This early-'60s effort, not
Murphy's first but still pretty early in his discographical canon, has worn well over the years. Credit of course can be lavished on the vocalist himself, who didn't sound like this 20 years later, although every stage of his developing vocal chops has been interesting to be sure. On tracks such as "Green Dolphin Street," he dives into the rhythm with the relaxed calm of an expert. And when the result can be the harebrained complexity of "Twisted" or the funky timing of "Doodlin'," the wisdom of letting the experts handle the hard work has never been more apparent. But this is not just
Murphy's display. The undersung
Ernie Wilkins was working behind the scenes on combo and orchestra arrangements and came up with some effective and fun charts, expertly matching horn soloists such as the contrasting trumpeters
Clark Terry and
Blue Mitchell or embellishing the medium tones of
Murphy's voice with the striking tone of
Melba Liston's trombone. And what a rhythm section! This is really all
Murphy has ever needed to get off, or at least that's what he wants his fans to believe, and in this case listeners have either
Wynton Kelly or Bill Evans on piano. Either one is fine; both have been road-tested by maestro
Miles Davis. Likewise for drummer
Jimmy Cobb, whose cymbal flair keeps the time going on "Stopping the Clock" and whose tom-tom caresses and snare drum flutter literally do launch "Out of This World." This fine album is the result of several different recording sessions that clicked perfectly, produced and edited with taste by
Orrin Keepnews.