Search - James Morrison :: So Far So Good : Best Of James Morrison

Genius, pure and simple!

Mark R. Lewis | So. Thomaston, ME United States | 08/19/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I heard of James Morrison years ago in the pages of Downbeat mag. The picture showed this guy surrrounded by about 7 or 8 diffferent horns. I'm thinking "I'd be impressed if this guy could play one of those horns well". Mr. Morrison hails from Down Under, so his recorded work until recently wasn't available stateside. After listening to this retrospective of all of his CD's, I can tell you right now my jaw hit the floor as I was listening to his work! On several cuts, you'll hear a very tight, hard-swinging big band. When you read the liner notes, you'll learn Morrison plays all the trumpets, trombones, and saxes and piano as well! On other cuts, he plays only the saxophone, or just a euphonium. But his main axe is the trumpet and he blows the hell out of that! He plays a number "Scream Machine" that is a tribute to "Chase" in that he overdubs 5 trumpets that as the title implies....SCREAMS! But Morrison isn't just a technician with great chops. He swings like crazy, and his improvisations cover the history of jazz trumpeters, from Satchmo, to CT, to Dizzy and Miles. I've also listened to the entire CD "Scream machine" and that was also a great purchase for all the reasons given above. People fawn all over Wynton, Nick Payton, Roy Hargrove, and some of the other "Young Lions".....none of them have ANYTHING over James Morrison!! In fact, because he encompasses so many styles and appproaches so damn well, I'd say he is the one to be watching. Get this CD and be floored, and then pray that some American record company wakes up and gets this guy over here on another label besides an import!"