Spud Murphy
Lyle "Spud" Murphy (born August 19, 1908 in Berlin , Germany as Miko Stephanovic ; † August 5, 2005 in Los Angeles ) was an American multi-instrumentalist and bandleader of early jazz as well as a film composer . In particular as an arranger and songwriter , he played a role in the development of the big band sound of the swing era .
Live and act
Spud Murphy came from a Serbian immigrant family, came to the United States with his mother when he was four, and grew up with a related Mormon family in Salt Lake City , Utah . He took the name of a childhood friend, first learned alto horn from Red Nichols ' father , then also the clarinet and saxophone. At the age of fourteen he had to eke out his life as a musician and toured with groups like Rainbow Seven and Jeff's Hot Rocks . In 1927/1928 he played with Jimmy Joy , in 1928 with Ross Gorman and Slim Lamar (as oboist ). In the early 1930s he worked as a saxophonist and arranger for Austin Wylie , Jan Garber , Mal Hallett and Joe Haymes , and finally for Benny Goodman (1935-1937). During this time he also provided arrangements and songs for the Casa Loma Orchestra , Isham Jones , Les Brown , Fletcher Henderson , Bob Crosby and many other musicians.
From 1937 to 1940 Murphy led his own big band and recorded for Decca and Bluebird Records in 1938/1939 . In the 1940s he lived in Los Angeles , where he worked in the film studios and participated in numerous film scores, he also taught (System of Horizontal Composition) . In the 1950s he recorded two more jazz-oriented albums and had a short-term combo that dealt with music from the Third Stream ; his later career focused on classical and film music. He has written 26 books, including on his own composition system (Equal Interval System) , which was studied by Oscar Peterson , Bennie Green , Herbie Hancock , Gerry Wiggins , Buddy Collette and Quincy Jones . In 2003, his friend, conductor Dean Mora , recorded a number of Murphy's older arrangements on a tribute album (Goblin Market) . Murphy died in Los Angeles two weeks before his 97th birthday. He is buried in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) .
Discography
- New Orbits in Sound ( GNP Crescendo Records , 1955–1957)
- Gone with the Woodwinds ( Contemporary Records , 1955)
Web links
- Spud Murphy at Allmusic (English)
- Spud Murphy in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- portrait
- Murphy's Equal Interval System website
- Spud Murphy in the database of Find a Grave (English)
Individual evidence
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Murphy, Spud |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Spephanovic, Miko; Murphy, Lyle |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American jazz musician, film composer and arranger |
DATE OF BIRTH | August 19, 1908 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Berlin , Germany |
DATE OF DEATH | August 5, 2005 |
Place of death | Los Angeles , USA |