Lawrence Douglas "Butch" Morris (February 10, 1947 – January 29, 2013) was an American

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. There is also a soprano cor ...

ist,

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and conductor. He was known for pioneering his structural

improvisation Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...

method, ''Conduction'', which he utilized on many recordings.

Biography

Morris was born in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

, United States. Before beginning his musical career, he served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

as a medic in Germany, Japan and Vietnam during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. Morris came to attention with

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

David Murray's groups in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Morris's brother,

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

ist

Wilber Morris Wilber Morris (November 27, 1937 - August 8, 2002) was an American jazz double bass player and bandleader. He was the brother of the cornetist, composer, and conductor Butch Morris.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Wilber Morris recorded widely, and performed with su ...

, sometimes performed and recorded with Murray during this period. Morris led a group called Orchestra SLANG. The group features Drummer Kenny Wollesen, alto saxophonist Jonathon Haffner, trumpeter Kirk Knuffke and others. He performed and presented regularly as part of the Festival of New Trumpet Music, held annually in New York City. Morris wrote most of the incidental music for the 1989 TV show, '' A Man Called Hawk'', which starred Avery Brooks, with whom he co-wrote the theme music, along with

Stanley Clarke Stanley Clarke (born June 30, 1951) is an American bassist, composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first jazz-fus ...

. He also played with well-known artist and would-be drummer A.R. Penck in 1990. Fo
AudioBox Matera 1990: International Festival of Sound ExperimentationPinotto Fava
curator), Morris created ''Spiriti Materani'' featuring Wayne Horvitz (keyboards, electronics), J. A. Deane (trombone, electronics), and Butch (cornet). The project took place in Madonna delle Virtù, a 12th-century rupestrian church in Sasso Caveoso, Matera, Italy. Morris is the originator of ''Conduction'' (a term borrowed from

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

), a type of structured

free improvisation Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any general rules, instead following the intuition of its performers. The term can refer to both a technique—employed by any musician in any genre—and as a recognizable genre of ...

where Morris directs and conducts an improvising ensemble with a series of hand and

baton Baton may refer to: Stick-like objects *Baton, a type of club *Baton (law enforcement) *Baston (weapon), a type of baton used in Arnis and Filipino Martial Arts *Baton charge, a coordinated tactic for dispersing crowds of people *Baton (conducti ...

gestures. These conductions have received generally positive reviews, and are often considered quite unique, not quite fitting into any one

musical genre A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. Genre is to be distinguished from musical form and musical style, although in practice these terms are sometim ...

. Critic Thom Jurek has written, "There are no records like Butch Morris' conduction sides, nor could there be, though he wishes there were." and Ed Hazell writes, "At his best, Morris can shake players out of their old habits, or place a microscope on one aspect of a musician's artistry and build an orchestral fantasia around it." Morris died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

on January 29, 2013, at the age of 65 in a hospital in New York City.

Discography

As leader

* ''In Touch But Out Of Reach'' ( Kharma, 1978) * ''New York City Artist's Collective: Play Butch Morris'' (NYCAC, 1984) * ''Trios'' ( Dossier, 1986) * ''Current Trends in Racism in Modern America'' ( Sound Aspects, 1986) * ''Homeing'' (Sound Aspects, 1988) * ''Mass-X-Communication'' ( FMP, 1991) * ''Dust To Dust'' (

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

, 1991) * ''When the Sun is Out You Don't See Stars'' (FMP, 1993) * ''Testament'' (New World, 1995) * ''Conduction (series)'' (New World, 1996) * ''Burning Cloud'' (FMP, 1996) * ''Berlin Skyscraper'' (FMP, 1998) * ''The Rite'' ( Burnt Sugar, 2003)

As sideman

With Billy Bang * '' Sweet Space'' (Anima, 1979) * '' Outline No. 12'' (Celluloid, 1982

983 Year 983 ( CMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – Diet of Verona: Emperor Otto II (the Red) declares war against the Byzantine Empire and the Emirate of Sicily ...

* '' Vietnam: The Aftermath'' (Justin Time, 2001) * '' Vietnam: Reflections'' (Justin Time, 2005) With Wayne Horvitz *'' Some Order, Long Understood'' (

Black Saint Black Saint and Soul Note are two affiliated Italy, Italian independent record labels. Since their conception in the 1970s, they have released albums from a variety of influential jazz musicians, particularly in the genre of free jazz. History ...

, 1982) With

Frank Lowe Frank Lowe (June 24, 1943 – September 19, 2003) was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and composer. Biography Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Lowe took up the tenor saxophone at the age of 12. As an adult he moved to San Francisco, where h ...

*'' Exotic Heartbreak'' (

Soul Note Black Saint and Soul Note are two affiliated Italian independent record labels. Since their conception in the 1970s, they have released albums from a variety of influential jazz musicians, particularly in the genre of free jazz. History Black S ...

, 1981) *''Tricks of the Trade'' (

Marge Marge is a feminine given name, a shortened form of Marjorie, Margot or Margaret. Notable Marges include: People * Marge (cartoonist) (1904–1993), pen name of Marjorie Henderson Buell, American cartoonist * Marge Anderson (1932–2013), Ojibwe ...

) *''The Other Side'' (

Palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae ** List of Arecaceae genera **Palm oil * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music ...

) *''Skizoke'' *''Live from Soundscape'' With Joe Morris *'' Graffiti in Two Parts'' (RogueArt, 2012) With David Murray *''Vol.1 Penthouse Jazz'' (1977,

Circle A circle is a shape consisting of all point (geometry), points in a plane (mathematics), plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the Centre (geometry), centre. The distance between any point of the circle and the centre is cal ...

) *''Vol.2 Holy Siege on Intrigue'' (1977, Circle) *'' Let the Music Take You'' (Marge, 1978) *'' Last of the Hipman'' (

Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

, 1978) *'' David Murray Big Band'' ( DIW, 1991) With Triple Trip Touch (T.T.T.) * ''3+2=XXXX'' (Dimensional Sound Studio 1, 1983)

References

External links

Butch Morris official site

''Black February'', a documentary about Butch Morris
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Butch 1947 births 2013 deaths American jazz cornetists American jazz composers American male jazz composers Avant-garde jazz musicians Jazz musicians from California Jazz-influenced classical composers Musicians from Long Beach, California Deaths from lung cancer in New York (state) United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War Matera United States Army soldiers