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Thursday, 29 July 2010

Barbara Morrison: Jazz Vocalist and Entertainer Extraordinaire at Steamers

Written by Glenn A. Mitchell

Tuesday, 02 October 2007

Barbara Morrison at Steamers©Glenn A. Mitchell

Barbara Morrison is a high-velocity performer in the finest sense of the word and has been a regular at Orange County’s Steamers for several years. When you see her show, you know you’ve seen a world-class act through and through. She sang all styles within her program on September 8^thto a packed house. She calls her band “The Bu Crew,” which is made up of Ron Bishop –piano, Wayne Wayne – tenor sax, Charles Small – guitar, Edwin Livingston – upright and electric bass, and Fritz Wisedrums.

The quintet played two starter gems: “On Green Dolphin Street” and the always popular “Blue Bossa.” Everyone excelled in both their playing and solos early on. Terence Love welcomed Morrison to the stage. This was a special night for her as it was her birthday and she showed us a valuable present a close friend had given her – a multi- CD set of Lady Day –Billy Holiday. She talked about this treasured gift again later in the evening.

Her music kicked off in high gear with “I Love Being Here with You,” “Love for Sale,” “The Very Thought of You,” and “Going to Chicago But I Can’t Take You.” The band performed phenomenally. Everyone got a chance to stretch out musically.

Barbara Morrison©Andrea Canter

During the set Barbara Morrison shared some life experiences with the audience – one about her recent touring on a cruise ship and all the hilarious things that happened to her, some interesting comical stories. She dedicated “Lullaby of Birdland” as one of Ella Fitzgerald’s favorite tunes and sang it with a lot of soulful feeling. A Percy Mayfield song, “A River’s Invitation” was about a man who lost his woman and went to look for her, talking to the river. Among other standout songs were “Never Let Me Go” (with piano accompaniment only), “What a Difference a Day Makes” (done in samba format) and “Summertime.” Livingston’s electric bass brought a good rhythmical groove to the tune along with Wise’s solid time-keeping, while Bishop’s piano work and Small’s guitar blended very well together. Wayne’s tenor work added strong shading. Morrison had no problem keeping the audience’s attention for the entire show.

During “Summertime” she was dancing on the stage and encouraging the audience to get up and dance at their table areas. She then asked a woman to come up to the stage and dance along side of her. The woman did a fine and equal performance and Morrison then asked her to quickly leave the stage and sit down. Everyone was laughing! I enjoyed all of her showmanship, singing and comedic flair immensely. See her website www.barbaramorrison.com .

Reprinted with permission from the October 2007 issue of LA Jazz Scene. Glenn A. Mitchell is a bassist and writer for LA Jazz Scene.

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