World-renowned trumpet maestro James Morrison is turning 60 this year! To celebrate this exciting milestone, James is embarking on a national tour with a very special show paying tribute to the many jazz legends that have shaped his incredible career.
In the lead-up to this fantastic concert, we’re shining a light on just a handful of jazz superstars who have inspired James and whose music you can expect to hear at the show!
Duke Ellington
Regarded as one of the most important composers in 20th-century music, pianist Duke Ellington wrote or collaborated on over a thousand compositions in his lifetime. Many of his works are now considered jazz standards, such as ‘It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)’ and ‘Caravan’.
Listen to Duke Ellington on Spotify.
Duke Ellington | Image source: Encyclopedia Brittanica
Count Basie
Jazz giant Count Basie began his music career playing piano with vaudeville acts. After finding himself stranded in Kansas as a young man, he formed his own orchestra with local musicians, which by the late 1930s had become one of the most famous big bands in America.
Listen to Count Basie on Spotify.
Count Basie | Image source: Reg Burkett/Getty Images
Ella Fitzgerald
Sometimes referred to as the ‘First Lady of Song’ or the ‘Queen of Jazz’, Ella Fitzgerald was one of history’s greatest female jazz singers, known best for her flexible, wide-ranging voice and her hallmark scat singing. Over her illustrious career, she won 13 Grammy Awards and sold over 40 million albums.
Listen to Ella Fitzgerald on Spotify.
Ella Fitzgerald | Image source: AF archive, Alamy Stock Photo
Frank Sinatra
While not strictly a ‘jazz singer’, Frank Sinatra worked alongside many big band greats and helped bridge the divide between jazz and pop music. He released his first hit with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra in 1940 at the height of the swing era, remained one of the world’s most popular entertainers throughout the 1950s and 1960s and was still making million-selling records in the 1990s.
Listen to Frank Sinatra on Spotify.
Frank Sinatra | Image source: Library of Congress
Dizzy Gillespie
Known for his phenomenal trumpet skills, horn-rimmed glasses and trademark ‘balloon cheeks’, Dizzy Gillespie was one of the most influential jazz musicians of all time. In the 1940s, he helped pioneer bebop (a popular subgenre of jazz) and inspired other legendary jazz trumpeters such as Miles Davis.
Listen to Dizzy Gillespie on Spotify.
Dizzy Gillespie | Image source: William Gottlieb/Library of Congress
Now recognised for his virtuosic trumpet skills, multi-instrumentalist James Morrison started playing piano at age six and was performing in nightclubs by age 13. Among other accomplishments, James composed and performed the opening fanfare at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, has won several awards and been inducted into the Australian Jazz Hall of Fame, and opened the James Morrison Academy of Music in South Australia in 2015.
Joining James for his upcoming concert will be special guest vocalists Emma Pask and Darren Percival, plus saxophonist Andy Firth. The concert will also include a tribute to Australian jazz musician and James’ mentor, the late Don Burrows.
Together, these spectacular musicians will bring you an unforgettable night filled with timeless swinging jazz standards!
Don’t miss James Morrison and His Big Band at Perth Concert Hall on Sunday 23 October, 3pm. Find tickets and more information.
