September Ballads
by Scott YanowOn this date, Mark Murphy performs recent songs by a wide variety of artists, including the team of Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays, Michael Franks, Chick Corea ("Crystal Silence") and others. Unfortunately, the material overall is proof that at least for singers, they don't write them like they used to. Murphy sounds fine, and there are some notable musicians in the backup band (including flugelhornist Art Farmer, guitarist Larry Coryell and pianist Larry Dunlap), but the overall results are just not that memorable.