Although considered to be the greatest jazz singer the world has ever known, Mark Murphy remained underground with a cult status. Perhaps the pinnacle of his recording career was Midnight Mood released by SABA in 1968, aligning his unique vocal skills with the Clarke-Boland Octet. With the arrangements of Francy Boland, Kenny Clarke playing offbeats and between-beats, and individualists like Sahib Shihab and Ake Persson, the backing on this date provided a unique dialogue for Murphy. After the latin touch of Jimmy Woode’s ‘Sconsolato’, the mood switches on side 2’s ‘Just Give Me Time’ – a hot, uptempo jazzy bossa dancer, with a rich sound and room-filling low end on this all-analogue 45.