Welcome to Philadelphia Jazz Project
Black February
Jul 24, 2013
Documentary film screening: "Black February."
Saturday, August 3rd at 6:30pm at Drexel University:
Papadakis Auditorium Room;
Every once in a while in American culture, someone comes along and shakes up things… and when they do, everyone knows it. American music has never been the same after Louis Armstrong. Jazz was never the same after Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie began to forge their new music called Bebop. Things were never the same after Elvis Presley demonstrated that a white man could Rock & Roll like a black man.
Lawrence "Butch" Morris [born February 1947 - died January 2013] shook things up quietly and right under our noses. Morris was a Los Angeles bred cornetist/trumpeter, best known for his 1970/80s work with avant garde, NYC saxophonists, David Murray and Frank Lowe. Morris was the rare cornetist in a trumpet world who always brought the future, delicately crashing into the past with every note of his instrument.
Always intrigued by the role of the conductor, Morris conceived of a method for a band leader or conductor to create improvised music with an ensemble by sharing a series of hand gestures or signals for the musicians to follow. He called this innovative method "Conduction" and proceeded to work with all manner of musical ensemble. Jazz musicians, Classical musicians, Rock musicians, Hiphop artists. Each "piece" that he created was given not a name, but a number. Over his career, he created more than 100 of these conductions.
This writer, had the pleasure of seeing one of Morris' early conductions at the Annenberg Center in the April of 1986. The concert was fantastic. The ensemble included about 20 or more musicians including turntablists and vocalists. The sound was enormous. Violins and cellos, merged with guitars and marimbas. Percussionists laid down undulating rhythms that disappeared under the strings like airplanes through clouds. I never forget the comments of one colleague. She said. "The sound is……almost "oceanic."
If you didn't notice any of this activity. If you missed this phenomenon. Don't fret. You can still experience the music and Morris' fascinating story by checking out Vipal Monga's, documentary film, "Black February." On Saturday, August 3rd at 6:30pm at Drexel University - Papadakis Auditorium Room, the film will be presented as part of The BlackStar Film Festival. The film will be followed by dialogue about the Butch Morris Legacy with writer/musician Greg Tate and performer/educator Julia Lopez. For more information, check out The Black Star Film Festival website here or download the festival guide here.
For more information about Lawrence "Butch" Morris visit his website here.
