The Merion Inn in New Jersey, above
Released earlier this month Mark Murphy’s new vinyl EP A Beautiful Friendship Remembering Shirley Horn is beginning to pick up airplay on Jazz FM, and it’s already attracting strong word of mouth. I’ve now seen the liner notes for the record, and it’s worth referring to one particular detail that clears up one small mystery attached to this remarkable recording. Murphy with trumpeter Till Brönner, pianist Alex Minasian, bassist Curtis Lundy, and drummer Steve Williams recorded the album at the Merion Inn in Cape May, New Jersey in November. Why there? Well, liner note writer Christopher Loudon clears up the mystery after referring to the fact that it was the late pianist George Mesterhazy who came up with the notion that Murphy should pay tribute to Shirley Horn in the first place.
“Mesterhazy was a longtime resident of Cape May, New Jersey, where the love of his life, Vicki Watson, owns the Merion Inn. At the funeral, Leduc [Murphy’s manager Jean-Pierre Leduc] met Bob Fowler, Mesterhazy’s great friend and first choice as engineer for the EP, who heartily embraced the project’s expanded intent. Watson offered up the Inn, transforming it into a makeshift studio, and a well timed trans Atlantic meeting closed the circle.” That meeting with Gearbox label chief Darrel Sheinman allowed the record to come out on the London-based label.
Stephen Graham