Barbara Morrison: 1949-2022

Barbara Morrison, a soul-jazz singer whose artful vocal control and powerful delivery stunned club audiences and should have made her a household name, died on March 16. She was 72.

Born in 1949, Morrison didn't start recording until the early 1970s. By then, a career in jazz and the blues had become a struggle for singers who hadn't made a name for themselves in the 1950s. Clubs had already rolled over to rock and soul, with many converting to disco mid-decade.

But music trends didn't stop Morrison. She initially found a compatriot in R&B pioneer Johnny Otis and soon blended the phrasing of Dinah Washington and Little Jimmy Scott in her delivery. Where she excelled was on the covers of soul hits, and she probably would have had hits of her own if record producers and management had steered her to record in the style of the day.

While she went on limited tours in the 1980s and '90s, she tended to remain in Los Angeles performing at clubs. Though she never had a pop or R&B hit, Morrison was a spectacular singer who could pull all the flavor and nuance out of a jazz or soul song. Listening to Morrison, your ears immediately tell you that with the right material and breaks, she could have gone much further, if that's what she wanted to do.

Here are 10 clips that show off the magnificence of Barbara Morrison:

Here's Hey Boy! I Want Ya with Johnny Otis in 1977...



Here's When Will You Be Mine? with the Leslie Drayton Orchestra in 1984...



Here's Dreams in Flight with guitarist David T. Walker in 1987, with Oscar Brashear (tp), Neil Oda (synt,perc), Jerry Peters (keyboards), David T. Walker (g), Scott Edwards (b), James Gadson and (d) Joe Clayton (perc)...



Here's I Was Doing All Right in Germany in 1992, with Lafayette Harris, Jr. (p), Johannes Weidenmueller (b) and Thilo Berg (d)...



Here's Everyday I Have the Blues in 1999 with Doc Severinson...



Here's All My Tomorrows in Sweden in 2002, backed by Gunnar Bergsten (bar), Peter Nordahl (p), Anders Ullberg (g), Patrik Boman (b) and Jesper Kviberg (d)...



Here's Hit the Road Jack in 2002, with Steve Campos (tp), Charles McNeal (ts), John R. Burr (keyboards), Danny Caron (g) and Ruth Davies (b) John Haynes (d)...



Here's Morrison's superb cover of Al Green's Let's Stay Together in 2012 with Houston Person. Here, she probably should have devoted the entire album to covers of Al Green's hits...



Here's Morrison's cover of the Spinners' I'll Be Around in 2012. Dig how she fully understands the song and gives it just the right feel...



And here's This Masquerade in 2012...