Lawrence "Butch" Morris
b. 10 February 1947, Long Beach, California, USA. Playing cornet on the west coast, Morris worked with bop tenor saxophonist J.R. Monterose, bassist George Morrow and avant garde players Frank Lowe and Don Moyeas well as studying with well-known west coast mentors, Horace Tapscott and Bobby Bradford (which is where he first met his longtime associate David Murray). In 1975 he relocated to New York, playing free jazz in the Loft scene. From 1976-77 he lived in Paris, working with Lowe and bassist Alan Silva. In 1977 he joined Murray's seminal Octet, recording on MING, HOME and MURRAY'S STEPS. Morris developed what he called ‘conduction’, a method of leading improvisers with visual instructions, conducting the David Murray Big Band at Sweet Basil in 1984 (recorded for Black Saint). Meanwhile, Morris had also been recording his own music: IN TOUCH…BUT OUT OF REACH was a 1978 live concert with a sextet that included trombonist Grachan Moncur IIIand drummer Steve McCall; THE NEW YORK CITY ARTISTS’ COLLECTIVE PLAYS BUTCH MORRIShad him conducting an eight-piece group, which featured vocalist Ellen Christi, through a set of his own pieces. In 1985 he recorded a free-improvisation record with guitarist Bill Horvitz ( TRIOS) and 1988 saw the appearance of two albums featuring a trio of Morris, Wayne Horvitz, and Robert Previte, ( NINE BELOW, TODOS SANTOS), the latter album showcasing the compositions of pianist/singer Robin Halcomb. In 1986 he released CURRENT TRENDS IN RACISM IN MODERN AMERICA, an innovative music in which he led 10 musicians (including Lowe, John Zorn, harpist Zeena Parkins and drummer Thurman Barker) through poignant, desolate and highly charged ‘free-improvisations’. HOMEING (1987) and DUST TO DUST (1991) continued his search for a new method of assembling musicians drawn from both the black avant garde and white avant-rock circles. In a period where conservatism has become the normal approach, Morris has bravely taken steps to provide a part of the future.