Mark Murphy: Live in Athens, Greece

It’s hard to imagine more disparate vocalists than Shirley Bassey and Mark Murphy, but Greek guitarist Spiros Exaras, the driving force behind this 2008 club date, insists in the liner notes that among myriad gigs with international headliners only Bassey has mesmerized him like Murphy had. By the time Murphy made his journey to Athens, for a three-night residency at the Gazarte Club, his health was rapidly failing. Remarkably, it is near impossible to detect the slightest hint of infirmity across this 75-minute set.

Superbly supported by Exaras, two more Greek players-bassist George Georgiadis and drummer Alex Drakos-and German pianist Thomas Rueckert, Murphy is firing on all cylinders, gleefully exercising his unbounded imagination, inimitable thrust-and-parry style and outsize interpretive genius. Even when he calls out a cigar-puffing patron, his admonishment is seamlessly enwoven.