Very Early

Murphy was on staff at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, Austria as a vocal instructor 1990-1997 and 2001.{{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Peter |title=This is hip: the life of Mark Murphy |date=2018 |publisher=Equinox Publishing |isbn=978-1-78179-473-9 |series=Popular music history |location=Sheffield, UK; Bristol, CT |pages=106}} In 1993 he recorded an album with some of their students and local professionals.{{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Peter |title=This is Hip: The Life of Mark Murphy |date=2018 |publisher=Equinox Publishing |isbn=978-1-78179-473-9 |series=Popular music history |location=Sheffield, UK; Bristol, CT |pages=111}}Weitlaner, Wolfgang. (1993). Very Early. (Liner notes). Mark Murphy. West & East Music. The album was produced by trumpeter Oliver Growenewald who also did the arrangements and was studying at Graz at the time. Growenwald writes, "During my years in Graz, I was able to form my first nine piece band. I was also fortunate to gain experience working with musicians like Mark Murphy and Art Farmer. I had the great chance to write arrangements for Mark Murphy’s CD “Very Early” (West & East, 1992) and the opportunity to perform at Festivals in Montreux, Vienna, Warsaw, and Nancy. During this time, I also met Ack van Rooyen and Chuck Israels, with whom I continued my studies after leaving Graz".Growenewald, Oliver (May 15, 2024). "The Loop". olivergroenewald.com.

This release was Oliver Groenewald's first as producer. Groenewald's Nine Piece Band is augmented by Stjepko Gut (trumpet, track 1) and Ewald Gaulhofer (percussion, tracks 1, 7, 11). The nonet includes Oliver Groenewald and Andreas Pesendorfer on trumpets and flugelhorns, Michael Berbaur on trombone, Marko Lackner and Klemens Pliem on saxophones, Thomas Rottleuthner on clarinet and baritone saxophone, Emil Spanyi on piano, Thorsten Zimmermann on bass, and Franz Trattner on drums.

Murphy contributes original lyrics to one of the tunes, "Without Form" with music by Fernando Corrêa. The standards and jazz tunes on this release were never recorded previously by Murphy and were not recorded on any subsequent studio albums. He did perform some of them in his live concerts, including "Everything Happens to Me".{{Music ratings

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In his book A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers, Will Friedwald said The Dream and "Very Early, with a Viennese nonet known as "Nine", are his best projects with a large ensemble".{{Cite book |last=Friedwald |first=Will |title=A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers |date=2010 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-375-42149-5 |edition=Kindle |location=New York |pages=352}}

Colin Larkin assigns 3 stars to the album in The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music.{{Cite book |last=Larkin |first=Colin |title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2002 |publisher=Virgin |others=Colin Larkin, Muze UK Ltd (eds.) |isbn=978-1-85227-923-3 |edition=Concise 4th |location=London |pages=899–900}} (3 stars means, "Good. By the artist's usual standards and therefore recommended.").

1. "The Song is You" (Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II) – 5:04
2. "Early Autumn" (Ralph Burns, Woody Herman, Johnny Mercer) – 5:15
3. "A Sleepin' Bee" (Harold Arlen, Truman Capote) – 4:54
4. "Without Form" (Fernando Corrêa, Mark Murphy) – 6:07
5. "I'm All Smiles" (Michael Leonard, Herbert Martin) – 5:04
6. "Duke Ellington's Sound of Love" (Charles Mingus) – 2:50
7. "Love Came on Stealthy Fingers" (Bob Dorough) – 5:25
8. "I Cover the Waterfront" (Johnny Green, Edward Heyman) – 5:08
9. "Very Early" (Bill Evans, Carol Hall) – 5:01
10. "Everything Happens to Me" (Matt Dennis, Tom Adair) – 5:04
11. "Hello Young Lovers" (Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II) – 6:10

; Performance

• Mark Murphy – vocals
• Thorsten Zimmermann – bass
• Emil Spanyi – piano
• Klemens Pliem – tenor saxophone
• Franz Trattner – drums
• Marko Lackner – alto saxophone, soprano saxophone
• Thomas Rottleuthner – baritone saxophone, bass clarinet
• Oliver Groenewald – flugelhorn, trumpet, arranger
• Andy Pesendorfer – flugelhorn, trumpet
• Ewald Gaulhofer – percussion (tracks 1, 7, 11)
• Michael Berbaur – trombone
• Stjepko Gut – trumpet (track 1)
• Ray Anderson – arranger (track 6)
• Sy Johnson – arranger (track 6)

;

; Production

• Franjo Valenic – engineer, recorded at Pink Noise Recording Studio, Klagenfurt, 1993
• Jörg Weitlaner – photography
• Oliver Groenewald – producer
• Harry Huber – executive producer
• Joe Remick – liner notes
• Wolfgang Weitlaner – liner notes

• [https://musicbrainz.org/release-group/93aa03c7-b265-4374-aa5b-d603d779d3bc Very Early] at MusicBrainz (release group)
• [https://www.discogs.com/release/7567597-Mark-Murphy-Very-Early Very Early] at Discogs (master release)
• Mark Murphy in [https://archive.org/search?query=external-identifier%3A%22urn%3Aoclc%3Arecord%3A1280806807%22 The Penguin Guide to Jazz] at Internet Archive
• Mark Murphy in [https://archive.org/search?query=external-identifier%3A%22urn%3Aoclc%3Arecord%3A1036937988%22 The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide] at Internet Archive

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Category:Mark Murphy (singer) albums

Category:1993 albums