DICK MORRISEY - On The Spot-The Complete Recordings 1961-63
Acrobat ACMCD4376
Tracks 1 to 11
Dick Morrissey Quartet
Dick Morrissey ( tnr ) Stan Jones ( pno ) Malcolm Cecil ( bass ) Colin Barnes ( drs )
Recorded Phillips Studios, London, 27th April 1961
Tracks 12 to 19
Dick Morrissey Quartet
Dick Morrissey ( tnr ) Harry South ( pno ) Phil Bates ( bass ) Jackie Dougan ( drs )
Recorded Dubreq Studios, London, July & August 1963
Dick Morrissey’s interest in jazz was sparked by Chris Barber and the Revivalists where upon he tried a variety of instruments before settling on the clarinet. He teamed with another young player Peter King who lived locally and formed a sextet with trumpeter Charlie Galbraith.
Introduced by Peter King to the music of Charlie Parker he turned his attention to Modern Jazz and the tenor saxophone. He soon mastered the the new style and the tenor and proceeded to form a quartet with drummer Colin Barnes.
The first session on this album was Morrissey’s debut recording on the Fontana label which received a lot of critical praise. The album gets off to a rousing start with the Sonny Rollins number “St. Thomas, the tenor roars into action from the off with an enthusiasm of a young Tubby Hayes who he was often compared to.
“Cherry Blue” is Bill Le Sage composition and Dick Morrissey takes a much more measured approach to the tune before leaping into action, Stan Jones takes an interesting piano solo but is handicapped by a less than perfect instrument.
Dick Morrissey shows he is capable of tackling a ballad as he makes a fine job Lionel Bart’s “Where is Love” he has a good tone and embellishes the melody with flair.
All in all it is an interesting start to his recording career and he showed promise of developing into a player watch out for.
Two years later he was in the recording studio again for Doug Dobell’s label 77 Records with a complete change of personnel. The pianist on the album was Harry South who just returned from a residency at a Calcutta restaurant with the Dick Morrissey Quartet. The pianist was also responsible for six of the eight numbers on the album and he was also to become one of the top arrangers in the country during the following years.
It is obvious from the first number on the album, Phineas Newborn’s “Down Home” that the tenor player has matured and improved in the two years since his first recording. Unfortunately the quality of the piano has not improved although Harry South is a much more interesting pianist than Stan Jones.
“The Goblin” is n interesting number like most of Harry South’s compositions and the rhythm section show their class with some highly swinging and thoughtful drumming from Jackie Dougan who was to die so tragically in a car crash in Australia.
This is a far better album than the earlier one but the Dick Morrissey has improverd so much during the intervening period. For anyone who does not have any Dick Morrissey albums in their collection this is a good place to remedy that
Reviewed by Roy Booth
Acrobat ACMCD4376
Tracks 1 to 11
Dick Morrissey Quartet
Dick Morrissey ( tnr ) Stan Jones ( pno ) Malcolm Cecil ( bass ) Colin Barnes ( drs )
Recorded Phillips Studios, London, 27th April 1961
Tracks 12 to 19
Dick Morrissey Quartet
Dick Morrissey ( tnr ) Harry South ( pno ) Phil Bates ( bass ) Jackie Dougan ( drs )
Recorded Dubreq Studios, London, July & August 1963
Dick Morrissey’s interest in jazz was sparked by Chris Barber and the Revivalists where upon he tried a variety of instruments before settling on the clarinet. He teamed with another young player Peter King who lived locally and formed a sextet with trumpeter Charlie Galbraith.
Introduced by Peter King to the music of Charlie Parker he turned his attention to Modern Jazz and the tenor saxophone. He soon mastered the the new style and the tenor and proceeded to form a quartet with drummer Colin Barnes.
The first session on this album was Morrissey’s debut recording on the Fontana label which received a lot of critical praise. The album gets off to a rousing start with the Sonny Rollins number “St. Thomas, the tenor roars into action from the off with an enthusiasm of a young Tubby Hayes who he was often compared to.
“Cherry Blue” is Bill Le Sage composition and Dick Morrissey takes a much more measured approach to the tune before leaping into action, Stan Jones takes an interesting piano solo but is handicapped by a less than perfect instrument.
Dick Morrissey shows he is capable of tackling a ballad as he makes a fine job Lionel Bart’s “Where is Love” he has a good tone and embellishes the melody with flair.
All in all it is an interesting start to his recording career and he showed promise of developing into a player watch out for.
Two years later he was in the recording studio again for Doug Dobell’s label 77 Records with a complete change of personnel. The pianist on the album was Harry South who just returned from a residency at a Calcutta restaurant with the Dick Morrissey Quartet. The pianist was also responsible for six of the eight numbers on the album and he was also to become one of the top arrangers in the country during the following years.
It is obvious from the first number on the album, Phineas Newborn’s “Down Home” that the tenor player has matured and improved in the two years since his first recording. Unfortunately the quality of the piano has not improved although Harry South is a much more interesting pianist than Stan Jones.
“The Goblin” is n interesting number like most of Harry South’s compositions and the rhythm section show their class with some highly swinging and thoughtful drumming from Jackie Dougan who was to die so tragically in a car crash in Australia.
This is a far better album than the earlier one but the Dick Morrissey has improverd so much during the intervening period. For anyone who does not have any Dick Morrissey albums in their collection this is a good place to remedy that
Reviewed by Roy Booth
