Carol Morgan Debuts on the Top Jazz Adds Chart at #3

Carol Morgan Debuts on the CMJ Top Jazz Adds Chart

Her First Week in Promotions

LATEST RELEASE:

The opening track I Love You begins with a familiar melody, and one gets the impression that we might be about to hear a lovely, but perhaps safe reading of the Cole Porter chestnut. Gradually though, the group finds fresh, modern territory. Things percolate and morph into something new, yet never lose sight of the composer’s intent.

This is certainly one of the group’s strengths. April in Paris pulls off the same sort of magic trick. With one foot in the past and another in the future, they can rock back and forth, dancing between the ages. This is no easy thing to do, but they make it seem so.

Lonely Woman sounds as if the mournful American jazz horns are attending a native, African funeral. The bass and drums create an ethnic groove, but the horns remain ethereal. The effect is haunting.

Booker’s Waltz swings hard, as it was meant to. Joel Frahm’s Glyph is an enigmatic odd meter vehicle. Tightly played ensemble passages give way to Carol’s rubato solo. She brings everyone back in, by quoting the melody in time. Really impressive ensemble work!

I love the melodic interplay between Morgan and Frahm on Where Are You? They trade off playing melody and embellishment on the heads and solos. The result illustrates beautifully, why this group doesn't need a piano or guitar. Frahm tips his hat to Ben Webster here and there.

Martin Wind’s Last Waltz is a solemn and very personal tribute, and a beautiful end to this wonderfully engaging set.

The day of this recording, Carol purchased a pair of sunglasses with blue tinted lenses. As she was en route to the studio on that beautiful spring day, the world took on a new look. The warm, sunny, vibrant colors were all shaded in a lovely and surprising way. She kept remarking about it, and one by one, the musicians all tried on the blue glasses. At some point, while listening to a playback, Carol remarked, “Blue Glass Music.”

Just another example of why Carol Morgan is one of my heroes. That emotional availability, that “in the moment” mentality is exactly what makes her such a unique voice in jazz, and of course, exactly what we all should be striving for. It keeps me coming back again and again.


BIOGRAPHY:

Carol Morgan is a jazz trumpeter, composer, and author who resides in NYC. Originally from Texas, she is a Juilliard graduate who has worked with many remarkable teachers including Chris Gekker, Mark Gould, Ingrid Jensen, and Dennis Dotson.

Carol’s discography includes four CD’s as a leader. The Carol Morgan Trio CD, Opening, featuring Harvie S and Rich DeRosa was signed by Blue Bamboo Music and released in early 2010. Her follow-up and current release for the Blue Bamboo Music label is a quartet album featuring Joel Frahm, Martin Wind and Matt Wilson, called Blue Glass Music. Other session work includes solo outings, Classic Morgana and Passing Time with the Carol Morgan Quintet, as well as filling side-person roles on releases by DIVA
Jazz Orchestra, Hawk-Richard Jazz Orchestra, The Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, NPR’s The Engines of Our Ingenuity, Thomas Helton, Henry Darragh and Calvin Owens. As a composer, she has been commissioned by DiverseWorks, the Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble, the Arch-diocese of Houston/Galveston and St. Thomas Presbyterian Church, Houston. In 2008, Carol authored
what is now a highlyregarded method for jazz improvisation--a textbook entitled The Practicing Improviser.

Currently, Carol leads her own trio, Carol Morgan’s Case Study--featuring Helen Sung and Mike Moreno, Morganix (an organ trio with Akiko Tsuruga), The Carol Morgan Quartet featuring Joel Frahm, and is a member of the New York-based DIVA Jazz Orchestra. Recent performing venues include Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola (Jazz at Lincoln Center, NYC), Small’s Jazz Club (NYC), The 55 Bar (NYC), Blues Alley (DC), the Playboy Jazz Festival (The Hollywood Bowl, LA), The Lionel Hampton Jazz Club (Paris), The
Elephant Room (Austin), The Deer Head Inn (Delaware Gap, PA) and World Cafe’ Live (Philadelphia). Carol’s goal as an artist and teacher is to help people enjoy music more.