Murphy's Law, Act II

Spencer Murphy: The Element’s bassist (right) travels from the New York City area to perform a Sunday gig for his hometown crowd at Funk’n Waffles.

Among the Element’s ace musicians is bassist Spencer Murphy, son of local harmonica player Skip Murphy. The prodigal son, selected to play in the group after proving his mettle as a jazz performance student at Purchase, is anxious to display what he’s picked up at school when the Element checks into Funk’n Waffles, 727 S. Crouse Ave., on Saturday, April 26, at 9 p.m. and Sunday, April 27, 7 p.m.

The younger Murphy grew up in Fayetteville and had graduated from Jamesville-DeWitt High School prior to heading to the Big Apple in 2006 to sharpen his passion for music. His desire to play upright bass was ignited when he picked up the instrument at age 14 in order to perform with his school’s jazz unit. Through the grapevine and with the help of his supportive parents Murphy later found himself involved in the Central New York Jazz Arts Foundation’s educational program, which put him in contact with Larry Luttinger and other local music teachers.

“I worked a lot with other kids other and jazz players in the Central New York area who I had met through the summer jazz programs,” Murphy said. That schooling was supplemented by a healthy dose of live performance during local sit-in sessions, which Papa “Murph” helped to organize.

“He’s played music in the Syracuse area for a long time,” Spencer Murphy explains. “One of the things that motivated me to practice and to try and improve my playing was that he would take me out to sit in with guys like Colin Aberdeen and Big D {who hosts the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que’s Tuesday open mike nights}. Those guys were huge in helping me along with my development, because they were nice enough to help me hop in.”

Just two months after attending his first class at SUNY Purchase, Murphy’s bass prowess helped him earn a slot with the Element, which had started as a sort of after-school program for music students in 2004. Charlie Lagond, then a professor at the school who had also worked with Buddy Rich and the Temptations, initially served as the group’s producer and mentor. Yet as the Element performed more often throughout the country, it became clear that it was not just an extracurricular activity.

“One of the perks of this school is the highest achievers would be taken and given a chance to be in this particular band and tour quite a bit,” Murphy says. “It got to the point where a lot of the band were hired professionals including myself, and they decided to sever it from the school and make it its own entity.”

Future Proof, the Element’s freshman LP, stands on its own as an indication of how much fusion-based concepts have captured the world of jazz. Indeed, even Murphy implies that the album demonstrates a transitional period for the group. “It was really just something where we felt it was time to document that era of the band’s sound,” Murphy recalls. “Since the recording it’s moved in a slightly different direction. That record’s roots lie partially in jazz, partially in Afro-Caribbean music and partially in more of the popular side of contemporary funk and soul stuff.”

Murphy, as do most bassists, counts Jaco Pastorius as an influence on his style, although he spends most of his performance time outside of the group in more traditional jazz orientations. But for Murphy, who is thrilled to be in the midst of the jazz culture that formed out of New York City players, it’s all about musicians coming together.

“The great part about {going to school at Purchase} is that the scene here is so unified,” Murphy says. “You could be playing a gig and see someone out in the audience who was on a Miles Davis record. Everyone lives in New York. I feel very lucky to be able to be around people who pioneered the music.”

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—Matt Mumau