DICK MORRISSEY
Genres: Hard Bop, RnB, Pop, Art Song, Folk • United Kingdom

Saxophonist Dick Morrissey towered among the finest and most innovative British jazz musicians of his generation when he teamed with guitarist Jim Mullen to spearhead the UK fusion movement of the 1970s. Born May 9, 1940 in Horley, England, Morrissey taught himself the clarinet at age 16, later mastering all of the saxophones and the flute. In his late teens, while apprenticing as a jeweler, he played with the Original Climax Jazz Band, followed by a stint in trumpeter Gus Galbraith's septet, where alto saxophonist Pete King introduced Morrissey to his chief inspiration, Charlie Parker. Tenor saxophone remained his weapon of choice for years to follow, and as he gravitated to bebop. Morrissey formed his own quartet in the spring of 1960 and cut his debut LP, It's Morrissey, Man!, the following year. He spent much of 1962 in Calcutta, where he joined the Ashley Kozak Quartet during their lengthy read more...