James Morrison | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | James Lloyd Morrison |
Born | Boorowa, New South Wales, Australia | 11 November 1962
Genres | Jazz |
Occupations |
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Instrument(s) | Trumpet, multi-instrumentalist |
Years active | 1983–present |
Labels | ABC, WEA, EastWest |
Website | jamesmorrison |
James Lloyd Morrison AM (born 11 November 1962) is an Australian jazz musician. Although his main instrument is trumpet, he has also performed on trombone, tuba, euphonium, flugelhorn, saxophone, clarinet, double bass, guitar, and piano. [1] He is a composer, writing jazz charts for ensembles of various sizes and proficiency levels. [2]
He composed and performed the opening fanfare at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. [2] In 2009, he joined Steve Pizzati and Warren Brown as a presenter on Top Gear Australia . [3] At the ARIA Music Awards of 2010 Morrison and an a cappella group, The Idea of North, won Best Jazz Album, for their collaboration on Feels Like Spring . [4] In 2012 Morrison was appointed Artistic Director of the Queensland Music Festival for the 2013 and 2015 festivals. [5] He was inducted into the Graeme Bell Hall of Fame 2013 at the Australian Jazz Bell Awards. [6] In July 2013 he conducted the World's Largest Orchestra in Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium, consisting of 7,224 musicians. [7]
James Lloyd Morrison was born on 11 November 1962 in Boorowa, a rural farming community, where his father, George Morrison, [8] was a Methodist minister. [9] [10] [11] Morrison comes from a musical family: his mother plays alto saxophone, piano, and organ; his sister is a trumpeter, and his older brother, John Morrison, is a jazz drummer. [10] [11] [12] The family moved to various sites in New South Wales due to his father's ministry before settling in Pittwater. [11] From the age of seven Morrison practiced on his brother's cornet. [10]
Morrison attended Mona Vale Primary School and Pittwater High School, then Sydney Conservatorium of Music where he completed a jazz course. [11] At the conservatorium he met Don Burrows, who became his mentor. [11] In 1981, Morrison was a faculty member at his alma mater. [13]
In 1983 James and John Morrison formed the Morrison Brothers Big Bad Band, a 13-piece group. In 1984 the band included James Morrison on trumpet, trombone, and piano, Warwick Alder on trumpet, Peter Cross on trumpet, Paul Andrews on alto saxophone, Tom Baker on alto and baritone saxophones, Jason Morphett on tenor saxophone, Glenn Henrich on vibraphone, Craig Scott on bass, and John Morrison on drums. [14] The band's debut album, A Night in Tunisia, was released in 1984 by ABC Records as part of the Don Burrows Collection. [15] The title track is a jazz standard by Dizzy Gillespie; [15] [16] another track, "Burrows Bossa", was written by Morrison. [15] Also that year he backed Burrows on Burrows at the Winery, playing trumpet, slide trumpet, trombone, and flugelhorn. [17] The album was live at Rothbury Estate Winery. [17] Morrison Brothers Big Bad Band used the same venue for their album Live at the Winery. [18]
Morrison played the wrong Spanish national anthem at the Davis Cup final in Australia in 2003. [19] Instead of playing the current anthem, Marcha Real , he performed the Himno de Riego , not heard since the Second Republic era (1931–1939), [20] causing the Spanish Secretary of State for Sport to walk out in anger. Morrison later revealed he had mistakenly learned the incorrect tune due to being given the wrong sheet music. Fortunately an official quickly found a CD of the correct anthem, placating the Spanish and allowing the match to proceed. [21] [22]
Morrison has performed with Dizzy Gillespie (the first Australian to do so); Don Burrows, Ray Charles, and B.B. King. He has also worked with George Benson, Ray Brown, Cab Calloway, Jon Faddis, Herbie Hancock, Whitney Houston, Quincy Jones, Graeme Lyall, Wynton Marsalis, Mark Nightingale, Red Rodney, Arturo Sandoval, Woody Shaw, Frank Sinatra, and Phil Stack. [23]
In 1990, he recorded the album Snappy Doo with Ray Brown on double bass, Herb Ellis on guitar, Jeff Hamilton on drums, and Morrison on piano, trumpet, trombone (tenor and bass), saxophone (soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone), and bits of clarinet, flute, flugelhorn, and euphonium. He recorded a sequel, Snappy Too, in 2011 with Hamilton, but Brown and Ellis died in the interim, so Morrison played guitar and bass in addition to all of the other instruments from the first album. [24]
In 1999, he collaborated with Gina Jeffreys and The Idea of North on the song "Blue Christmas", which is included on Jeffreys' album, Christmas Wish . [25] In 2005, he was guest soloist at the 150th anniversary concert of the Black Dyke Band; and in 2009 performed with them as special guest during their Australian tour. [26] In 2007, he again appeared as guest soloist at concerts with the band in Manchester and London. In 2003 he founded the band on the Edge together with the German keyboardist and composer Simon Stockhausen, son of Karlheinz Stockhausen. [27] Morrison has a long association with composer and pianist Lalo Schifrin (composer of the theme from Mission: Impossible) and has recorded albums for Schifrin's "Jazz Meets the Symphony" series. These include recordings with the London and the Czech National symphony orchestras. [28] [29]
He found his lead vocalist, Emma Pask, at a school concert when she was 16, and she became an internationally renowned jazz singer. Morrison sponsors scholarships for musicians and is involved with youth bands. His association with Generations in Jazz has spanned three decades. He was chairman of this organization, which ran one of the largest youth jazz events in the world. [30] [31] [32]
For a number of years, Morrison has been the presenter of the in-flight jazz radio station for Qantas Airways. [33] In 1994, James presented Behind The Wheel, a motoring television series on Network Ten. Ten saw the benefits of a series like this and commissioned 18 episodes. It aired on a Tuesday night at 7.30pm to an audience of 2.1 million viewers. The pilot episode was produced by Tim Kupsch, Andy Wallace and James Morrison. [2] Unlike Top Gear , the show ideas and script were largely conceived "on the fly" by Morrison and Kupsch.[ citation needed ]
On 19 December 2008, presenter Charlie Cox announced his departure from Top Gear Australia due to lack of time. Morrison replaced him in the second season [34] alongside Warren Brown and Steve Pizzati. He appeared as the "Star in a Bog-Standard Car" in episode 6 of the first series.[ citation needed ]
On 18 September 2018, he started to present the Tuesday night specialist show Top Brass [35] for BBC Radio 2, which was moved alongside Sunday Night Is Music Night for series 2 in 2020 [36] and which continues to be broadcast in the United Kingdom at 9pm on a Sunday in 2022. [37] [38]
In early 2010 he formed an association with Austrian brass manufacturer Schagerl to produce "signature" models. [39] These include two series – the custom, hand-made "Meister" series and the intermediate professional "Academica" series. There are trumpets and trombones in both series, and the Meister series includes flugelhorn and bass trumpet. His design of a trumpet called "The Raven" uses rotary valves with a long lead pipe usually associated with a piston trumpet. He has also designed an improved superbone , a hybrid trombone that has three valves as well as a slide. [40]
An instrument project with designer and robotics expert Steve Marshall produced the Morrison Digital Trumpet, a MIDI wind controller that looks like a futuristic version of a typical trumpet. It allows a trumpeter to play electronic sounds in much the same way a pianist can play a synthesizer. [41]
On his collaboration album The Other Woman with singer Deni Hines, he wrote a track called "(Tired of Being) The Other Woman". When Morrison performed this track at a performance in Sydney, he revealed his latest piece of music technology. It is a Roland keyboard (VP770) that has a microphone attached and 'sings' whatever Morrison speaks into the microphone, producing the sound of a choir. [31] [32]
In March 2015 Morrison opened the James Morrison Academy of Music in Mount Gambier, South Australia – a tertiary-level, dedicated jazz school offering a degree in jazz performance. [42] Award-winning jazz drummer David Jones started lecturing at the academy in 2015. [43]
The academy ceased operations in 2021, citing the COVID-19 pandemic as a major factor. As of September 2023 [update] the program was undergoing restructuring, with an aim to bring short courses to regional areas in the near future. [44]
Morrison is also a private pilot and the brand ambassador for Australian Air Safaris. [45]
Morrison met Judi Green, the 1987 Miss Australia winner, at a barbecue before both participated in a celebrity race at the Adelaide Grand Prix [ broken anchor ]. [8] The couple married in 1988 and they have three sons. [8] [46]
On 9 June 1997 James Morrison was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia with a citation "for service to music, particularly jazz, and the sponsorship of young musicians". [47]
The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector.
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2017 [48] [49] | In Good Company (with Don Burrows) | Best Independent Jazz Album | Won |
2018 [50] [49] | The Great American Songbook (with BBC Concert Orchestra) | Best Independent Jazz Album Album | Won |
2019 [51] | Midnight Till Dawn Mildlife – Phase | Best Independent Jazz Album Album | Nominated |
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. Morrison has won two awards from thirteen nominations. [52] [53]
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1989 | Postcards From Down Under | Best Jazz Album | Nominated |
1990 | Swiss Encounter (with Adam Makowicz) | Nominated | |
1991 | Snappy Doo | Nominated | |
1992 | Manner Dangerous | Nominated | |
1993 | To the Max (with Ray Brown) | Nominated | |
2002 | Scream Machine | Nominated | |
2008 | The Other Woman (with Deni Hines) | Nominated | |
2010 | Feels Like Spring (with The Idea of North) | Won | |
2012 | Snappy Too | Nominated | |
2016 | In Good Company (with Don Borrows) | Nominated | |
2017 | The Great American Songbook (with BBC Concert Orchestra, Keith Lockhart, Harry Morrison, William Morrison & Patrick Danao) | Won | |
James Morrison With His Academy Jazz Orchestra | Nominated | ||
2018 | Ella and Louis (with Patti Austin, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra & Benjamin Northey) | Nominated |
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1990 | "Saturday Sailing" | Most Performed Jazz Work | Won |
The Australian Jazz Bell Awards, also known as the Bell Awards or The Bells, are annual music awards for the jazz music genre in Australia.
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2013 [54] | James Morrison | Graeme Bell Hall of Fame | inducted |
The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016. James Morrison won ten awards in that time. [55]
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result (wins only) |
---|---|---|---|
1988 | James Morrison | Ricky May Jazz Performer of the Year | Won |
1989 | James Morrison | Jazz Performer of the Year | Won |
James Morrison | Jazz Male Performer of the Year | Won | |
James Morrison | Australian Performer of the Year | Won | |
1990 | James Morrison | Jazz Performer of the Year | Won |
James Morrison | Jazz Male Performer of the Year | Won | |
1997 | James Morrison | Jazz Instrumental Performer of the Year | Won |
1999 | James Morrison | Jazz Instrumental Performer of the Year | Won |
2002 | James Morrison | Jazz Instrumental Performer of the Year | Won |
2006 | James Morrison | Ricky May Jazz Performer of the Year | Won |
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications |
---|---|---|---|
AUS [56] | |||
A Night in Tunisia |
| — | |
James Morrison at the Winery |
| — | |
Postcards from Down Under | 47 | ||
Swiss Encounter(with Adam Makowicz) |
| — | |
Snappy Doo |
| 17 | |
Manner Dangerous |
| 76 | |
Two the Max(with Ray Brown) |
| — | |
This Is Christmas |
| 91 | |
Live in Paris |
| — | |
Live at the Sydney Opera House |
| 71 | |
Quartet |
| — | |
Three Minds |
| 86 | |
European Sessions |
| — | |
Scream Machine |
| — | |
The Gospel According to Groove(with Con Campbell & The Idea of North) |
| — | |
On the Edge |
| — | |
Gospel Collection |
| — | |
2x2(with Joe Chindamo) |
| — | |
Gospel Collection Volume 2 |
| — | |
The Other Woman (with Deni Hines) |
| 86 | |
James Morrison Instrumental |
| — | |
Three's Company(with Phil Stack and James Muller) |
| — | |
Feels Like Spring (with The Idea of North) |
| — | |
Snappy Too |
| — | |
A to Z of Jazz |
| — | |
Chermoula |
| — | |
A Fine Bromance(with Marian Petrescu) |
| — | |
In Good Company(with Don Burrows) |
| — | |
Mare Balticum(with Latvian Radio Big Band) |
| — | |
James Morrison with His Academy Jazz Orchestra |
| — | |
The Great American Songbook(with BBC Concert Orchestra and Keith Lockhart) |
| — | |
Ella & Louis(with Patti Austin) |
| — | |
Midnight till Dawn(with William Morrison, Harry Morrison & Patrick Danao) |
| — |
The flugelhorn, also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet, but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B♭, though some are in C. It is a type of valved bugle, developed in Germany in the early 19th century from a traditional English valveless bugle. The first version of a valved bugle was sold by Heinrich Stölzel in Berlin in 1828. The valved bugle provided Adolphe Sax with the inspiration for his B♭ soprano (contralto) saxhorns, on which the modern-day flugelhorn is modelled.
The valve trombone is a brass instrument in the trombone family that has a set of valves to vary the pitch instead of a slide. Although it has been built in sizes from alto to contrabass, it is the tenor valve trombone pitched in B♭ an octave lower than the trumpet which has seen the most widespread use. The most common models have three piston valves. They are found in jazz and popular music, as well as marching bands in Europe, where they are often built with rotary valves and were widely used in orchestras in the 19th century.
The superbone is a hybrid tenor trombone in B♭ that has both a slide like a regular trombone and a set of valves like a valve trombone.
Donald Vernon Burrows was an Australian jazz and swing musician who played clarinet, saxophone and flute.
The Preservation Hall Jazz Band is a New Orleans jazz band founded in New Orleans by tuba player Allan Jaffe in the early 1960s. The band derives its name from Preservation Hall in the French Quarter. In 2005, the Hall's doors were closed for a period of time due to Hurricane Katrina, but the band continued to tour.
The Idea of North are an Australian a cappella vocal ensemble founded in Canberra in 1993, by Nick Begbie (tenor), Meg Corson (alto), Trish Delaney-Brown (soprano) and Andrew Piper (bass). Still active in 2024, but touring less frequently since the Covid-19 pandemic, The Idea of North has had a number of personnel changes since their formation, with Nick Begbie the only remaining original member.
Matrix is a jazz fusion group from Appleton, Wisconsin, that started in 1974, noted for tight brass ensemble lines and complex musical themes inspired by literary works, the American Indian, and other significant programmatic themes. Matrix made its biggest impact on the music scene in the 1970s, including appearances at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1976 and 1977 and the Newport Jazz Festival in 1977.
Miles & Quincy: Live at Montreux is a collaborative live album by American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis and conductor Quincy Jones. It was recorded at the 1991 Montreux Jazz Festival and released by Warner Bros. Records in 1993.
Louis Rohan Tillett was an Australian rock music singer-songwriter, keyboardist and saxophonist. Tillett was the front man in Australian bands The Wet Taxis, Paris Green and The Aspersion Caste. He also worked as a backing musician with Catfish, Laughing Clowns, New Christs and Tex Perkins. As a solo artist, he issued seven albums, Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell (1987), A Cast of Aspersions (1990), Letters to a Dream (1992), Cry Against the Faith (1998), Learning to Die (2001), The Hanged Man (2005) and Soliloquy (2006). He often worked with Charlie Owen, releasing two albums, The Ugly Truth (1994) and Midnight Rain. The latter album won the Rolling Stone Critics Award for Best Album of 1996.
Time's Mirror is a 1999 big band album by jazz trumpeter, composer and arranger, Tom Harrell. In 2000 Harrell received a Grammy nomination for this album in category Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance. Several of the tracks were originally composed by Harrell in the 1960s and are arranged for big band, recorded and released for the first time on this album. According to All About Jazz, this album is Harrell's "first full-fledged recording as a big-band impresario". AllMusic highly recommended the album, stating that several tracks are candidates to become jazz standards. The album charted at #16 on the Billboard Top Jazz Albums Chart.
Wanderlust were an Australian contemporary jazz band founded by trumpeter Miroslav Bukovsky, which formed in 1991 with Adam Armstrong (bass), James Greening (trombone), Fabian Hevia, Carl Orr (guitar) and Alister Spence. On 3 Oct 1992 they played at the Manly Jazz Festival at Park Royal Hotel. An audio cassette in NSW Jazz Archive collection [per estate of late Harold Denning] is held by the NSW Jazz Archive Society; leader Neil Cairns, June 2013.
Heads is the fifth album by the jazz musician Bob James, released in October 1977. It was his first album released on his newly formed Tappan Zee label, which was distributed by Columbia Records. All of his Tappan Zee albums are distributed by E1 Music. The album reached number one on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart.
Dear Diz (Every Day I Think of You) is an album by Cuban jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval that won the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album in 2013. The album is Sandoval's tribute to his friend, Dizzy Gillespie. Musicians on the album include Gary Burton, Eddie Daniels, Joey DeFrancesco, and Bob Mintzer.
Overtime is an album by the Dave Holland Big Band that won the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album in 2005. Recorded in 2002, the music centers on the four-movement "Monterey Suite", a piece commissioned by the Monterey Jazz Festival. The big band on this record is on the “small” side, at thirteen players. The rhythm section consists of Holland with vibraphonist Steve Nelson and drummer Billy Kilson, continuing the format established over many of Holland’s Quintet records. Featured players include tenor saxophonist Chris Potter, alto saxophonist Antonio Hart, trumpeter Alex Sipiagin and trombonist Robin Eubanks. This is Holland's first album since departing ECM, through which he had released nearly all of his albums since his 1972 debut Conference of the Birds, for his own Dare2 label.
Crossfire was an Australian jazz-fusion band active from 1974 to 1991, which recorded five studio albums. The primary composers of the group were founding members Jim Kelly (guitars) and Michael Kenny. Other members of Crossfire included Ian Bloxsom, Greg Lyon and Phil Scorgie, Don Reid and Tony Buchanan, John Proud, Doug Gallacher, Steve Hopes, and Mark Riley (drums).
Cicada is a 2011 album by American blues/folk/world fusion/jazz band Hazmat Modine. The album was released on May 17, 2011 by Barbès Records, almost five years after their debut album, Bahamut.
The Daly-Wilson Big Band was an Australian jazz group formed in 1968 by Warren Daly on drums and Ed Wilson on trombone. The business manager and silent partner was Don Raverty. The line-up, at times, was an eighteen-piece ensemble, that played popular jazz cover versions and originals. Lead singers that fronted the band include Kerrie Biddell, Marcia Hines and Ricky May. They released seven albums and toured Australia and internationally before disbanding in September 1983.
The Other Woman is a smooth jazz collaborative studio album by ARIA Award-winning recording artists, Deni Hines and James Morrison. The album was released in October 2007. Hines and Morrison toured the album throughout late 2007/early 2008 and recorded a live DVD of the tour.
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