Joe Morris
Joe Morris is an uncompromisingly original guitarist following in the tradition of other conceptual free jazz guitar innovators like Derek Bailey, Sonny Sharrock, Eugene Chadbourne, and James Ulmer. However, Morris developed his own unique approach to guitar playing, composition, and improvisation which is unlike his peers. He usually incorporates a clean tone of bebop lineage for his single-note-driven improvisations. His recordings, like 1993's Symbolic Gestures, 2002's Age of Everything, and 2014's Red Hill with Wadada Leo Smith, are widely eclectic, ranging from solo performances, traditional acoustic settings, and fusion dates to various groups with interesting instrumentation. Throughout his career, Morris has also given lectures and workshops for Harvard University, the New England Conservatory, the Berklee College of Music, and European universities, among others.
Morris spent his formative years in New Haven, Connecticut, where he taught himself the guitar and immersed himself in a variety of progressive musical styles. He spent numerous weekends attending free symphonic productions at nearby Yale University, which included performances by artists as diverse as Karlheinz Stockhausen, Charles Ives, and Duke Ellington. Attention to local AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) members Leo Smith and George Lewis, and a world music radio show presented by percussionist Gerry Hemingway also helped Morris develop his wide musical palette. In 1975, he moved to Boston, where his unique approach was not initially accepted in the then-prevalent modal jazz scene. Despite this temporary setback, and some time spent playing guitar in Europe, he developed a pivotal collaborative relationship with multi-instrumentalist Lowell Davidson, whose unique sound explorations inspired him to further develop his own original approach to music making.
In 1981, Morris began his own label, Riti Records (named after an African single-stringed folk instrument), to document his prolific musical output. During the '90s, he arguably became the most widely heralded free jazz guitarist in jazz, while recording with many avant-garde luminaries. Morris became the first guitarist to lead a recording session for the prestigious Black Saint/Soul Note Records with 1994's Symbolic Gesture, and he has continued to record extensively for many outstanding labels.
In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, he has either led or co-led dates for, among others, ECM, Hat Hut, Homestead, Knitting Factory Works, AUM Fidelity, and its Riti Records imprint, and has released no less than 30 recordings. Since 2007, he has been a frequent bassist in pianist Matthew Shipp's groups both on recordings and live. In 2012, he and keyboardist Jamie Saft began collaborating in a number of different settings for Erraldo Bernocchi's and Giacomo Bruzzo's London-based label RareNoise. Their first effort, Black Aces, was issued by their band Slobber Pup, and was followed by two more dates in 2014: Plymouth, with drummer Gerald Cleaver, guitarist Mary Halvorson, and bassist Chris Lightcap in May, and Red Hill, in an improvisational collective assembled by the pair with Wadada Leo Smith and drummer Balazs Pandi in September.
He then joined saxophonist Evan Parker and trumpeter Nate Wooley for the free improvisation set Ninth Square in 2015. The following year, he paired with guitarist Ivo Perelman for the duo session Blue. In 2018, he delivered Ultra, a completely improvised date featuring a small string and piano ensemble.
© Wilson McCloy /TiVo
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Elliptic Time
Jazz - Lançado por Mahakala Music em 06/01/2023
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Next
Taylor Ho Bynum, Joe Morris, Sara Schoenbeck
Jazz - Lançado por Porter Records em 21/06/2011
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Three Men Walking
Joe Maneri, Joe Morris, Mat Maneri
Jazz - Lançado por ECM Records em 01/01/1995
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mountains
Jamie Saft, Joe Morris, Charles Downs
Free Jazz & Avant-Garde - Lançado por Veal Records em 10/07/2020
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Shamanism
Ivo Perelman, Matthew Shipp, Joe Morris
Jazz - Lançado por Mahakala Music em 18/12/2020
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Summer Child EP
House - Lançado por Shades Of Sound Recordings em 01/03/2023
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Matthew Shipp Duos with Mat Maneri & Joe Morris
Matthew Shipp, Mat Maneri, Joe Morris
Free Jazz & Avant-Garde - Lançado por hatOLOGY em 18/10/2011
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Art of the Improv Trio, Vol. 6
Ivo Perelman, Joe Morris, Gerald Cleaver
Jazz - Lançado por LEO RECORDS em 09/09/2016
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Best Of The Early Years
Blues - Lançado por Nifty Music, Inc. em 01/09/2009
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pole Axe
Slobber Pup, Jamie Saft, Mats Gustafsson, Joe Morris, Balazs Pandi
Jazz Fusion & Jazz Rock - Lançado por RareNoiseRecords em 30/10/2015
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
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The Art of the Improv Trio, Vol. 5
Ivo Perelman, Joe Morris, Gerald Cleaver
Jazz - Lançado por LEO RECORDS em 01/09/2016
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Having A Ball
Blues - Lançado por Excess Music em 29/05/2020
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Singularity
Classical - Lançado por AUM Fidelity em 04/06/1997
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Amphibious Not By Nature
Joe Morris, Ben Stapp, Dan O'Brien
Jazz - Lançado por Phonoemulsion Records em 29/01/2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
From the Discrete to the Particular
Joe Morris, Agustí Fernandez, Nate Wooley
Jazz - Lançado por Relative Pitch Records em 13/02/2012
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Today on Earth
Classical - Lançado por AUM Fidelity em 12/10/2005
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Living Jelly
Ivo Perelman, Joe Morris, Gerald Cleaver
Jazz - Lançado por LEO RECORDS em 01/10/2012
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Family Ties
Ivo Perelman, Joe Morris, Gerald Cleaver
Contemporary Jazz - Lançado por LEO RECORDS em 01/01/2012
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Colours
House - Lançado por El Diablo's Social Club em 01/01/2013
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo