Barbara Morrison (September 10, 1949 – March 16, 2022) was an American jazz singer and three-time Grammy-nominated performer and record producer. Though she never had a pop or R&B hit, Morrison was a spectacular singer who could pull all the flavor and nuance out of a jazz or soul song and give it her own feel. From the 1980s to 2021, Morrison recorded 22 albums.
Barbara Morrison was born in Ypsilanti, and raised in Romulus, Michigan. From a young age, she showed a deep passion for music, particularly jazz and blues. Her love for singing was evident, and she honed her vocal skills while performing in church choirs and school events. It wasn’t long before her remarkable talent began to shine through catching the attention of those around her.
Morrison recorded her first appearance for radio in Detroit at the age of 10. In 1973 when she was 23, she moved to Los Angeles and sang with Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson's band. Between the mid-1970s and early 1990s, she recorded several albums with Johnny Otis and soon blended the phrasing of Dinah Washington and Little Jimmy Scott in her club delivery. Where she excelled was on covers of soul hits, and she easily would have had hits of her own and become a household name if record producers and management had steered her to record in the style of the day.
In 1986, Morrison toured with the Philip Morris Superband, completing a 14-city one-month tour of Canada, Australia, Japan, and the Philippines, playing with jazz organist Jimmy Smith and backed by saxophonist James Moody, guitarist Kenny Burrell, trumpeter Jon Faddis and Grady Tate on drums. Morrison also completed a 33-city tour in the US in an all-star tribute to composer Harold Arlen. In 1995, Morrison appeared in a televised tribute to Ella Fitzgerald with Mel Tormé, Diane Reeves, Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, Tony Bennett, Dionne Warwick and Lou Rawls.
She performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Nice, Pori, Carnegie Hall, North Sea, Darling Harbour, Sydney Opera House, Monterey, Long Beach, and in tributes to Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Golson. A notable festival in Montreal, Switzerland brought together on stage Blues Guitar legend Buddy Guy with Barbara Morrison and Carlos Santana for an unforgettable performance in July 2004. In 2011, Morrison began performing with Jack Hale, a guitarist, arranger and bandleader.
.jpg)
Morrison began teaching voice lessons at UCLA In the mid-’90s, when she was one of the first hires by jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell, director of the then-new jazz studies concentration. She continued teaching at UCLA, even performing at the school’s Lani Hall Theater opening ceremony in December 2019. In 2020 she established the Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center in Leimert Park, California (a section of Los Angeles) where it provided a venue for performers of all ages and all cultures, promoting music and dance.
Morrison didn’t let health setbacks slow her down. Despite having both of her legs amputated due to diabetes, she continued to perform in person and through livestreams. In early March 2022, Morrison was working on her latest album “Blues Mama” but was hospitalized for cardiovascular disease. Vocalist Dwight Trible, who saw Morrison perform shortly before she went to the hospital, said she sounded just as good as ever. She died on March 16, 2022, at the age of 72. The City of Los Angeles named the intersection in front of her venue Barbara Morrison Square in her honor in 2022.
In her career, Morrison has been the recipient of awards including the Living Legend Award from the Living Legend Foundation, Los Angeles County Museum of Art/LA Jazz Society’s LA Treasures Award and Motown’s Hal Award.
(Edited from Wikipedia, Broadway World, Jazzwax & Random Lengths News)