Marlowe Morris (May 16, 1915 – May 28, 1978) was an American jazz pianist and organist. He was a distant relative of Fats Waller also the nephew of Thomas Morris, a cornet player and bandleader.
Marlowe Morris was an in-demand pianist who played on the
recordings of some of the greatest jazz horn soloists, including Ben Webster
and Lester Young, as well as with boogie-woogie and classic blues artists such
as Big Joe Turner and Jimmy Rushing. He was also an innovative and much-copied
stylist on the less than portable Hammond organ.
As a youngster, he fiddled around with a few instruments
before finally settling on the keyboards, learning drums, harmonica, and
ukulele. As a pianist, his first professional job was with singer June Clark
for two years beginning in 1935. He then worked as a solo pianist for several
years before joining the combo of tenor sax great Coleman Hawkins from 1940
through 1941, when he joined the Army.
Following a stint in the service, he worked with Toby Browne, Al Sears, drummer Sid Catlett, and the great guitarist Tiny Grimes, as well as leading his own trio, all in the first half of the '40s.
Perhaps the best exposure the pianist ever received was
his role in the film Jammin' the Blues in 1944. One of the better jazz films
from the swing era, it was filmed in Hollywood and features the pianist in very
good company indeed, including players such as trumpeter Harry Edison, tenor
men Lester Young and Illinois Jacquet, guitarist Barney Kessel bassist Red
Callender, drummer Sid Catlett, and vocalist Mary Bryant (vocal).
Morris then began tickling the ivories only part-time,
following a grand musical tradition and taking a day job in the post office to
try and make ends meet. From 1949 he returned full-time to music, mainly as a
solo organist.
In the mid-'60s he led the Marlowe Morris Trio featuring
tenor saxophonist Julian Dash. The Morris album Play the Thing on Columbia
nabbed the Grand Prix du Disque award from the Hot Club de France. He later
devoted himself to teaching. He died May 1978 (aged 63) New York City.
(Edited mainly from All Music)
4 comments:
For “The Marlowe Morris Quintet - Play The Thing (1962)” go here:
https://mega.nz/#!ADYgAJID!Y-JPgV1PiRF41M95hmXd31vl23Mw2ZmOZHlHcPXxhwo
1. Play The Thing
2. Stompy Jones
3. Moonlight In Vermont
4. Sympathetic Blues
5. On The Trail
6. Up, Down And Around
7. I Loves You, Porgy
8. Marlowe's Blues
9. Jitterburg Waltz
10. No! No! No!
A big thank you to Jose Sanoval @ A Walk In The Black Forest blog for active link
Oops - file not available, Bob.
Could you reup, please?
Al
Here you are MG,
https://www.mediafire.com/file/m62dby1mce9ltit/Marlowe_Morris.rar/file
Regards, Bob
Thanks very much, Bob. God this in '70 but was too enraptured by the modern organists to appreciate it (I think). Looking forward to hearing it later.
MG
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