Title: Orientation
Artist: Murphy, Greg
Label: CD Baby
Product Type: COMPACT DISCS
UPC: 676695017229
Genre: Jazz

BIOGRAPHY Pianist Greg Murphy can burn with the best of them. Referred to as "the embodiment of liquid flame" in Cadence Magazine, and having played with and been nurtured by great musicians representing the traditions of New Orleans, Chicago, and New York, Greg has developed his own voice, which truly makes him part of the jazz lineage. Add to that a compositional style that represents a variety of jazz traditions, a teaching style that adapts to the student, and a learning approach that embraces all possibilities, Greg has the whole package. Greg was born in St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada on December 1st 1959 and moved to Chicago with his family in 1960. He began his musical adventures at the age of eleven when he joined the Ray-Fisk Grammar School Band. His classical studies began later that year with Lucia Santini at Roosevelt University. Between 1980 and 1984, he played with the jazz/funk band LFTR, The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Big Band, The Northern Illinois University (NIU) Big Band, and other local Chicago bands. After being awarded a jazz study grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1984, Greg went to New Orleans to study with the eminent pianist and jazz educator, Ellis Marsalis. He decided to remain there and began recording and performing with The New Orleans Jazz Couriers, Percussion Incorporated, and his own group, The Fusicians. The percussion Incorporated album Drum Talk was recorded and released in 1987. While living in the crescent city, Greg performed with Donald Harrison, Wynton Marsalis, and countless other great musicians. Greg moved to New York in 1987 and began what has become a long association with multi-directional drummer, Rashied Ali. Greg has been performing and recording with Ali and his various groups throughout Europe, Canada, and the United States, from 1987 to the present. One tour in 1990 featured Carlos Santana and Archie Shepp. During 1989, Greg went to Tokyo, Japan with his trio for two months, and toured the United States with a quartet. In 1990, saxophonist and composer Ornette Coleman asked Greg to put together a rhythm section for a performance of Coleman's new, jazz-funk original music. The month-long project resulted in a successful performance. Later that year, he led a septet (Club Bird Jazz All Stars) in Yokohama for three months, and in 1991 he performed solo in St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada--where he was born. During this period he studied in New York City with Ron Carter and Jaki Byard at City College and The Manhattan School of Music, as well as privately with Larry Willis and Walter Bishop Jr. In 1995 and 1996, he recorded Meditations and Bells with Rashied Ali and Prima Materia on the Knitting Factory Works label. In 1999, Worldbeat records released A Mano with Raphael Cruz, and Heart Sound with Tisziji Munoz was released on the Anami record label. In 2001, No One in Particular, again with Ali, was released on the Survival record label, and Greg wrote the title tune. Let's Get Started, his first recording as a leader, was released in 2004. Greg had a two-month engagement in Shanghai, Peoples Republic of China in 2005; then in May, 2006 he graduated from New Jersey City University where he received a Bachelors of Music Degree in Jazz Performance while studying piano and arranging with Allen Farnham and Pete McGuiness. Also in 2006, Greg's CD Orientation was released on the Murphasaurus record label, coinciding with two new releases by The Rashied Ali Quintet: Judgment Day Vol. 1 and Judgment Day Vol. 2 on the Survival record label. All three of these releases received significant airplay and spent several weeks on the charts. In 2008 Raphael Cruz released his new CD Time Travel, and Greg launched a new online mp3 store called JazzIntensity.com. At the present time, Greg continues to perform with his own group and other professionals in and around New York City and beyond. His future aspirations include continuing to perform and record, as well as having a prominent roll in the development of aspiring musicians. Some of the other people Greg has played with are: Barry Altshul, Wes Anderson, Mickey Bass, Cindy Blackman, Terrence Blanchard, T. K. Blue, Hammiet Blueitt, Don Braden, George Braithwait, John Brown, Iris Chacon, Alan Chase, Ravi Coltrane, Harry Conick, Jr., Jesse Davis, Steve Davis, Andy Eulau, Flava Flav, Al Foster, Mat Garrison, Charles Gayle, Victor Goines, Ray Gomez, Roy Hargrove, Winard Harper, Vincent Herring, Tim Horner, David Jensen, Victor Jones, Frank Lacey, Joe Lovano, Branford and Delfayo Marsalis, Christian McBride, Charles McPherson, Tyler Mitchell, Grachan Moncur, III, T. S. Monk, Wilbur Morris, Steve Neil, Charles Nevile, William Parker, Don Pate, C. C. Peniston, Arthur Rhames, Larry Ridley, Dale Robbins, Jay Rodriguez, Antoine Roney, Bill Saxton, Ron Sutton, Lew Tabackin, Arthur Taylor, James Blood Ulmer, Reginald Veal, Bill Ware, David S. Ware, Willie Williams, Frank Wright, Al & Ruth Wright, Eric Wyatt, and Kiani Zawadi. REVIEWS GREG MURPHY 'Orientation' Some recordings get me within the first seconds of listening, that's the case with Greg Murphy's Orientation. The first cut, Triple Dipple, opens with a creative energy which is surged by multiple time feels and meter changes. The groove is positive and engaging. The solo's are masterful, which leads me as a listener right through the entire disc of music. I was thoroughly entertained and the music created an eagerness in me to want to see this band "live" the next time I was in NYC! Murphy is truly fine keyboardist with [an]excellent background. As many great instrumentalists, Murphy is drawn by the keyboard masters from various era's. I know this because the nature of his compositions [displayed] this on this recording. He is as comfortable on grand piano as a multitude of keyboard instruments. Many people try to perform in many contrasting genres, but few attain to convincing performances. Murphy and gang do this in convincing style. Quality recordings have the necessary contrasts that draw their listeners to their music. Murphy's other compositions include Trane's Mode" which is a minor blues, which has a strong post-bop flavor. The variety continues as Murphy shows several different sides of his musical personality. Two fusion numbers dominated by keyboards and electric bass, "Puffin Land" and "Alternate Voices", form a break between the acoustic sections. My favorite tracks are Murphy's solo piano standards, ballads "I Thought About You" and "What's New". He displays fine touch and sensitivity. Most impressive, he show's that he is at home in these traditional mainstream styles as well as the more modern modal music. There are other fine performances by the other instrumentalists on this disc. It is a fine ensemble. All the players are fine soloists and ensemble musicians. The group plays with a passion and groove which draws the audience into each performance. It's refreshing to hear musicians who play and perform in a manner that reflects the natural evolution of Jazz, without losing originality, while creating their own voice in music! Murphy is one of those people. - Rick Holland Jazz Radio 24 seven August 2006 GREG MURPHY, ORIENTATION, MURPHASAURUS 003. Triple Dipple / Orientation / Trane's Mode / I Thought About You / Keeping It Simple / Puffin Land / Alternate Voices / What's New / Cedar Salad / A Strain From Wayne. 51:39. Murphy, p, kybd; Raphael Cruz, perc; Alex Hernandez, b; Noel Sagerman, d; Lawrence Clark, ts. April 5, May 9, 2005, Hampton, NJ. Funny thing about Greg Murphy's second release under his own name: With the exception of the chestnut "I Thought About You," the first half dozen or so songs had me hooked, line and sinker as they say. His "Sahara"-era Tyner intensity and quicksilver Latin-fusion compositions hit me as a heady mix of technical wow and intellectual depth. But then came tracks six and seven with their cheesy, wheezy electro-keyboards, a real turn-off

Tracks:
1.1 Triple Dipple
1.2 Orientation
1.3 Trane's Mode
1.4 I Thought About You
1.5 Keeping It Simple
1.6 Puffin Land
1.7 Alternate Voices
1.8 What's New
1.9 Cedar Salad
1.10 A Strain from Wayne