Dick Morrissey — Wikipedia

Richard Edwin « Dick » Morrissey (born the May 9, 1940 in Horley and died the November 8, 2000 In Deal, in Kent) is a jazz musician and British composer. He plays the soprano saxophone, the tenor saxophone and the flute.

Dick Morrissey emerged in the 1960s in the wake of Tubby Hayes, when Great Britain is a source of talented saxophonists. Self -taught, he begins to play the clarinet in the school orchestra at the age of sixteen, then joined a jazz group ^{[ first ]} . He then specialized in the tenor saxophone ^{[ 2 ]} .

While there is a name in the hard bop ^{[ 3 ]} , he performs regularly at the Marquee Club from August 1960 ^{[ 4 ]} . He recorded his first solo album at the age of 21, in 1961: It’s Morrissey, Man! (in) , with Stan Jones on the piano, Colin Barnes on drums, and Malcolm Cecil (in) bass ^{[ 5 ]} .

Beginning of success [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

He spent the year 1962 in Calcutta in the group of Ashley Kozak (in) , playing two hours a day, before returning to the United Kingdom where he trained his own group with pianist Harry South (in) who was in Calcutta with him ^{[ 6 ]} . They are then joined by bassist Phil Bates, Bill Eyden (in) , Jackie Dougan  (in) And Phil Seamen, all three of the percussion ^{[ 5 ] , [ 7 ]} . The quartet records three discs: have you heard? (in) (1963), Storm Warning!  (in) (1965, enregistré en live), et Here and Now and Sounding Good!  (in) (1966).

During this period, they regularly occur at Bull’s Head (in) And at Ronnie Scott’s while in parallel, Dick plays in other minor groups ^{[ 8 ]} . He briefly played at the Ted Heath club, which has many renowned jazz musicians over the years, while he appears to be a star guest at the Johnny Dankworth club. Likewise, with his tenors Stan Robinson colleagues (in) et al gay (in) , the baritone Paul Carroll, and the trumpeters Ian Carr, Kenny Wheeler and Greg Brown, Morrissey is part of the animals troupe which makes his only public appearance during the 5 ^{It is} Jazz & Blues Festival national annual festival in Richmond in 1965.

In 1966 and 1967, he arrived in second place in the jazz survey of Melody Maker ^{[ 9 ]} .

Dick Morrissey regularly performed at the National Jazz & Blues Festival in the 1960s. His last appearance dates from the 6 ^{It is} Festival held in Windsor in 1966, although it probably returned in 1972 with its new group If  (in) .

In 1969, he trained the group If (in) With guitarist Terry Smith (like Dick, several times a finalist or winner of the survey of Melody Maker ) ^{[ ten ]} .

Morrissey – Mullen [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

If is dissolved in 1975. Morrissey then went to Germany to carry out a tour with Alexis Korner, then to the United States. During this last tour, he met Jim Mullen (in) With whom he will create the group Morrissey – Mullen (in) (or M&M ). They record their first album, UP, in 1976 in New York ^{[ 11 ]} . M&M Record sixteen albums, in sixteen years of collaboration, while Morrissey and Mullen form the group Our Band With Martin Drew (in) , Ron Mathewson, John Burch  (in) and Louis Stewart.

His helping success, he became highly asked, especially in the United Kingdom. He thus meets artists like Tubby Hayes, Roy Budd, Ian Carr, Spike Robinson and Allan Ganley among others ^{[ twelfth ]} .

Other collaborations [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

During his many tours, he finds and composes with former friends, for example Ian Stewart, Charlie Watts, Jack Bruce or Alexis Korner, with whom he trains the Rocket 88 group (in) . With the latter, he composes several albums. He also records with Hoagy Carmichael, Annie Ross, Mike Carr, Brian Lemon, Georgie Fame, Brian Auger, Dusty Springfield, Paul McCartney, Gary Numan, Herbie Mann, Jon Anderson, Marc Benno, Demis Roussos, Vangelis (with whom he creates the song Love Theme For Blade Runner , in the credits of which his name is also flayed in “Morrisey” ^{[ 13 ]} ) and the Orange Juice and Shakatak groups. He also collaborated on the third album of Peter Gabriel published in 1980 (solo on “Start” and other titles).

End of life [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Dick Morrissey dies the November 8, 2000 , at the age of 60, after many years of fighting various forms of cancer. Shortly before his death, he still played in coffee L’alma to deal. For his last concert, he is with the group Morrissey – Mullen at the theatre L’Astor of deal. His funeral, which took place there, were followed by several of his musician colleagues, including Allan Ganley.

Ronald Atkins wrote a necrological notice for The Guardian :

‘ John Coltrane’s approach to the tenor had yet to make much of an impact in Britain, and Morrissey came up with a startling and warmly appreciated blend of Stan Getz and Sonny Rollins, the phrasing of one allied to the abrasive tones of the other. He was also influenced by the example of Tubby Hayes, whose lightening-quick [sic] forays through complex harmonies he was probably the first to emulate ^{[ 14 ]} . »

“The approach of the [saxophone] tenor by John Coltrane had not yet had a great impact in Great Britain, and Morrissey arrived with a surprising mixture but well received by Stan Getz and Sonny Rollins, the phrasing of the An ally with the abrasive tones of the other. He had also been influenced by the example of Tubby Hayes, with the speed-flair [sic] of his incursions through complex harmonies, which he was probably the first to imitate. »»

Influence [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Thanks to the versatility of its musical capacities, whether pop, rock, hard bop or jazz, Dick Morrissey has shown that music could be appreciated at different levels, and that all genres can be embellished with jazz . In this way, he was able to reach new audiences of the time and, indirectly, to introduce people to jazz. As for different stages of his career, journalists asked him to define his style; He responds by referring to the definition of Duke Ellington: ‘ It’s all music » (literally “it’s all the music”, or more exactly “it is only music”, implying that it was only playing this art) and stressing that for Ellington, there had only two types of music: “good” or “bad”. In this regard, his latest recordings are more than ever focused on jazz and Great American Songbook standards ^{[ 15 ]} .

• It’s Morrissey, Man! (1961) – The Dick Morrissey Quartet
• Have You Heard? (1963) – The Dick Morrissey Quartet
• There and Back (Live in 1964-1965-recorded in 1997)
• Storm Warning! (Live a 1965) – The Dick Morrissey Quartet
• Here and Now and Sounding Good! ( September 1966 ) – The Dick Morrissey Quartet
• Sonny’s Blues: Live at Ronnie Scott’s (Live in 1966) – Sonny Stitt with The Dick Morrissey Quartet
• Spoon Sings and Swings (live 1966) – Jimmy Witherspoon avec The Dick Morrissey Quartet
• Wonder ‘ (1980) – With Rollercoaster (Karl Jenkins, Ray Warleigh, etc.)
• After Dark – Solo (1983)
• Souliloguy – Solo (1986)
• Resurrection Ritual – Solo (1988)
• Love Dance – Solo (Live in 1989)
• Charly Antolini Meets Dick Morrissey (Live a 1990)

With If [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

• If (or If 1 ) (1970)
• If 2 (1970)
• If 3 (1971)
• If 4 (1972)
• Waterfall (1972)
• Double Diamond (1973)
• Not Just Another Bunch of Pretty Faces (1974)
• Tea Break Over, Back on Your ‘Eads (1975)

With Morrissey–Mullen [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

• Up (Embryo Records, 1976)
• Cape Wrath – 1979
• Badness – 1981
• LIfe on the Wire – 1982
• It’s About Time – 1983
• This Must Be the Place – 1985
• Happy Hour – 1988
• Everything Must Change: The Definitive Collection – 2003

• (in) Paul Sampon , Future Noir : The Making of Blade Runner , HarperCollins Publishers, 1996 , 464 p. (ISBN  978-0-06-105314-6 ) .