Morris Kliphuis

Biography
Press

French hornist/composer/arranger Morris Kliphuis (1986) has played classical horn since the age of eight, but started to play jazz in his teens. After a year of studying composition in The Hague he enrolled at the Amsterdam Conservatory to study jazz horn with saxophonist Ferdinand Povel. In 2006 he won first prize and the press award of the Dutch Prinses Christina Jazz Concours.

At the moment Morris is working with different groups. The Antiphon Trio is a chordless setting with fretless bass guitar and drums that experiments with the fusion of jazz, funk, classical, and world music, and seeks to discover the musical possibilities of this rarely seen line-up. Their first record is set to be recorded this summer. Kliphuis, de Moraes en Menting, with guitar and snare drum, focuses on lyrical, swinging acoustic jazz and Latin-American music. MK6 is a six-piece funk/groove unit with alto and tenor saxophones, piano, bass guitar and drums, playing compositions and arrangements by Kliphuis.

As a composer/arranger Morris has written and arranged works for choir, wind ensemble, brass ensemble, big band and various small ensembles. They have been performed in a number of venues throughout the Netherlands.

Morris has worked with artists such as Terri Lyne Carrington, Arkady Shilkloper, Jesse van Ruller, Tom Varner, Jennifer Sanon and Jonathan Batiste, and recorded with, among others, the Dutch Jazz Orchestra, saxophonist Tineke Postma and folk singer/songwriter Lucky Fonz III. He has performed in various settings at the North Sea Jazz Festival 2007, Carnegie Hall, the Amsterdam Bimhuis, and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. During the spring semester of 2008 he will be studying at Purchase College, New York, with jazz hornist John Clark.