Dave Morgan: Home
Welcome to the web home of Dave Morgan. You will find up to the minute information about my performances, compositions, and recordings on this site.
DAVE MORGAN AND JAZZ UNIT AWARDED GRANT FROM CHAMBER MUSIC AMERICA
The New Works: Creation and Presentation Program, now in its ninth year, supports composer/performer-led ensembles in the creation and presentation of original composition within the jazz idiom. New Works: Creation and Presentation is part of the Doris Duke Jazz Ensembles Project, made possible with generous funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
Chamber Music America, the national service organization for the ensemble music profession, was founded in 1977 to promote artistic excellence and the economic stability of the field, and to ensure that chamber muisic, in its broadest sense, is a vital part of American life. With a membership of over 8,000, including ensembles, individual musicians, presenters, artists' managers, educators, music businesses, and advocates of ensemble music, CMA welcomes and represents a wide range of musical styles and traditions. In addition to its funding programs, CMA provides members with consulting services, access to health and instrumnet insurance, conferences, seminars and several publications, including Chamber Music magazine, and a website, www. chamber-music.org.
This grant will be used to create and present "The Way of the Sly Man" a large-scale work based on the esoteric ideas of G.I. Gurdjieff. We are planning to premiering the work on the weekend of October 9-11, 2009. Friday will be at Stambaugh Auditorium in Youngstown, Saturday will be at the Gurdjieff Center in Cleveland, and Saturday at E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Center in Akron.
BASCOM LITTLE FOUNDATION GRANT
The Bascom-Little Foundation of Cleveland has awarded us a generous grant to record "The Way of the Sly Man."
BRAZIL
I will be traveling to Brazil this summer for two weeks of performing and teaching with the Jack Schantz Quartet.
THE SURPRISE OF BEING--LIVE AT BIRDLAND
THE CLEVELAND JAZZ ORCHESTRA FEATURING JOE LOVANO
This is a great CD documenting a week at Birland in NYC. I did all of the arrangements for the projects, which included compositions by Joe Lovano, Judi Silvano, and me. Thanks to everyone who made this project possible!
RUSSELL SCHMIDT--SEASON OF CHANGE
This is a very satisfying trio recording by Russ on piano, Jim Rupp on drums, and me on bass.
"THREE VIGNETTES"
My "Three Vignettes" as recorded by the Beethoven Academy Orchestra conducted by Piotr Borkowski and saxophone virtuoso Greg Banaszak has recently been released on Romances for Saxophone and Orchestra on the Centaur Label. This is a beautiful CD!
CJO BASSIST TO "RETIRE"
Saturday night will be my final performance as regular bassist for the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra. As I have become increasingly busy with commissions, academia, and family life over the past few years, I am unable to bring the energy and passion to the group that I like to bring to everything I do. It is time to bring in a new bass player with fresh energy and passion for big band jazz and the CJO! It has truly been a wonderful experience for me to be able to play with and write for such a wonderful ensemble over the last decade. These are all very special musicians and great people. Thanks also to all of the behind-the-scenes folks who have kept this organization going through the years.
THE ART OF SEVEN
My latest piece for wind ensemble, The Art of Seven, was performed and recorded by the YSU Symphonic Wind Ensemble and director Steve Gage this Spring. The Art of Seven is a concerto for wind ensemble. It explores many of the ideas, textures, and techniques I am captivated by at this point in my musical life. As with all of my music, I ignore the invisible walls between classical and popular music; high and low art; and the intellectual, emotional, and physical. I have no “system” I follow when I compose. I improvise to come up with raw materials that capture my imagination, then listen deeply to this material, and try to stay out of the way and allow the ideas to develop organically. The one-movement work is divided into three main sections, each characterized by an underlying rhythmic framework, or “groove.” Section I is in 7/8 time. Variety is created by subdividing the seven beats per measure in various ways, such as 2+2+3 or 3+2+2. Section II is essentially an A minor blues in 13/4 time, with the thirteen beats subdivided seven (2+2+3) plus six (2+2+2). Section III is in 4/4 time and is based on the popular 3:2 rumba clave. In all three sections the underlying rhythmic structure is delineated most clearly by the frame drummer. Slow, lyrical interludes between the three main sections serve to develop the melodic and harmonic ideas introduced in the main sections. The frame drum does not play during these sections. The “Seven” in the title of this piece refers to the Law of Seven from the philosophical system of G.I. Gurdjieff. In the Law of Seven, the diatonic scale that underlies all tonal music, with its uneven series of whole steps and half steps, serves as a simile to the orderly discontinuity in every progression of things, from our individual awakening to the structure of cosmos. The Art of Seven was commissioned by Robert Boudreau and the American Wind Symphony Orchestra in 2008, and is published by the C.F. Peters Corp. The AWSO under musical director Robert Boudreau also commissioned an arrangement of Persichetti's "The Hollow Men." In 2007 they performed and recorded "Reflections and Meditations" which was composed for my colleague and friend Robert Fitzer.
