Sam Morrison | |
---|---|
Born | 1952 |
Genres | Jazz fusion |
Occupation | Musician |
Instrument | saxophone |
Years active | 1970s–present |
Website | sammorrisonsax |
Sam Morrison (b. New York, 1952) is an American jazz saxophonist, flutist, and composer, who replaced Sonny Fortune in Miles Davis's band in 1975. Davis supposedly said, "I haven't heard that much fire on the saxophone since 'Trane was in my band". [1] He is of partly Ukrainian heritage, two of his grandparents having originated in Pereiaslav, near Kyiv.
In 1976, the then 24-year-old saxophonist released Dune for Inner City Records (America) and East Wind Records (Japan). The album features Al Foster and Buster Williams. It was reissued on CD in 2003. [2] Morrison also appears on Foster's 1978 Mixed Roots album.
A second album, Natural Layers (Chiaroscuro Records), followed the next year, featuring Narada Michael Walden.
Morrison, who specializes in the soprano saxophone and alto flute (also playing tenor saxophone and bass flute), has also played with Gil Evans, Woody Shaw, Andrew Cheshire, and Japanese jazz musicians Masabumi Kikuchi, Terumasa Hino and Ryo Kawasaki. [3]
He graduated from Columbia University, where he played in a band with Armen Donelian and Marc Copland. [4]
Morrison lives in Livingston Manor, Sullivan County, New York.
Cornelius "Sonny" Fortune was an American jazz saxophonist. He played soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones, clarinet, and flute.
René McLean is a hard bop saxophonist and flutist from New York City. He started playing guitar before receiving an alto saxophone and instruction from his father, alto saxophonist Jackie McLean.
Miroslav Ladislav Vitouš is a Czech jazz bassist.
David William Sanborn was an American alto saxophonist. Sanborn worked in many musical genres; his solo recordings typically blended jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He began playing the saxophone at the age of 11 and released his first solo album, Taking Off, in 1975. He was active as a session musician, and played on numerous albums by artists including Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin, Sting, the Eagles, Rickie Lee Jones, James Brown, George Benson, Carly Simon, Elton John, Bryan Ferry and the Rolling Stones. He released more than 20 albums and won six Grammy awards.
Oliver Edward Nelson was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, composer, and bandleader. His 1961 Impulse! album The Blues and the Abstract Truth (1961) is regarded as one of the most significant recordings of its era. The centerpiece of the album is the definitive version of Nelson's composition, "Stolen Moments". Other important recordings from the 1960s are the albums More Blues and the Abstract Truth (1964) and Sound Pieces (1966), both also on Impulse!.
Star People is a 1983 album recorded by Miles Davis and issued by Columbia Records. It is the second studio recording released after the trumpeter's six-year hiatus, the first to feature electric guitarist John Scofield, who was recommended by saxophonist Bill Evans, and the last to be produced by long-standing collaborator Teo Macero.
Marc Copland is an American jazz pianist and composer.
Pangaea is a live album by American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Miles Davis. It was originally released as a double album in 1976 by CBS/Sony in Japan.
Live at the Fillmore East March 7, 1970: It's About That Time is a live double album by Miles Davis recording two sets performed on March 7, 1970 and released by Columbia/Legacy in 2001, although the concert had previously circulated as a bootleg recording.
Thomas Chapin was an American composer and saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. His music spanned the full range of 20th century creative music, from his time as Lionel Hampton's bandleader to modern jazz and his own avant-garde explorations. He helped create the Knitting Factory scene in New York City in the early 80's and was the first artist signed to Knitting Factory Records. Though primarily an alto saxophonist, he also played sopranino, as well as soprano, tenor, baritone saxes and flute. Many of his recordings as a leader were in a trio with bassist Mario Pavone and drummer Michael Sarin. Chapin studied with Jackie McLean, Paul Jeffrey, Kenny Barron, and Lionel Hampton. He died of leukemia at age 40. He played at a benefit concert two weeks before his death.
James Moody was an American jazz saxophone and flute player and very occasional vocalist, playing predominantly in the bebop and hard bop styles. The annual James Moody Jazz Festival is held in Newark, New Jersey.
"Moondance" is a song recorded by Northern Irish singer and songwriter Van Morrison and is the title song on his third studio album Moondance (1970). It was written by Morrison, and produced by Morrison and Lewis Merenstein.
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.
The Complete On the Corner Sessions is a posthumous box set by American jazz musician Miles Davis, released in the US on September 25, 2007, by Columbia Records and in the UK on September 29 on Legacy Recordings. Like other Davis box sets, the included material is taken from a wider chronology of sessions than the dates which actually produced the titular album. The Complete On the Corner Sessions compiles material from 1972 through 1975 which, due to lineup changes Davis made throughout the era, features over two dozen musicians.
Dark Magus is a live double album by the American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Miles Davis. It was recorded on March 30, 1974, at Carnegie Hall in New York City, during the electric period in Davis' career. His group at the time included bassist Michael Henderson, drummer Al Foster, percussionist Mtume, saxophonist Dave Liebman, and guitarists Pete Cosey and Reggie Lucas; Davis used the performance to audition saxophonist Azar Lawrence and guitarist Dominique Gaumont. Dark Magus was produced by Teo Macero and featured four two-part recordings, titled with the Swahili numerals for numbers one through four.
John Raymond Purcell is an American jazz saxophonist.
Discovery! is the debut album by jazz saxophonist Charles Lloyd released on the Columbia label featuring performances by Lloyd with Don Friedman, Eddie Khan, Roy Haynes, Richard Davis and J.C. Moses. The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4 stars and states "Lloyd's Coltrane-inspired sound was already in place, and his flute playing was becoming distinctive. The music is essentially melodic but advanced hard bop, a strong start to an important career". The piece "Ol' Five Spot" is a homage to the legendary New York jazz club of the same name. The album was also released with the title Bizarre in the UK, at the time.
Charles Davis was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Davis played alto, tenor and baritone saxophone, and performed extensively with Archie Shepp and Sun Ra.
Lookout Farm is an album by American jazz saxophonist Dave Liebman recorded over two days in October 1973 and released on ECM—his debut for the label. The eponymous quartet "Lookout Farm" features rhythm section Richard Beirach, Frank Tusa, and Jeff Williams, with guest appearances from guitarist John Abercrombie, singer Eleana Sternberg and percussionists Armen Halburian, Don Alias, Badal Roy, and Steve Sattan.
Timothy M. Ries is an American saxophonist, composer, arranger, band leader, and music educator at the collegiate/conservatory level. Ries is in his eighteenth year as a professor of jazz studies at the University of Toronto. His universe of work as composer, arranger, and instrumentalist ranges from rock to jazz to classical to experimental to ethno to fusions of respective genres thereof. His notable works with wide popularity include The Rolling Stones Project, a culmination of jazz arrangements of music by the Rolling Stones produced on two albums, the first in 2005 and the second in 2008.