Backgrounder: Spud Murphy - Gone With the Woodwinds

Lyle “Spud" Murphy was one of the more fascinating figures in jazz and today is among the least known. Murphy was a multi-instrumentalist, bandleader and arranger. He was one of Benny Goodman's arrangers in the mid-1930s and wrote charts for many other bands. 

But his claim to fame was his 12-volume course in composing, arranging, and orchestration for the professional musician titled The Equal Interval System. He taught mostly in Los Angeles. His EIS was a modern system of music composition that he developed over a lifetime of research.

Now forget everything I just said. The album you're about to hear is fascinating on so many levels. Just absorb it and enjoy.

Here's Spud Murphy's Gone With the Woodwinds, recorded in Los Angeles for Contemporary in 1955 and heard here without ad interruptions...