Joe Morris (guitarist)

Joe Morris (born Joseph Francis Michael Morris, September 13, 1955) is an American jazz guitarist, bassist, improvisor and composer.

Life and career

Joe Morris was born in New Haven, Connecticut, United States in 1955. He started on guitar in 1969 and played his first professional gig later that year. With the exception of a few lessons he is self-taught. The influence of Jimi Hendrix and other guitarists of that period led him to concentrate on learning to play the blues. John Coltrane's Om inspired him to learn about Jazz and New Music. He worked to establish his own voice on guitar in a free jazz context from the age of 17. After high school he performed in rock bands, rehearsed in jazz bands and played totally improvised music until 1975 when he moved to Boston.^[1]

Between 1975 and 1978 he was active on the Boston creative music scene. In 1983 he formed his own record company, Riti, and recorded his first LP Wraparound. An important early mentor and playing partner was the legendary but little-recorded pianist Lowell Davidson.^[2]

Between 1989 and 1993 he performed and recorded with his electric trio Sweatshop and electric quartet Racket Club. In 1994 he became the first guitarist to lead his own session in the twenty-year history of Black Saint/Soul Note with the trio recording Symbolic Gesture, and he has continued to record extensively for many labels such as Leo, Knitting Factory, AUM Fidelity, Hathut, Clean Feed, ESP and RogueArt. In addition to leading his own groups, he has recorded and performed with among others: Matthew Shipp, William Parker, John Zorn, Joe Maneri, Rob Brown, Ivo Perelman, Ken Vandermark and DKV Trio, Jim Hobbs, Steve Lantner, Daniel Levin, Petr Cancura and David S. Ware.^[1]

He has lectured and conducted workshops throughout the US and Europe. He is a former member of the faculty of Tufts University Extension College and is currently on the faculty at New England Conservatory in the jazz and improvisation department.^[3]

Style

Morris is perhaps the most significant guitarist to play free jazz since Sonny Sharrock. Morris has stated that his flowing single-note technique was inspired more by traditional African musics, and by saxophone players like Eric Dolphy and Jimmy Lyons, than by other guitarists. He considers Cecil Taylor, Eric Dolphy, Leroy Jenkins, Thelonious Monk, Jimi Hendrix, and West African string music as major influences.^[3] In his solo work, he often does not use distortion or effects, striving for a purity of sound. He has also employed an original technique—the use of a serrated pick to "bow" the strings of his guitar—to create an otherworldly, harmonic-rich sound. He also plays banjo and banjo-uke, and since 2000 has increasingly focused on playing bass.^[1]

Discography

As leader/co-leader

As sideman

Books

• Morris, Joe. Perpetual Frontier / The Properties of Free Music. Riti Publishing, 2012.

References

External links

• Official site
• The Joe Morris Discography by Rick Lopez
• A Fireside Chat With Joe Morris at All About Jazz
• Interview: Joe Morris by Phil Freeman at Burning Ambulance