Spencer Murphy (born 1988, Syracuse, New York) is an American bassist and producer, living in Brooklyn, NY.
Spencer Murphy (born 1988, Syracuse, New York) is an American bassist and producer, living in Brooklyn, NY.
Murphy graduated from Jamesville-DeWitt High School in 2006 before attending SUNY Purchase, where in 2010 he earned a degree in jazz studies. [1]
Murphy had an extended residency at Smalls Jazz Club from 2007-2017, leading a quintet that included Tivon Pennicott, Stacy Dillard, John Chin, and Lawrence Leathers. [2] In the same period, he featured or was featured with Joel Frahm, Melissa Aldana, Dayna Stephens, Ari Hoenig, Emmett Cohen, and Johnny O'Neal. [3]
While a student at SUNY Purchase, Murphy met Gabriel Garzon-Montano, with whom he co-wrote and recorded Mokaad's Booty EP (2012). He played bass with Garzon-Montano's subsequent solo project through 2015, performing at South by Southwest, as well as opening for Lenny Kravitz's Strut World Tour. [4] Murphy co-wrote "Sour Mango," a single from Garzon-Montano's Jardín (2017). In 2020, Murphy appeared as a bassist on Nick Hakim's Will This Make Me Good?, reprising this role a year later alongside long-time collaborators Onyx Collective, on Hakim's co-release with saxophonist Roy Nathanson, Small Things. [5]
In October of 2021, he presented "GRASS," an original work for poetry and music at The Owl in Brooklyn, which featured Bartlett, Oren Bloedow, Taja Cheek, and Craig Weinrib. [6] [7] The same month, he originated the bass chair in the premiere of Only an Octave Apart, starring Justin Vivian Bond and Anthony Roth Costanzo, with music direction from Thomas Bartlett and arrangements by Nico Muhly. [8] In January of 2022, Murphy accompanied Bond and Roth Costanzo as they performed selections from the show with the New York Philharmonic, as well as backing the duo in a performance on NPR Tiny Desk. [9]
In August of 2022, he performed with Helado Negro and Silvana Estrada at Central Park Summerstage, [10] celebrating the release of Doris Muñoz biopic Mija. [11] The following year, he appeared at the 35th Annual Tibet House Benefit at Carnegie Hall, performing with Marc Anthony Thompson, Zsela Thompson, and Scorchio Quartet as Chocolate Genius Inc. [12] In 2024, Chocolate Genius Inc. headlined Big Ears Festival, with a band consisting of both Thompsons, along with Murphy, Marc Ribot, John Medeski, Claude Coleman Jr, and Daniel Aged. [13]
With Isaiah Barr and Lucien Smith, Murphy is the co-founder of FOOD, a label project named in honor of legendary artist-run restaurant FOOD of 1970's SoHo. [14]
Fresh Air is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's host is Terry Gross. As of 2017, the show was syndicated to 624 stations and claimed nearly 5 million listeners. The show is fed live weekdays at 12:00 noon ET. In addition, some stations carry Fresh Air Weekend, a re-programming of highlights of the week's interviews. In 2016, Fresh Air was the most-downloaded podcast on iTunes.
The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in musical theatre.
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Curtis Fowlkes was an American jazz trombonist and singer. He was a founding member of The Jazz Passengers. He had a twin brother James May Fowlkes and his parents were James Ray and Rosa May Fowlkes.
Omar Hakim is an American drummer, producer, arranger and composer. His session work covers jazz, jazz fusion, and pop music. He has worked with Weather Report, David Bowie, Foo Fighters, Chic, Sting, Madonna, Dire Straits, Bryan Ferry, Journey, Kate Bush, George Benson, Miles Davis, Daft Punk, Mariah Carey, The Pussycat Dolls, David Lee Roth, and Celine Dion.
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Sullivan Joseph Fortner is an American jazz pianist. He was the regular pianist in trumpeter Roy Hargrove's band from 2010 to 2017, and has released two albums on Impulse! Records.
Take Me to the Alley is the fourth studio album by Gregory Porter, released on May 6, 2016, through Blue Note Records. It earned Porter a 2017 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album.
Anthony Roth Costanzo is an American countertenor. He began his career in musical theatre at the age of 11. Costanzo is a graduate of Princeton University and of the Manhattan School of Music. In 2012, he won first place at the Operalia competition. In 2009, he was a Grand Finals Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. He has been an actor in film and a producer and curator. He is the designated general director and president of Opera Philadelphia.
Tivon Pennicott is an American composer, orchestrator and tenor saxophonist.
Jake Sherman is an American singer-songwriter and producer. He has released five solo albums: The eponymous Jake Sherman (2012), Jake Sherman Returns (2016), Jake Sherman Gets Sexy (2020), along with You're a Dream (2020), and What a Wonderful World (2023).
Sasha Berliner is an American vibraphonist and composer.
Nicolas Hakim is an American musician based in Queens, New York, United States. His first EP, Where Will We Go Part 1 & 2, was self-released in 2014. He released three albums with ATO: Green Twins (2017), Will This Make Me Good (2020), and Cometa (2022).
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Onyx Collective is a content brand owned and operated by Disney Entertainment, which primarily consists of projects from creators of color and other underrepresented groups. The brand was first launched on May 17, 2021, with several projects under development for Hulu and Disney+.
Onyx Collective is an American experimental jazz group, founded by saxophonist Isaiah Barr and drummer Austin Williamson. Since forming in 2014, the group has released 7 albums and featured a rotating cast of dozens of members and guest musicians.