Quantcast
NEWS: First Annual Allgarve Jazz Festival in Portugal STORES: CDs/DVDs/Vinyl/Sleeves | Downloads | Posters | Art
jazz
HOME NEWS REVIEWS ARTICLES MUSICIANS PHOTOS FORUMS
  Login   |   MY AAJ Signup  
Intro Site Map Free Daily MP3s Videos Upcoming Releases Guides Editorial Calendar Help Wanted  
Advanced
Contact Us   |   Advertise   |   For Contributors   |   For Musicians



Calendar - Venues
Teachers - Musicians


Fire Down Below
The Steve Elmer Trio
Infinita
Lawson Rollins
The Swingin' Bassoon
Daniel Smith
Before Love Has Gone
Stevie Holland
Child In My Heart
Tanja Maritsa
Let's Play
Project Grand Slam
Advertise Here


Jazz Excursion Radio



"Bohemia After Dark"
Ron Carter
Stardust

Listen Now





Vinyl Recordings
Jazz & Rock



Featured Visual Artist
Scott Friedlander



Push AAJ Content
AAJ Live | RSS | Widsets

Singularity

Joe Morris | AUM Fidelity Records

Discuss  

One night before a show, I had the opportunity to overhear a conversation Joe Morris was having with another member of the audience. I didn't catch a single word, but what struck was the way he accompanied the dialogue on his guitar. Some players might call this process “warming up”—but I wonder if Morris is ever “cold.” The connections between speech, gesture, and response all flowed naturally from his hands through the unamplified guitar. Unlike a lot of guitarists, Morris has completely overcome the boundaries imposed by his instrument. He has achieved a mind-body fusion that translates into musical expression of the highest order.

On Singularity, Morris performs solo on the unamplified (acoustic) guitar, a departure from his usual electric work. While his plugged-in tone is “clean,” the acoustic instrument offers additional possibilities for tone, texture, and resonance. The compositions on this disc (all by Morris) provide a unique setting for him to explore ideas without being restricted by arrangement or formula. Certain passages feature drone-like small-interval alternation; moments later he flies free through scraps and shards of fiery expressionism. Other pieces feature elaborate chordal development and more obviously structured progression. A look at the titles of these tunes offers a hint at the abstract purity of the ideas contained within.

Morris rarely offers more than a hint at the harmonic elements involved in his playing; the rest of the sound space is left wide open for the listener to fill in. Understatement, even during torrents of notes, is the operative concept behind the guitarist's work. Swing becomes an entirely new feel when it's dosed out in two or three-note units. While Morris has done some of his most exciting work in trios, quartets, and larger groups, the solo setting offers a completely unfettered opportunity for him to explore ideas. The cover photo on Singularity—his daughter's outstretched hands holding a flower—offers a completely a propos metaphor for Morris's music. It's just innocent enough to grasp the highest forms of beauty.

Visit Joe Morris on the web.
Joe Morris at All About Jazz.


Track listing: Light; Gravity; Creature; Shape; Atmosphere; Sense; Liquid; Dimension; Flight; Rock.

Personnel: Joe Morris: steel string acoustic guitar.

Style: Modern Jazz/Free Improvisation | Published: May 01, 2001


  Discuss   Add to Google  
Still scratching his head and wondering if it's real More about Nils...


More Articles by Nils Jacobson
Malian Strings: Kora & Guitar
Dance: Arabia, Turkey and Beyond
South Africa: A Rough Guide & Vusi Mahlasela
Techari
Nils Jacobson's Best of 2006
Angel of the Presence
West by Northwest: Senegal, Morocco, Mali, Niger

More Recent Reviews
Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross - Sing A Song of Basie Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross
Sing A Song of Basie
Kate McGarry - Show Me Kate McGarry
Show Me
Cam Newton - Short Films Cam Newton
Short Films
Robben Ford - Robben Ford- Anthology: The Early Years Robben Ford
Robben Ford- Anthology: The Early Years
Herb Robertson & Phil Haynes - Ritual Herb Robertson & Phil Haynes
Ritual
Franck Avitabile - Right Time Franck Avitabile
Right Time



CD Review Search
Artist Name  
Album Title  
Record Label  
Author  
 
Most Read: CD Reviews
Last 30 Days | All Time
Most Read: Articles
Last 30 Days | All Time


 
More CD Reviews






Tanja Maritsa
New CD: Child in My Heart









  Privacy Policy | Dedicated Servers All material copyright © 2008 All About Jazz and/or contributing writers/visual artists. All rights reserved.