Jeffrey Morgan (musician)

Jeffrey Morgan (born March 20 1954 in Spokane (Washington)) is a United States-born jazz musician (piano, soprano- tenor- and alto-saxophone, trumpet, violin, and conceptual composer). Since 1991 he lives in Cologne, Germany, while remaining active with free jazz and improvised music.

Life and Work

Morgan started studying the Performing Arts: Music; Dance; Experimental Theater; Ethnomusicology; Philosophy of Aesthetics; and Eastern Religion at The Evergreen State College in Olympia,WA in 1973. During his education he attended the legendary Creative Music Studio in Woodstock, NY, and studied under Karl Berger, Don Cherry, and Oliver Lake as part of his external studies program. Moreover, he created his first compositional work for music and dance – “Distress Mistress,” and performed his first ensemble work (14 piece) entitled “The Delirium Dimension” also in 1976. In 1977 he created his first interdisciplinary work (multi-media) – “Galactic Visions,” a composition for music, dance, slide projectors, costumes, and light design. Over the next several years he conceptualized and composed a few collaborative interdisciplinary works: “It’s Only Money”; “C.A.S.H”; “Transient Landscapes”; and “Mykrocozm,” wherein he also had directing and acting responsibilities. In 1982 Morgan co-founded "Presto Chango" a musical theater/performance group that incorporated costumes and stage design along with Andrew Woodruff and Bob Heywood. Two years later together, along with Paul Hoskin, he co-founded NAO (New Art Orchestra) in Seattle. He also worked for Muzak as supervisor to re-evaluated their current library of music. In 1987 Morgan moved to Birmingham, AL., and worked with dancers Mary Horn and Susan Hefner, and started an on-going collaboration with LaDonna Smith. In 1988 he made his first tour to Europe with the Seattle-based trio Clank (w/ Johnny Calcagno and Charly Rowen), as well as working with several international musicians from Denmark, England, Germany, and Czechoslovakia. Since 1991 he resides in Cologne, Germany, remaining active in the field of jazz and improvised music. In the meantime has worked with Alan Silva, Keith Rowe, Peter Kowald, Paul Lytton, and Xu Feng Xia just to name a few. From 1991 to 1996 he organized the Drang in Klang festival for experimental and improvised music, and in 1994 he established another open-door workshop for Conceptual Composition and Improvisation in Cologne, which led to invitations to lead other workshops in Bielefeld, Hamburg, Lisbon, Leeds and Wuppertal. Also, in 1994 he composed another interdisciplinary work entitled “In the Shadow of the Gambler” which was performed in Cologne and Krefeld. Moreover, he has led three classes through a group process focused on Installation and Performance: “Elements”; “Haunted House”; and “N-Station” respectively, at the [http://www.kts.dk/ Tekniske Skole] in Copenhagen.

Selected Discography

* Ritual Space Solo Piano Works (CD Konnex) 2005
* Terra Incognita – Duo w/ Paul Lytton (CD Konnex) 2004
* Avenue X – Quartet w/ Capote (CD Ninth World) 2003
* Take No Prisoners – Duo w/ Bert Wilson (CD Konnex) 2003
* Dubbel Duo – Quartet w/ Goudbeek, Jacquemyn, Kowald (CD Konnex) 2002
* Magnetic Fields – Duo w/ Bert Wilson (CD FMO) 2002
* Quartz & Crow Feather – Solo Alto Saxophone + Violin (CD Headlights) 2000
* Sign of the Raven – Trio w/ Peter Jacquemyn + Mark Sanders (CD Ueton) 2000
* Electroshock – I Woke Up Braindead - Quintet (CD Ueton) 1999
* Dial: Log-Rhythm – Duo w/ Keith Rowe (CD Matchless) 1999
* Near Vhana – Duo w/ Joker Nies (CD Ninth World) 1997
* Snake Eyes – Duo w/ Joker Nies (CD Random Acoustics) 1995
* Quasar-Mach – Solo + Ensemble Works (LP AuRoar) 1983
* More than 20 cassettes were released by Sound of Pig Music 1983 till 1992

Webpages and Sources

* [http://www.myspace.com/morganjazz Music and Video]
* [http://www.parliament-of-music.de/musicians/cologne/morgan/morgan2.html Biography (ger)]
* [http://www.jeffreymorgan.net/ Personal Homepage]