Morris, Byron
Morris, Byron
Morris, Byron, jazz saxophonist, flutist; b. Roanoke, Va., Jan. 7, 1941. He attended Tuskegee Univ., earning his B.S. in 1964. He studied privately with Frank Foster, Jackie McLean, Jimmy Owens, Omette Coleman, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, John Malachi, Jimmy Heath, and Webster Young. He co-founded three musical groups: Unity with Vincent McEwan and Gerald Wise in 1972; Three Saxes for Lester (Young), in 1981 with Ron Holloway and Clyde Dickerson; and Swingin7 Saxes, an out-growth of Three Saxes for Lester, with in late 1983 Orrin Hall and Charlie Young, and a broadened repertory as well. All three groups have been active in the Washington, D.C., area. He worked with Joe McPhee in 1973 and that same year also hosted radio shows in Poughkeepsie/Beacon, N.Y.; from 1977–83, he hosted shows on WPFW, Washington, D.C. He received Fellowships from the NEA in 1973, 1978 and 1983, the last to conduct educational workshops on jazz history in secondary schools and colleges. He produces his own recordings.
Discography
byron and gerald:Unity(1972). unity:Blow thru Your Mind {197A); Vibrations in Time(1994); Universal Sounds of America(1995); Joe McPhee and Survival Unit II 1971(1996); Jazzier Rhythms(1997). byron morris and unity:Vibrations, Themes and Serenades(1979); Honey, I Love(1982).
—Lewis Porter