Chris Murphy - Water Under the Bridge (2017)

OFFICIAL: http://chrismurphymusic.com/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/chrismurphymusic1/

TWITTER: https://www.facebook.com/chrismurphymusic1/

Written by David Shouse, posted by blog admin

Hailing from Los Angeles, California Chris Murphy drops one off the most excitingly innovative yet truly vintage sounding LPs of the decade.  His debut with The Blind Baker Blues Band leaves no stone unturned in its compositionally impenetrable and harmonically cascading musical hybrid.  A true mad scientist’s potion that seamlessly and intoxicatingly meshes together blues, pop, singer/songwriter folk, rock, rockabilly, swing, jazz, soul and sweeping, lush multi-tracked movements into a cohesive shakedown where genre and style have no place.  In Murphy’s world passion and playing mean everything.  These two components of Murphy’s music truly mean everything and are worth their weight in pure gold. 

Though steadfast and stalwart implementations of organic instruments are the main theme of this record, they are practically incorporated into each song in quite unique and transcendental ways.  Yet Murphy’s adherence to the classic ways on Water Under the Bridge keeps this record devoid of pretentious inclinations and showboating just for the sake of it.  Water Under the Bridge is packed full of honest to goodness songs that are daring in their tried and true instrumentation but willingly stretch the boundaries of somewhat set in stone musical styles (country, blues, pop, rock, rockabilly, folk, soul, etc.).  It’s the jazz element on this record that makes it dangerous and unpredictable and that dynamic is in full bloom on opening shack-shaker “Moveable Feast” and its blitzing acoustic/electric violin attack, rockabilly rhythms, crystalline acoustic guitars and fierce, surprisingly aggressive piano playing.  This anything goes formula carries over into the more moderately paced and tongue-in-cheekily titled “Joan Crawford Dances the Charleston.”  The speedier rushes of the opener are reduced to a simmering blues crawl with a 1940s country slow dance permeating the measured pacing and thoughtful piano melodies.  Six shooting vocal harmonies draw a bead on your eardrums as guitars, banjos, violins, upright bass licks and brimstone chucking fiddle playing hurtle in every direction on the road-burning bluegrass scorch of “Table for Two.”  The overload of attitude and melody make this track a keeper across the board and Murphy’s understated, honey-coated vocals paint memorable lines throughout.  This ditty meets its polar opposite in “Riverboat Blues’” creeping blues wail where extensive violin licks underpin a workingman’s rhythmic groove and searing acoustic bits. 

If anything, Water Under the Bridge is completely airtight from the first note to the last and the songwriting is of a high melodic standard yet unafraid of experimenting with genre parameters.  “I Swear I’m Going to Learn This Time” implants an accessible pop vocal harmony into an angular old school piece that gets jazzy, halts to a soulful flicker and then layers on a successive series of instrumental blows where each instrument gets a chance to shine with a lead bit.  “My Spanish Lover” has shades of Al Dimeola in its graceful, elegant acoustic guitar lines and spicy time-signature switches.  “The Lemon Rag” returns to a bluegrass blitzkrieg where speedy pacing and layer upon layer of stringed instruments coil around the tightly woven piano melodies.  There’s something for everyone on Water Under the Bridge.  Chris Murphy is a multi-instrumental visionary that really knows how to compose enrapturing music.  If anyone in the last 20 years has been a virtuoso of these particular genres, it’s without a doubt Murphy and the Blind Blake Blues Band.     

Chris Murphy - Hard Bargain (2017)

OFFICIAL: http://chrismurphymusic.com/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/chrismurphymusic1/

VIDEO: (“Cape Horn”) http://chrismurphymusic.com/video/

Written by Raymond Burris, posted by blog admin

The musical and personal experiences of a lifetime coupled with sharp skills and the discipline to do what it takes to create and get his music out there defines Chris Murphy’s artistic journey. It’s a trip that’s carried him from his New York City beginnings to the sunny climes of Southern California, appearances on television and film, and a growing discography of original compositions that, frankly, entitles him to consideration among the nation’s best songwriters. The latest release Hard Bargain was recorded in front of a live audience and it’s obvious from the start that Murphy drew a very live, enthusiastic audience for these songs. The songs are, uniformly, quite excellent. Murphy is one of the rare talents who can revisit familiar musical vehicles and appropriate the language of traditional music without sounding like a hamfisted dilettante. He comes across as the real deal here, without question, one man holding an audience spellbound with his voice, words, and precious little instrumentation.

The title song is the first moment that leaves a mark on listeners. The song has a very simple structure and Murphy lights it up with his tale of bad luck and woe . It draws deeply from the blues tradition and Murphy nails those time-honored changes with head-down energy that sparks the audience to life. “Ain’t No Place” and “Bugs Salcido” temper the mood considerably. The first track is a gospel influenced number that inspires Murphy to a soulful instrumental and vocal performance. This is a near perfect example of how Murphy sounds utterly convincing adopting the language and tropes of traditional music – this song could easily be confused with a half dozen fine gospel numbers from the early 20^th century and its obvious Murphy knows his stuff, but he never makes a great show of those moments and always uses them in clearly personal contexts where they assume added resonance.

“Holcombe Creek” definitely pursues a more Appalachian style and has an intensely cinematic quality in its violin playing common to Murphy’s best work. “White Noise” and “Last Bridge” are high points on the album thanks to their accessibility – rarely has Murphy written such undeniable hooks for his songs and they hang together so well that they are pleasures to hear from first note to last. Murphy seems to sense this, as well, and delivers one of his most inspired vocals on Hard Bargain with his turn on “Last Bridge”. “Trust” is another gut wrenching number with a mood ranging from despairing to stormy. Murphy really understands how to pare his musical and songwriting language down to the essentials to really get to the heart of what he wants to say. Things don’t noticeably brighten with the finale “Friend” but a close listener will take heart from the fact that the “I” behind all these songs is searching, never throwing in the towel, engaged with life. These songs are engaged with life – they examine how we spend our days alive without sparing punches and treating us to a dramatic musical experience. Hard Bargain is an often searing musical journey you won’t regret taking.