Melvin Edward Alton "Turk" Murphy (December 16, 1915 – May 30, 1987) was an American trombonist and bandleader, who played

traditional A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

and

Dixieland jazz Dixieland jazz, also referred to as traditional jazz, hot jazz, or simply Dixieland, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band ...

Biography

He was born in

Palermo, California Palermo is a census-designated place (CDP) in Butte County, California, United States. The population was 5,382 at the 2010 census, down from 5,720 at the 2000 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total a ...

, United States. Murphy served in the Navy during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, during which he played and recorded with

Lu Watters Lucius Carl Watters (December 19, 1911 – November 5, 1989) was a trumpeter and bandleader of the Yerba Buena Jazz Band. Jazz critic Leonard Feather said, “The Yerba Buena band was perhaps the most vital factor in the reawakening of public i ...

and

Bunk Johnson Willie Gary "Bunk" Johnson (December 27, 1879 – July 7, 1949) was an American prominent jazz trumpeter in New Orleans. Johnson gave the year of his birth as 1879, although there is speculation that he may have been younger by as much as a dec ...

. In 1952, he headed Turk Murphy's Jazz Band, which included pianist Wally Rose, clarinetist Bob Helm, banjoist

Dick Lammi Dick Lammi (January 15, 1909 – November 29, 1969) was an American jazz tubist and bassist associated with Dixieland jazz. Lammi played violin and banjo early in his career, and played as a banjoist in various groups in the Pacific Northwest in ...

, and tubaist Bob Short. They played at the Italian Village at Columbus and Lombard in San Francisco's North Beach. The band appeared on ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...

'' twice, in 1959 and 1965. In 1979, Robert Schulz began an eight-year stint with the band. Other notable band members included trumpeters Don Kinch and Leon Oakley; pianists Pete Clute, Don Keeler, and Ray Skjelbred; banjoist Carl Lunsford, tuba and trombonist Bill Carroll, singers Pat Yankee and Jimmy Stanislaw. Murphy was the singer for the 1971 ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...

'' cartoon shorts, "The Alligator King" and "No. 9 Martian Beauty". They were animated and produced by his friend

Bud Luckey William Everett Luckey (July 28, 1934 – February 24, 2018) was an American animator, artist, cartoonist, composer, illustrator, musician, singer and voice actor. He worked at the animation studio Pixar, where he worked as a character designer ...

. Murphy arranged and performed on many of Luckey's other ''Sesame Street'' animated shorts. He was friend of trombonist and Disney animator

Ward Kimball Ward Walrath Kimball (March 4, 1914 – July 8, 2002) was an American animator employed by Walt Disney Animation Studios. He was part of Walt Disney's main team of animators, known collectively as Disney's Nine Old Men. His films have been honored ...

, who created many memorable caricatures of Murphy and

Charles Addams Charles Samuel Addams (January 7, 1912 – September 29, 1988) was an American cartoonist known for his darkly humorous and macabre characters, signing the cartoons as Chas Addams. Some of his recurring characters became known as the Addams Fa ...

, creator of the Addams Family. Murphy's band played his nightclub, Earthquake McGoon's, which opened in 1960 and moved three times before closing in 1984. In January 1987, he played

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

. He died on May 30, 1987.

Discography

* 1950 ''San Francisco Jazz, Vol. 1'' ( Good Time Jazz) * 1950 ''In Hollywood'' * 1951 ''San Francisco Jazz, Vol. 2'' (Good Time Jazz) * 1952 ''Turk Murphy with Claire Austin'' (Good Time Jazz) * 1953 ''Barrelhouse Jazz'' ( Columbia) * 1954 ''When the Saints Go Marching In'' (Columbia) * 1954 ''Music of Jelly Roll Morton'' (Columbia) * 1955 ''Dancing Jazz'' (Columbia) * 1956 ''New Orleans Jazz Festival'' (Columbia) * 1957 ''New Orleans Shuffle'' (Columbia) * 1957 '' George Lewis & Turk Murphy at Newport'' (

Verve Verve may refer to: Music * The Verve, an English rock band * ''The Verve E.P.'', a 1992 EP by The Verve * ''Verve'' (R. Stevie Moore album) * Verve Records, an American jazz record label Businesses * Verve Coffee Roasters, an American coffee ho ...

) * 1957 ''Music for Losers'' (Verve) * 1958 ''Turk Murphy at Easy Street'' (Verve) * 1958 ''Live at Easy Street, Vol. 1'' (Dawn Club) * 1959 ''Turk Murphy at the Round Table'' (

Roulette Roulette is a casino game named after the French word meaning ''little wheel'' which was likely developed from the Italian game Biribi''.'' In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various groupings of numbers, the ...

) * 1959 ''Music for Wise Guys and Boosters'' (Roulette) * 1962 ''Let the Good Times Roll'' * 1972 ''In Concert, Vol. 1'' (

GHB ''gamma''-Hydroxybutyric acid (or γ-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), also known as 4-hydroxybutanoic acid) is a naturally occurring neurotransmitter and a depressant drug. It is a precursor to GABA, glutamate, and glycine in certain brain areas. ...

) * 1972 ''Turk Murphy and His San Francisco Jazz Band, Vol. 2'' (GHB) * 1972 ''In Concert, Vol. 2'' (GHB) * 1972 ''Turk Murphy'' (GHB) * 1972 ''Turk Murphy and His San Francisco Jazz Band, Vol. 1'' (GHB) * 1972 ''Turk Murphy's Jazz Band'' (Merrymakers) * 1973 ''Frisco Jazz Band, Live!'' ( MPS) * 1973 ''The Earthquake McGoon Recordings'' (Merrymakers) * 1980 ''A Natural High'' (Bainbridge) * 1986 ''Concert in the Park'' (Merrymakers) * 1986 ''San Francisco Memories'' (Merrymakers) * 1986 ''Southern Stomps'' (Lake) * 1987 ''Turk at Carnegie'' ( Stomp Off) * 1995 ''San Francisco Jazz'' (Merrymakers) * 1995 ''Turk Murphy's San Francisco Jazz Band'' (Merrymakers) * 1995 ''Sentimental Journeys'' (Merrymakers) * 1995 ''Live from the Rathskellar, Vol. 2'' (Merrymakers) * 1995 ''Live from the Rathskellar, Vol. 1'' (Merrymakers) * 1998 ''Live at Carson Hot Springs'' * 2000 ''Recorded Live at the Cinegrill: 1950'' * 2006 ''Turk's DeLight'' (

Jasmine Jasmine ( taxonomic name: ''Jasminum''; , ) is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family (Oleaceae). It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of Eurasia, Africa, and Oceania. Jasmines are widely cultiva ...

)

References

Other sources

* Richard Cook, ''Jazz Encyclopedia'', London 2007, p. 453

External links

*
Virtual Museum of San Francisco entry
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Turk 1915 births 1987 deaths American jazz trombonists Male trombonists Dixieland jazz musicians People from Butte County, California Singers from California American jazz singers United States Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American singers 20th-century trombonists Jazz musicians from California 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Yerba Buena Jazz Band members Columbia Records artists Verve Records artists Stomp Off artists Jazzology Records artists Roulette Records artists MPS Records artists Good Time Jazz Records artists Burials at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park