Mark Murphy - Jazz Standards (1998)

Featuring dates from the '70s for Muse (originally on LP), Jazz Standards is not a complete or comprehensive collection of Mark Murphy's very best recordings for the label. But it's a good overview of his middle career, he's in fine voice, and the backup players are first-rate. There's only one of his originals, but many of his inventive lyrics to standards are here, along with other modern jazz pieces. The standouts are McCoy Tyner's "Effendi" (in F and D), Lee Morgan's "Ceora" (as "Ceora Lives"), the all-time classic "Bijou," Sonny Rollins' swaggering "Doxy," and Thelonious Monk's poignant "Ask Me Now." Missing (save "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat") are his immortal Bop for Kerouac sessions, which stand alone, but there's plenty in this two-CD, 26-track collection to show how Murphy had matured, and how fertile his mind was. Recommended, if you can find it.