The Turk Murphy Jazz Band Recorded in Concert at the 1976 Inverness Music Festival

Turk Murphy (1915-1987) was one of the giants of jazz in the San Francisco area, beginning with his tenure in the Lu Watters Yerba Buena Jazz Band and continuing with his own band in the late 1940’s through the years that followed until the time of this festival recording and, of course, beyond. The disc opens with the festival chairman introducing the band, and then Leon Oakley leaps out front leading the band into a powerful rendition of “Struttin’ with Some Barbecue,” setting the tenor for the rest of the concert. In his liner notes Vince Saunders alludes to Oakley’s reverence for Louis Armstrong, and no clearer evidence of it could be found than his breaks on this tune, his phrasing, his nonpareil half-valve technique, and throughout ensemble passages his bending notes in all registers. Whether playing his horn open or muted, he does not let up on any tune and drives the ensemble. Anyone who was dozing off before the band started had to be up and alert well before they finished this first number And so it continues throughout the rest of the concert. Murphy always seemed fortunate in his choice of sidemen, this band being no exception, all of the men having been with him for some ten or more years at this time. Helm was long an associate of Murphy in the YBJB, and they dovetail well, as in “Buddy’s Habit,” for example, and in their vocals on “Fifty Miles of Elb