During a career that stretched from the ‘50s to 2013, singer Mark Murphy adhered to the prerogatives of a jazz instrumentalist, a vocalist determined to forge his own sound and privilege artistic exploration. His exquisite, restrained phrasing on 1957's “Robbin's Nest” hinted at his inherent individuality, but his real inventiveness surfaced in the early ‘70s after returning from a decade-long stay in London. He wrote his own lyrics to jazz standards like Oliver Nelson's “Stolen Moments” and drew upon his love of Beat poetry by bringing a dry, world-weary tone to his reading of the brooding Billy Strayhorn gem “Blood Count.”