The ceaselessly innovative and searching composer and Butch Morris died yesterday in New York. He had been under treatment of cancer for several years. Morris was 65. He developed an approach to big band music that he called conduction. It made demands on musicians by insisting on intensive, intuitive listening, reaction and interaction. The effort involved adjustment to Morris’s highly personalized methods of conducting while simultaneously composing and arranging through a system of cues and hand motions. Sometimes combined with written scores, the technique required rigor and concentration that not all players and audiences were willing to bring to his efforts. Many who found the results rewarding considered him a genius. Ben Ratliff’s obituary in The New York Times traces Morris’s career.
Morris was not merely a composer, arranger, bandleader or conductor. Or he was all of those things and more. In a film about Morris, our colleague Howard Mandel, a specialist on the avant garde, says Morris’s music “is not jazz.” Or it is. This promotional clip for the film will give you a hint.
For a full sample of how Butch Morris worked, here he is at a festival in Italy in 2010. The players are J. Paul Bourelly (Guitar), On Ka’a Davis (Guitar), Harrison Bankhead (Acoustic Bass), Greg Ward (Sax), Evan Parker (Sax), Pasquale Innarella (Sax), Hamid Drake (Percussion), Chad Taylor (Drums — Vibraphone), Riccardo Pittau (Trumpet), Meg Montgomery (Electro Trumpet), Alan Silva (Synthesizer), Tony Cattano (Trombone), Joe Bowie (Trombone), David Murray (Sax)—an elite of the outcats.
To listen to Howard Mandel’s appreciation of Morris on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, click here.
Recent Comments
Dick Unsworth on Nelson Mandela, 1918-2013
Doug, you are on the realities at every turn. Many of us who knew something of the life of Mandela were awake last night when...Rob D on Nelson Mandela, 1918-2013
Thanks, Doug. That was moving and great in equal measure. I saw Hugh in Paris once along with many other African acts such as King...Iola Brubeck on Dave Brubeck: One Year
I am grateful to John Bolger for the tremendous amount of work—time and effort—it took to create such an impressive website. While it is...Paul Conley on Dave Brubeck: One Year
Doug, thanks for sharing this great website with us. As we remember Dave on this sad anniversary today (and on a much happier one tomorrow)...Ken Dryden on Dave Brubeck: One Year
Doug, I agree with your assessment of John Bolger's website honoring Dave Brubeck. Even veteran collectors and those who heard and/or interviewed Dave Brubeck many...