Patron

The Australian Jazz Museum welcomes the world renowned James Morrison as Patron.

James Morrison

The name “James Morrison” is known throughout the world for his sheer brilliance as a jazz musician and an all round entertainer. He is constantly on the move, touring everywhere and anywhere fine music has an audience. His recordings are best sellers and James works with the cream of the world’s best performers. Ray Brown called him “The Genius” but Wynton Marsalis said it best: “Man, James Morrison can play!”

Bursting onto the international stage at age 16, James debuted in the USA with a breathtaking concert at the Monterey Jazz Festival. Following this were appearances at Europe’s major festivals including Montreux, Pori, North Sea, Nice and Bern – playing with many of the legends of jazz. Dizzy Gillespie, Cab Calloway, Woody Shaw, Red Rodney, George Benson, Ray Charles, B.B. King, Ray Brown and Wynton Marsalis to name a few. There were also gigs in the world’s most famous jazz clubs – The Blue Note, Village Vanguard and Dizzy’s in New York, the New Morning in Paris, The Tokyo Blue Note and Ronnie Scott’s in London.

James Morrison’s career thus far has been diverse and perhaps not typical of most jazz musicians. He recorded Jazz Meets the Symphony with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Lalo Schifrin and performed concerts at the Royal Albert Hall and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in addition to Royal Command Performances on two occasions for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. James has also been invited to perform specially for US Presidents Bush, Clinton and Obama.

James has appeared at the Hollywood Bowl and guested with many great artists as diverse as jazz superstars Herbie Hancock and Quincy Jones and rock legends INXS. In 2000, James composed and performed the fanfare for the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony in Sydney.

Besides live performance, James’s interests include James Morrison Studios, a state of the art facility in Sydney for recording jazz. James currently records for ABC Jazz/Universal and Fanfare Jazz and is an exclusive artist for Schagerl.

James has been recognized for his service to the arts in Australia by being appointed a Member The Order of Australia, with particular mention of his contribution to music education. In 2015,
James established the James Morrison Academy of Music in Mount Gambier, South Australia, an innovative school dedicated to teaching jazz and offering a Bachelor Degree in Music.
This exciting initiative involves educators from all over the world, transforming young musicians’ lives with inspiration and a love of jazz.

With interests so broad and a career so filled with highlights it seems that James must have done just about everything he could want to do. When asked “What is there left to do?
” James’s typical reply is “This is just the warm up!”

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