Irving Joseph – Murder Inc. (1960)

November 26, 2024

I was very intrigued by the genre name of “crime jazz” and that’s what led me to the work of Irving Joseph. I expected smooth, dark, moody pieces that you’d get in noir movies and the likes, and whilst there are elements of that here, Murder Inc. is far jauntier than I anticipated. I feel like I’m watching an animated movie about some city slicker detectives (who are also cats, or something). Instrumentation is brilliant but I feel the compositions are a bit… lost, if I could be so bold. Either way, at roughly half hour in length, Murder Inc. is a pleasant and entertaining listen.