Joe Morris (guitarist)
| Joe Morris | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Joseph Francis Michael Morris |
| Born | September 13, 1955 |
| Origin | New Haven, Connecticut, United States |
| Genres |
Jazz Free jazz Avant-garde jazz Free improvisation Free Music |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, Teacher |
| Instruments | Guitar, double bass |
| Labels | Riti, Aum Fidelity, Leo, Soul Note, Knitting Factory, Clean Feed, ESP, Hathut, RogueArt |
| Website |
joe-morris |
Joe Morris (born Joseph Francis Michael Morris, September 13, 1955) is an American jazz guitarist, bassist, improvisor and composer.
Life and career
Joe Morris was born in New Haven, Connecticut, United States in 1955. He started on guitar in 1969 and played his first professional gig later that year. With the exception of a few lessons he is self-taught. The influence of Jimi Hendrix and other guitarists of that period led him to concentrate on learning to play the blues. John Coltrane's Om inspired him to learn about Jazz and New Music. He worked to establish his own voice on guitar in a free jazz context from the age of 17. After high school he performed in rock bands, rehearsed in jazz bands and played totally improvised music until 1975 when he moved to Boston.[1]
Between 1975 and 1978 he was active on the Boston creative music scene. In 1983 he formed his own record company, Riti, and recorded his first LP Wraparound. An important early mentor and playing partner was the legendary but little-recorded pianist Lowell Davidson.[2]
Between 1989 and 1993 he performed and recorded with his electric trio Sweatshop and electric quartet Racket Club. In 1994 he became the first guitarist to lead his own session in the twenty-year history of Black Saint/Soul Note with the trio recording Symbolic Gesture, and he has continued to record extensively for many labels such as Leo, Knitting Factory, AUM Fidelity, Hathut, Clean Feed, ESP and RogueArt. In addition to leading his own groups, he has recorded and performed with among others: Matthew Shipp, William Parker, John Zorn, Joe Maneri, Rob Brown, Ivo Perelman, Ken Vandermark and DKV Trio, Jim Hobbs, Steve Lantner, Daniel Levin, Petr Cancura and David S. Ware.[1]
He has lectured and conducted workshops throughout the US and Europe. He is a former member of the faculty of Tufts University Extension College and is currently on the faculty at New England Conservatory in the jazz and improvisation department.[3]
Style
Morris is perhaps the most significant guitarist to play free jazz since Sonny Sharrock. Morris has stated that his flowing single-note technique was inspired more by traditional African musics, and by saxophone players like Eric Dolphy and Jimmy Lyons, than by other guitarists. He considers Cecil Taylor, Eric Dolphy, Leroy Jenkins, Thelonious Monk, Jimi Hendrix, and West African string music as major influences.[3] In his solo work, he often does not use distortion or effects, striving for a purity of sound. He has also employed an original technique—the use of a serrated pick to "bow" the strings of his guitar—to create an otherworldly, harmonic-rich sound. He also plays banjo and banjo-uke, and since 2000 has increasingly focused on playing bass.[1]
Discography
As leader/co-leader
| Release year | Title | Label | Personnel/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Wraparound | Riti | Trio with Sebastian Steinberg (bass), Laurence Cook (drums) |
| 1987 | Human Rites | Riti | Trio with Sebastian Steinberg (bass), Thurman Barker (drums) |
| 1990 | Sweatshop | Riti | Trio with Sebastian Steinberg (bass), Jerome Deupree (drums) |
| 1992 | Flip & Spike | Riti | Trio with Sebastian Steinberg (bass), Jerome Deupree (drums) |
| 1994 | Symbolic Gesture | Soul Note | Trio with Nate McBride (bass), Curt Newton (drums) |
| 1995 | Illuminate | Leo | Quartet, co-led with Rob Brown (alto sax), William Parker (bass), Jackson Krall (drums) |
| 1995 | No Vertigo | Leo | |
| 1996 | Elsewhere | Homestead | Quartet with Matthew Shipp (piano), William Parker (bass), Whit Dickey (drums) |
| 1997 | You Be Me | Soul Note | Quartet with Mat Maneri (violin), Nate McBride (bass), Curt Newton (drums) |
| 1997 | Invisible Weave | No More | Duo with William Parker (bass) |
| 1997 | Antennae | AUM Fidelity | Trio with Nate McBride (bass), Jerome Deupree (drums) |
| 1998 | Racket Club | About Time | Sextet with Jim Hobbs (alto sax), Steve Norton (baritone sax), Nate McBride (electric bass), Jerome Deupree, Curt Newton (drums) |
| 1998 | Like Rays | Knitting Factory | Free improvisation trio with Ken Vandermark (clarinet), Hans Poppel (piano) |
| 1998 | A Cloud of Black Birds | AUM Fidelity | Quartet with Chris Lightcap (bass), Mat Maneri (violin), Jerome Deupree (drums) |
| 1999 | Deep Telling | Okka Disk | With the DKV Trio: Hamid Drake (drums), Kent Kessler (bass), Ken Vandermark (tenor sax) |
| 1999 | Many Rings | Knitting Factory | Quartet with Karen Borca (bassoon), Rob Brown (alto sax, flute), Andrea Parkins (accordion, sampler) |
| 1999 | Underthru | OmniTone | Quartet with Mat Maneri (violin), Chris Lightcap (bass), Gerald Cleaver (drums) |
| 2000 | Soul Search | AUM Fidelity | Duo with Mat Maneri (electric violin) |
| 2000 | At the Old Office | Knitting Factory | Quartet with Mat Maneri (violin), Chris Lightcap (bass), Gerald Cleaver (drums) |
| 2001 | Singularity | AUM Fidelity | Solo guitar |
| 2002 | Age of Everything | Riti | Trio with Timo Shanko (bass), Luther Gray (drums) |
| 2003 | Likewise | Riti | As part of the band Stone House; trio with Luther Gray (drums), Rob Brown (alto sax, flute) |
| 2005 | Beautiful Existence | Clean Feed | Quartet with Jim Hobbs (alto sax), Timo Shanko (bass), Luther Gray (drums) |
| 2007 | Rebus | Clean Feed | Free improvisation trio with Ken Vandermark (tenor sax), Luther Gray (drums) |
| 2008 | High Definition | hatOLOGY | As the band Bass Quartet, with Taylor Ho Bynum (cornet, trumpet, flugelhorn), Allan Chase (saxophones), Luther Gray (drums) |
| 2008 | Elm City Duets | Clean Feed | Duo with Barre Phillips (bass) |
| 2009 | MVP LSD | Riti | Trio with John Voigt (bass), Tom Plsek (trombone) |
| 2009 | Wildlife | AUM Fidelity | Trio with Petr Cancura (saxophones), Luther Gray (drums) |
| 2009 | The Necessary and the Possible | Victo | Free improvisation trio with Simon H. Fell (bass), Alex Ward (clarinet) |
| 2009 | Colorfield | ESP-Disk | Trio with Steve Lantner (piano), Luther Gray (drums) |
| 2009 | Today on Earth | AUM Fidelity | Quartet with Jim Hobbs (alto sax), Timo Shanko (bass), Luther Gray (drums) |
| 2010 | Tooth And Nail | Clean Feed | Duo with Nate Wooley (trumpet) |
| 2010 | Creatures | Not Two | Duo with Luther Gray (drums) |
| 2010 | Camera | ESP-Disk | Quartet with Luther Gray (drums), Katt Hernandez (violin), Junko Fujiwara Simons (cello) |
| 2010 | Sensor | No Business | Solo bass (LP only) |
| 2011 | Night Logic | RogueArt | Trio with Marshall Allen (alto sax, flute, EVI), Matthew Shipp (piano) |
| 2011 | Traits | Riti | As the band Wildlife; quartet with Luther Gray (drums), Petr Cancura (tenor sax), Jim Hobbs (alto sax) |
| 2011 | Ambrosia | Riti | Duo with Agustí Fernández (piano) |
| 2012 | Graffiti in Two Parts | RogueArt | Quartet with Lowell Davidson (drums, bass), Malcolm Goldstein (violin), Lawrence D. "Butch" Morris (cornet). Recorded in 1985 |
| 2012 | Altitude | AUM Fidelity | Trio with William Parker (bass, sintir), Gerald Cleaver (drums) |
| 2012 | From the Discrete to the Particular | Relative Pitch | Free improvisation trio with Agustí Fernández (piano), Nate Wooley (trumpet) |
| 2014 | Balance | Clean Feed | Quartet with Mat Maneri (viola), Chris Lightcap (bass), Gerald Cleaver (drums) |
| 2014 | Mess Hall | hatOLOGY | Trio with Jerome Deupree (drums), Steve Lantner (electronic keyboard) |
| 2015 | Ninth Square | Clean Feed | Free improvisation trio with Evan Parker (saxophones), Nate Wooley (trumpet) |
| 2015 | Solos Bimhuis | Relative Pitch | Solo guitar |
As sideman
| Release year | Leader | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Brown, RobRob Brown | Youniverse | Riti |
| 2005 | Brown, RobRob Brown | Radiant Pools | RogueArt |
| 2009 | Cancura, PetrPetr Cancura | Fine Objects | Not Two |
| 2000 | Dickey, WhitWhit Dickey | Big Top | Wobbly Rail |
| 2002 | Dickey, WhitWhit Dickey | Prophet Moon | Riti |
| 2004 | Dickey, WhitWhit Dickey | Coalescence | Clean Feed |
| 2005 | Dickey, WhitWhit Dickey | In a Heartbeat | Clean Feed |
| 2006 | Dickey, WhitWhit Dickey | Sacred Ground | Clean Feed |
| 2008 | Drake, HamidHamid Drake | Blissful | RogueArt |
| 2009 | Flow Trio, Flow Trio | Rejuvenation | ESP-Disk |
| 2011 | Flow Trio, Flow Trio | Set Theory, Live at the Stone | Ayler |
| 2006 | Gonzalez, DennisDennis Gonzalez | No Photograph Available | Clean Feed |
| 2009 | Gonzalez, DennisDennis Gonzalez | Songs of Early Autumn | No Business |
| 2011 | Håker Flaten, IngebrigtIngebrigt Håker Flaten | Now Is | Clean Feed |
| 2010 | Haynes, StephenStephen Haynes | Parrhesia | Engine |
| 2015 | Haynes, StephenStephen Haynes | Pomegranate | New Atlantis |
| 2008 | Hobbs, JimJim Hobbs | The Story of Mankind | Not Two |
| 2011 | Kaplan, NoahNoah Kaplan | Descendants | hatOLOGY |
| 2000 | Lantner, SteveSteve Lantner | Voices Lowered | Leo |
| 2004 | Lantner, SteveSteve Lantner | Saying So | Riti |
| 2005 | Lantner, SteveSteve Lantner | Blue Yonder | Skycap |
| 2006 | Lantner, SteveSteve Lantner | Paradise Road | Skycap |
| 2007 | Lantner, SteveSteve Lantner | What You Can Throw | hatOLOGY |
| 2008 | Lantner, SteveSteve Lantner | Given – Live in Munster | hatOLOGY |
| 2004 | Levin, DanielDaniel Levin | Don't Go it Alone | Riti |
| 2006 | Levin, DanielDaniel Levin | Some Trees | hatOLOGY |
| 2007 | Levin, DanielDaniel Levin | Blurry | hatOLOGY |
| 1995 | Maneri, JoeJoe Maneri | Three Men Walking | ECM |
| 1996 | Maneri, JoeJoe Maneri | Out Right Now | hatOLOGY |
| 2002 | Parker, WilliamWilliam Parker | Eloping with the Sun | Riti |
| 2007 | Parker, WilliamWilliam Parker | Double Sunrise Over Neptune | AUM Fidelity |
| 2011 | Perelman, IvoIvo Perelman | The Hour of the Star | Leo |
| 2012 | Perelman, IvoIvo Perelman | Family Ties | Leo |
| 2012 | Perelman, IvoIvo Perelman | Living Jelly | Leo |
| 2013 | Perelman, IvoIvo Perelman | One | Rare Noise |
| 2015 | Perelman, IvoIvo Perelman | Counterpoint | Leo |
| 2016 | Perelman, IvoIvo Perelman | Blue | Leo |
| 2016 | Perelman, IvoIvo Perelman | Breaking Point | Leo |
| 1997 | Shipp, MatthewMatthew Shipp | Thesis | hatOLOGY |
| 2007 | Shipp, MatthewMatthew Shipp | Piano Vortex | Thirsty Ear |
| 2008 | Shipp, MatthewMatthew Shipp | Right Hemisphere | RogueArt |
| 2008 | Shipp, MatthewMatthew Shipp | Cosmic Suite | Not Two |
| 2009 | Shipp, MatthewMatthew Shipp | Harmonic Disorder | Thirsty Ear |
| 2010 | Shipp, MatthewMatthew Shipp | Broken Partials | Not Two |
| 2009 | Ware, David S.David S. Ware | Shakti | AUM Fidelity |
Books
- Morris, Joe. Perpetual Frontier / The Properties of Free Music. Riti Publishing, 2012.
References
- 1 2 3 Joe Morris at All About Jazz
- ↑ McCoy, Wilson. "Joe Morris: Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
- 1 2 Joe Morris at New England Conservatory
External links
- Official site
- The Joe Morris Discography by Rick Lopez
- A Fireside Chat With Joe Morris at All About Jazz
- Interview: Joe Morris by Phil Freeman at Burning Ambulance
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