Jazz Articles about Joe Morris

Joe Morris: Age Of Everything

by Julian Derry
April 5, 2007

Age of Everything is an amazingly hot trio session from unsung guitar hero Joe Morris, whose style could be compared to that of Present Tense's Philip Gibbs or even a laid-back Stefan Dill--a sort of melodious Derek Bailey, really. The fragile sharded melodies are mere invocations dripping across the fettered brow of a bubbling Holland/DeJohnette-like pulse. Haughty dew-drop notes glisten in the rhythmic sward.For over twenty years Morris' discordant approach has been founded in greatness. Coltrane's OM (Impulse!, ...

Dennis Gonzales Boston Project: No Photograph Available

by AAJ Italy Staff
November 28, 2006

Dennis Gonzalez, una delle figure più eclettiche del panorama jazzistico internazionale: trombettista, compositore, direttore, produttore, broadcaster, pittore, poeta, linguista ed educatore, partecipe delle più diverse esperienze musicali, da Stoccolma a Ljubljana, dalla Polonia a New Orleans, da Lisbona a Dallas, dove risiede ed ha sede l’etichetta discografica di cui è proprietario (Daagnim Records). Circostanza vuole che Mr. Gonzàles, diretto a New York, decidesse di fermarsi a Boston e di organizzare una serata con i musicisti locali. Armato di chat, nell’arco ...

Joe Morris Organ Trio at Tonic

by Troy Collins
August 24, 2006

Joe Morris Organ Trio Tonic 107 Norfolk Street, Lower East Side, New York City, USA August 10, 2006

In the midst of a late summer downpour, guitarist Joe Morris premiered his newest ensemble on the stage of Tonic, the Lower East Side's venerable avant-garde jazz mecca. Featuring fellow Boston-based members, keyboardist Steve Lantner on organ and drummer Kwaku Kwaakye Obeng, the trio explored the untapped potential of one of jazz's most reliable, ...

Joe Morris: Beautiful Existence and Rob Brown: Radiant Pools

by Clifford Allen
April 21, 2006

Improvised music is based on conviction, the belief in the “rightness of what one is playing, a sort of forward-moving directive of sound hinging in part on the ability of one's work to stand equally with the entire history of music (to paraphrase art critic Michael Fried). But improvisation, though certainly a defining action, is also a hotbed of diffuse activity and ambiguity (i.e., can you define the blues?).

This is not a pejorative statement in any sense; rather, the ...

Joe Morris: Beautiful Existence

by AAJ Italy Staff
March 13, 2006

Il chitarrista Joe Morris continua a tenere alta la bandiera del free jazz anche nell’ambito dello strumento che forse meno si è caratterizzato e manifestato in quella corrente così importante della nuova musica. L'approccio di Morris è in qualche modo poco modernista (non usa effetti particolari, non fa ricorso a scenari elettronici, sta di solito all’interno di formazioni dall’organico consolidato) ma il suo procedere con fare appassionato e carico di energia ne hanno fatto una delle voci più interessanti della ...

Joe Morris: Beautiful Existence

by Troy Collins
February 11, 2006

Although guitarist Joe Morris has proven himself to be an accomplished upright bassist since adding the instrument to his arsenal in 2001, it is on the guitar that he truly shines, and nowhere more so than on Beautiful Existence.

Temporarily setting aside his recently adopted instrument for his first axe, Morris leads his quartet on an adventurous and varied set. With hauntingly atmospheric modal grooves, tender, reflective ballads and invigorating, angular free bop, Morris's singular talents as a ...

Joe Morris: Singularity, Part 1-2

by AAJ Staff
August 25, 2005

Part 1 | Part 2

Joe Morris first started playing the guitar in 1969, at the age of 14. He immediately took to the instrument and started a long process of self-instruction. During his high school years, he spent time playing with other students and listening to a wide variety of recorded and live music. Morris's major influences during this period included seminal free jazz revolutionaries like Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman, and Eric Dolphy--as well as West African string music ...