diversity and range. The Power of Beauty is a natural title for such an endeavor, as Getz was ...
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