Alun Morgan (24 February 1928 in

Pontypridd Pontypridd ( , ), Colloquialism, colloquially referred to as ''Ponty'', is a town and a Community (Wales), community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, approximately 10 miles north west of Cardiff city centre. Geography Pontypridd comprises the ...

, Wales – 11 November 2018) was a British

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

critic and writer. Morgan became interested in jazz as a teenager during World War II, and

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz Saxophone, saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of beb ...

became a significant influence on him in the late 1940s. Morgan began to write on jazz from the early 1950 for ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'', ''

Jazz Journal ''Jazz Journal'' is a British jazz magazine established in 1946 by Sinclair Traill (1904–1981). It was first published in London under the title ''Pick Up'', which Traill founded as a locus for serious jazz criticism in Britain.Roberta Freund S ...

'', ''Jazz Monthly'' and ''

Gramophone A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding physic ...

'', and for 20 years from 1969 a weekly jazz column in a local

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

newspaper. Over his writing career he completed

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

for over 2,500 albums, initially for

Vogue Records Vogue Records was a short-lived United States–based record label of the 1940s, noted for the artwork embedded in the records themselves. Founded in 1946 as part of Sav-Way Industries of Detroit, Michigan, the discs were initially a hit, becau ...

. From 1954 he contributed to music programmes for

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

. Morgan was the author of a book on modern jazz in England and the co-author of several books on jazz records. He lectured on jazz at the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music school, music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz al ...

and the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

in London. In addition, until 1991 he was a full-time

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

. Shortly after retiring from his other occupation, Morgan emigrated to Australia."Alunn Morgan"
All-Music

Works

*1960: ''Jazz On Record: A Critical Guide'', with Charles Fox,

Peter Gammond Peter Gammond (30 September 1925 – 6 May 2019) was a British music critic, writer, journalist, musician, poet, and artist. Peter Gammond was born in Winnington, Northwich, Cheshire. The son of John Thomas Gammond (1892–1970), a clerk, a ...

and

Alexis Korner Alexis Andrew Nicholas Koerner (19 April 1928 – 1 January 1984), known professionally as Alexis Korner, was a British blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a founding father of British blues". A major i ...

, Grey Arrow/Hutchinson *1968: ''Jazz on record: a critical guide to the first 50 years'', with

Albert McCarthy Albert J. McCarthy (1920 – 3 November 1987 London) was an English jazz and blues discographer, critic, historian, and editor. McCarthy began listening to jazz in his teens, and edited publications of the Jazz Sociological Society in the 1940s. ...

Paul Oliver Paul Hereford Oliver MBE (25 May 1927 – 15 August 2017) was an English architectural historian and writer on the blues and other forms of African-American music. He was equally distinguished in both fields, although it is likely that afici ...

and Max Harrison, London: Hanover Books; New York: Oak Publications *1975: ''Modern Jazz-The Essential Records'', with Max Harrison, Ronald Atkins, Michael James and Jack Cooke, Aquarius Books *1977: ''Modern Jazz - A survey of developments since 1939'', with Raymond Horricks, London, Gollancz, 1956; Westport, CT, Greenwood Publishing *1984: ''Count Basie'', (Jazz Masters series), Spellmount Publishers *1998, 1995: ''The Gramophone Jazz Good CD Guide'', with Keith Shadwick,

Dave Gelly Dave Gelly MBE (born 28 January 1938) is a British jazz critic. A long-standing contributor to ''The Observer'', he was named Jazz Writer of the Year in the 1999 British Jazz Awards. Gelly is also a jazz saxophonist and broadcaster, presenting a ...

Steve Voce Steve Voce (23 December 1933 – 23 November 2023) was a British journalist and music critic. As well as writing obituaries for ''The Independent'', he was a columnist for ''Jazz Journal'', and presented the ''Jazz Panorama'' radio programme on B ...

and

Brian Priestley Brian Priestley (born 10 July 1940)Many sources list Priestley's year of birth as 1946, but this is inaccurate. See Priestley's entry in ''The Rough Guide to Jazz'' anon his revised Charlie Parker study. is an English jazz writer, pianist and a ...

, Gramophone Publications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Alun 1928 births 2018 deaths Jazz writers People from Pontypridd