| Rah | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1961 | |||
| Recorded | September & October, 1961 | |||
| Genre | Vocal jazz | |||
| Length | 35:39 | |||
| Label | Riverside | |||
| Producer | Orrin Keepnews | |||
| Mark Murphy chronology | ||||
| ||||
Rah is a 1962 studio album by Mark Murphy, arranged by Ernie Wilkins. [1]
This was Murphy's first Riverside Records album, and he is supported by an orchestra including Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly, Urbie Green, Ernie Royal, Clark Terry and Jimmy Cobb. [1]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Down Beat |   [2] |
| Allmusic |  [1] |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [3] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | [4] |
| MusicHound Jazz | [5] |
Down Beat magazine critic John A. Tynan reviewed the album for the April 12, 1962 issue and stated: "Murphy should thank his lucky stars for, among other things such as his talent, Ernie Wilkins. Wilkins has written a set of arrangements for the young jazz singer that should turn Frank Sinatra green with envy. Much of the album's success is due to the arranger's pen. [2]
The Allmusic review by Eugene Chadbourne awarded the album four stars and said that Rah "has worn well over the years...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" [1]
The original version of "My Favourite Things" on the session featured hip lyrics, including lines like "Ol' Ernie Wilkins he sure gives you wings", but these new lyrics were deemed inappropriate by composer Richard Rodgers and as a result Riverside Records/Mark Murphy were asked to substitute a 'straight' shorter version of it, but with the same arrangement. Another track left off the original album is "I'll Be Seeing You" for much the same reason. These original versions (still available in Japan) have become a collector's piece.
In the entry for Mark Murphy in MusicHound Jazz: The Essential Album Guide, Andrew Gilbert calls Rah! Murphy's "breakthrough album", a "classic session" with "a heartbreaking version of "Angel Eyes", a "definitive" "Doodlin'," "and a roller coaster version of Miles Davis's "Milestones", with Murphy "surrounded by players who know how to swing". [5] The album is assigned 5 bones. [5]
Wilbur James "Jimmy" Cobb was an American jazz drummer. He was part of Miles Davis's First Great Sextet. At the time of his death, he had been the Sextet's last surviving member for nearly thirty years. He was awarded an NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship in 2009.
Sketches of Spain is a studio album by the jazz trumpeter and composer Miles Davis. It was released on 18 July 1960 through Columbia Records. The recording took place between November 1959 and March 1960 at the Columbia 30th Street Studio in New York City. An extended version of the second movement of Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez (1939) is included, as well as a piece called "Will o' the Wisp", from Manuel de Falla's ballet El amor brujo (1914–1915). Sketches of Spain is regarded as an exemplary recording of third stream, a musical fusion of jazz, European classical, and styles from world music.
Urban Clifford "Urbie" Green was an American jazz trombonist who toured with Woody Herman, Gene Krupa, Jan Savitt, and Frankie Carle. He played on over 250 recordings and released more than two dozen albums as a soloist. He was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame in 1995.
Mark Howe Murphy was an American jazz singer based at various times in New York City, Los Angeles, London, and San Francisco. He recorded 51 albums under his own name during his lifetime and was principally known for his innovative vocal improvisations. He was the recipient of the 1996, 1997, 2000, and 2001 Down Beat magazine readers' jazz poll for Best Male Vocalist and was also nominated five times for the Grammy Award for Best Vocal Jazz Performance. He wrote lyrics to the jazz tunes "Stolen Moments" and "Red Clay".
Smokin' at the Half Note is an album by Wes Montgomery and the Wynton Kelly Trio that was released in 1965. It was recorded live in June 1965 at the Half Note Club in New York City and September 22, 1965 at Van Gelder Studios in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. The album combines guitarist Montgomery with the Miles Davis rhythm section from 1959–1963 of Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, and Jimmy Cobb. The album's versions of "Unit 7" and "Four on Six" have helped to establish these pieces as jazz standards.
James "Osie" Johnson was a jazz drummer, arranger and singer.
Ernest Brooks Wilkins Jr. was an American jazz saxophonist, conductor and arranger who spent several years with Count Basie. He also wrote for Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, and Dizzy Gillespie. He was musical director for albums by Cannonball Adderley, Dinah Washington, Oscar Peterson, and Buddy Rich.
Bernie Glow was an American trumpet player who specialized in jazz and commercial lead trumpet from the 1940s to 1970s.
Miles Davis & Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings is a box set of music by jazz musicians Miles Davis and Gil Evans originally released on CD in 1996 and remastered and re-released in 2004. It collects work from 1957 through 1968 at Columbia Records recording studios.
Count Basie/Sarah Vaughan is a 1961 album by the American jazz singer Sarah Vaughan, accompanied by the Count Basie Orchestra, with arrangements by Frank Foster, Thad Jones and Ernie Wilkins. According to James Gavin's liner notes to the 1996 CD release, Basie himself does not perform on any of the tracks.
Sonny Rollins and the Big Brass is an album by jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins, recorded for the MetroJazz label, later reissued on Verve Records as Sonny Rollins/Brass - Sonny Rollins/Trio.
Kelly Blue is an album by American jazz pianist Wynton Kelly, released in 1959.
Dizzy Gillespie at Newport is a 1957 live album by Dizzy Gillespie, featuring his big band, recorded at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival.
Basic Miles: The Classic Performances of Miles Davis is a compilation album by American jazz musician Miles Davis, released in 1973 by Columbia Records and recorded from 1955 through 1962.
Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall: The Legendary Performances of May 19, 1961 is a live album by American jazz musician Miles Davis originally released by Columbia in 1962.
Birks' Works is an album by trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie recorded in 1957 and released on the Verve label. The original album featured 10 tracks and was reissued as Birks Works: The Verve Big Band Sessions, a 2 CD compilation featuring unreleased tracks, alternate takes and tracks from Gillespie's previous 1956 albums Dizzy in Greece and World Statesman.
Trane Whistle is an album by saxophonist Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis' Big Band with arrangements by Oliver Nelson and Ernie Wilkins recorded in 1960 and released on the Prestige label.
Down Home is the third album by the double bass player and cellist Sam Jones, recorded in 1962 and released on the Riverside label.
The Drum Suite is an album by American jazz composers and arrangers Manny Albam and Ernie Wilkins featuring performances recorded in 1956 and first released on the RCA Victor label. The album was followed by Al Cohn's Son of Drum Suite.
Something to Swing About is a 1960 album by jazz singer Carmen McRae, arranged by Ernie Wilkins.
