Marlowe Morris

Marlowe Morris was an in-demand pianist who played on the recordings of some of the greatest jazz horn soloists, including Ben Webster and Lester Young, as well as with boogie-woogie and classic blues artists such as Big Joe Turner and Jimmy Rushing. He was also an innovative and much-copied stylist on the less than portable Hammond organ. As a youngster, he fiddled around with a few instruments before finally settling on the keyboards, learning drums, harmonica, and ukulele. As a pianist, his first professional job was with singer June Clark for two years beginning in 1935. He then worked as a solo pianist for several years before joining the combo of tenor sax great Coleman Hawkins from 1940 through 1941, when he joined the Army. Following a stint in the service, he worked with Toby Browne, Al Sears, drummer Sid Catlett, and the great guitarist Tiny Grimes, as well as leading his own trio, all in the first half of the '40s. He then began tickling the ivories only part-time, following a grand musical tradition and taking a day job in the post office to try and make ends meet. From 1949 he returned full-time to music, mainly as a solo organist. In the mid-'60s he led the Marlowe Morris Trio featuring tenor saxophonist Julian Dash. The Morris album Play the Thing on Columbia nabbed the Grand Prix du Disque award from the Hot Club de France. Perhaps the best exposure the pianist ever received was his role in the film Jammin' the Blues in 1944. One of the better jazz films from the swing era, it was filmed in Hollywood and features the pianist in very good company indeed, including players such as trumpeter Harry Edison, tenor men Lester Young and Illinois Jacquet, guitarist Barney Kessel bassist Red Callender, drummer Sid Catlett, and vocalist Mary Bryant (vocal). Marlowe Morris was the nephew of Thomas Morris, a cornet player and bandleader. ~ Eugene Chadbourne