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Artist
Byron Morris & Unity
12+ albums
jazzfree jazzbebopbopimprovisation
about
An exciting but obscure jazz saxophonist who has spent most of his adult life in Washington, D.C., Byron Morris is the son of the late saxman/band leader James William "Jim Billy" Morris (b. Feb. 18, 1916, d. Feb. 8, 1985) and has led or co-led the band Unity since the 1970s. The alto, tenor and soprano saxophonist was born and raised in Roanoke, VA, where as a high school student, he played alongside pianist Don Pullen in a band called the Junior Aristocrats (which was named after the Aristocrats, a swing band his father led from 1947-1960). After graduating from high school in 1959, Morris attended Tuskegee University and graduated in 1964 with a degree in engineering. Since the mid-1960s, Morris has paid his bills as an engineer (he has worked for IBM as well as the federal government), while devoting evenings and weekends to jazz. Morris, who moved to Washington, DC as an adult, played in both R&B and jazz bands in the 1960s, and in 1972, he co-founded Unity with trumpeter Vincent McEwan and composer Gerald Wise. Specializing in a very spiritual style of post-bop along the lines of Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Pharoah Sanders and John Coltrane, Unity often featured the expressive female vocalist Jay Clayton. Unity's first LP, Blow Thru Your Mind, was recorded in 1973, followed by Vibrations, Themes and Serenades (recorded in 1975 and 1978) and Honey, I Love (recorded in 1981). Unity didn't record any more studio albums after that, although different Unity lineups came together fo
top songs
albums
Blow Thru Your Mind
Vibrations, Themes & Serenades
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Universal Sounds Of America
Gilles Peterson & Patrick Forge Present Sunday Afternoon At Dingwalls
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Gilles Peterson & Patrick Forge Present Sunday Afternoon At Dingwalls (Disc 1)
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Gilles Peterson & Patrick Forge Present Sunday Afternoon At Dingwalls [Disc 1]
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Kev Beadle presents Private Collection
Sunday Afternoon at Dingwalls
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Sunday Afternoon at Dingwalls Disc 1
Soul Jazz Records Presents: Soul of a Nation: Jazz Is the Teacher, Funk Is the Preacher
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celebrate & céleste ÉDIFICE
Spiritual Jazz 6: Vocals