# Joe Morris (guitarist)

Joseph Francis Michael Morris (born September 13, 1955) is an American jazz guitarist, bassist, composer, and educator.

## Early life

Morris was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on September 13, 1955. He switched from trumpet to guitar at the age of fourteen. He was self-taught. His interest in jazz began two years later, after attending a John McLaughlin concert and listening to John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Pharoah Sanders recordings.

## Later life and career

Morris moved to Boston in 1975, "where his unique approach was not initially accepted in the then-prevalent modal jazz scene. Despite this temporary setback, and some time spent playing guitar in Europe, he developed a pivotal collaborative relationship with multi-instrumentalist Lowell Davidson, whose unique sound explorations inspired him to further develop his own original approach to music making". Morris formed his first trio in 1977.
In 1981 Morris formed his own record company, Riti, for his own recordings. He has led a group called Sweatshop, the sextet Racket Club, and quartets featuring, separately, Mat Maneri, Jamie Saft, and Rob Brown.
In 1994 he became the first guitarist to lead his own session for Black Saint/Soul Note, with Symbolic Gesture. He has continued to record extensively for many labels such as Knitting Factory, AUM Fidelity, and Hathut. In addition to leading his own groups, he has recorded and performed with, among others: Matthew Shipp, William Parker, Joe Maneri, and Ivo Perelman.
He has lectured and conducted workshops throughout the US and Europe. He is a former member of the faculty of Tufts University Extension College and is on the faculty at New England Conservatory in the jazz and improvisation department.

## Influences and style

Morris cites as influences Cecil Taylor, Jimmy Lyons, Eric Dolphy, Leroy Jenkins, Thelonious Monk, Jimi Hendrix, and West African string music. Morris has created his own approach to playing and composing. "He usually incorporates a clean tone of the bebop lineage for his single-note-driven improvisations". He also plays banjolele.

## Discography
### As leader/co-leader

| Release year | Title | Label | Personnel/Notes |
| 1983 | Wraparound | Riti | Trio with Sebastian Steinberg (bass), Laurence Cook (drums) |
| 1987 | Human Rites | Riti | Trio with Sebastian Steinberg (bass), Thurman Barker (drums) |
| 1990 | Sweatshop | Riti | Trio with Sebastian Steinberg (bass), Jerome Deupree (drums) |
| 1992 | Flip and Spike | Riti | Trio with Sebastian Steinberg (bass), Jerome Deupree (drums) |
| 1994 | Symbolic Gesture | Soul Note | Trio with Nate McBride (bass), Curt Newton (drums) |
| 1995 | Illuminate | Leo | Quartet, co-led with Rob Brown (alto sax), William Parker (bass), Jackson Krall (drums) |
| 1995 | No Vertigo | Leo | |
| 1996 | Elsewhere | Homestead | Quartet with Matthew Shipp (piano), William Parker (bass), Whit Dickey (drums) |
| 1997 | You Be Me | Soul Note | Quartet with Mat Maneri (violin), Nate McBride (bass), Curt Newton (drums) |
| 1997 | Invisible Weave | No More | Duo with William Parker (bass) |
| 1997 | Antennae | AUM Fidelity | Trio with Nate McBride (bass), Jerome Deupree (drums) |
| 1998 | Racket Club | About Time | Sextet with Jim Hobbs (alto sax), Steve Norton (baritone sax), Nate McBride (electric bass), Jerome Deupree, Curt Newton (drums) |
| 1998 | Like Rays | Knitting Factory | Free improvisation trio with Ken Vandermark (clarinet), Hans Poppel (piano) |
| 1998 | A Cloud of Black Birds | AUM Fidelity | Quartet with Chris Lightcap (bass), Mat Maneri (violin), Jerome Deupree (drums) |
| 1999 | Deep Telling | Okka Disk | With the DKV Trio: Hamid Drake (drums), Kent Kessler (bass), Ken Vandermark (tenor sax) |
| 1999 | Many Rings | Knitting Factory | Quartet with Karen Borca (bassoon), Rob Brown (alto sax, flute), Andrea Parkins (accordion, sampler) |
| 1999 | Underthru | OmniTone | Quartet with Mat Maneri (violin), Chris Lightcap (bass), Gerald Cleaver (drums) |
| 2000 | Soul Search | AUM Fidelity | Duo with Mat Maneri (electric violin) |
| 2000 | At the Old Office | Knitting Factory | Quartet with Mat Maneri (violin), Chris Lightcap (bass), Gerald Cleaver (drums) |
| 2001 | Singularity | AUM Fidelity | Solo guitar |
| 2002 | Age of Everything | Riti | Trio with Timo Shanko (bass), Luther Gray (drums) |
| 2003 | Likewise | Riti | As part of the band Stone House; trio with Luther Gray (drums), Rob Brown (alto sax, flute) |
| 2005 | Beautiful Existence | Clean Feed | Quartet with Jim Hobbs (alto sax), Timo Shanko (bass), Luther Gray (drums) |
| 2007 | Rebus | Clean Feed | Free improvisation trio with Ken Vandermark (tenor sax), Luther Gray (drums) |
| 2008 | High Definition | hatOLOGY | As the band Bass Quartet, with Taylor Ho Bynum (cornet, trumpet, flugelhorn), Allan Chase (saxophones), Luther Gray (drums) |
| 2008 | Elm City Duets | Clean Feed | Duo with Barre Phillips (bass) |
| 2009 | MVP LSD | Riti | Trio with John Voigt (bass), Tom Plsek (trombone) |
| 2009 | Wildlife | AUM Fidelity | Trio with Petr Cancura (saxophones), Luther Gray (drums) |
| 2009 | The Necessary and the Possible | Victo | Free improvisation trio with Simon H. Fell (bass), Alex Ward (clarinet) |
| 2009 | Colorfield | ESP-Disk | Trio with Steve Lantner (piano), Luther Gray (drums) |
| 2009 | Today on Earth | AUM Fidelity | Quartet with Jim Hobbs (alto sax), Timo Shanko (bass), Luther Gray (drums) |
| 2010 | Tooth And Nail | Clean Feed | Duo with Nate Wooley (trumpet) |
| 2010 | Creatures | Not Two | Duo with Luther Gray (drums) |
| 2010 | Camera | ESP-Disk | Quartet with Luther Gray (drums), Katt Hernandez (violin), Junko Fujiwara Simons (cello) |
| 2010 | Sensor | No Business | Solo bass (LP only) |
| 2010 | Night Logic | RogueArt | Trio with Marshall Allen (alto sax, flute, EVI), Matthew Shipp (piano) |
| 2011 | Traits | Riti | As the band Wildlife; quartet with Luther Gray (drums), Petr Cancura (tenor sax), Jim Hobbs (alto sax) |
| 2011 | Ambrosia | Riti | Duo with Agustí Fernández (piano) |
| 2011 | XYX | Northern Spy | As the band The Spanish Donkey; trio with Jamie Saft (keyboards), Mike Pride (drums) |
| 2012 | Graffiti in Two Parts | RogueArt | Quartet with Lowell Davidson (drums, bass), Malcolm Goldstein (violin), Lawrence D. "Butch" Morris (cornet). Recorded in 1985 |
| 2012 | Altitude | AUM Fidelity | Trio with William Parker (bass, sintir), Gerald Cleaver (drums) |
| 2012 | From the Discrete to the Particular | Relative Pitch | Free improvisation trio with Agustí Fernández (piano), Nate Wooley (trumpet) |
| 2013 | Black Aces | RareNoise | As the band Slobber Pup; quartet with Jamie Saft (keyboards), Trevor Dunn (bass), Balázs Pándi (drums) |
| 2014 | Balance | Clean Feed | Quartet with Mat Maneri (viola), Chris Lightcap (bass), Gerald Cleaver (drums) |
| 2014 | Red Hill | RareNoise | Quartet with Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet), Jamie Saft (piano, electric piano), Balázs Pándi (drums) |
| 2014 | Storms | Glacial Erratic | Duo with Chris Cretella (acoustic guitar) |
| 2014 | Mess Hall | hatOLOGY | Trio with Jerome Deupree (drums), Steve Lantner (electronic keyboard) |
| 2015 | Ninth Square | Clean Feed | Free improvisation trio with Evan Parker (saxophones), Nate Wooley (trumpet) |
| 2015 | Raoul | RareNoise | As the band The Spanish Donkey; trio with Jamie Saft (keyboards), Mike Pride (drums) |
| 2015 | Ticonderoga | Clean Feed | Quartet with Joe McPhee (saxophones), Jamie Saft (piano), Charles Downs (drums) |
| 2015 | Pole Axe | RareNoise | As the band Slobber Pup; quartet with Jamie Saft (keyboards), Mats Gustafsson (tenor sax), Balázs Pándi (drums) |
| 2015 | Solos Bimhuis | Relative Pitch | Solo guitar |
| 2016 | Shock Axis | Relative Pitch | Trio with Chris Cretella (electric bass), Dave Parmelee (drums) |
| 2018 | Geometry of Caves | Relative Pitch | Quartet with Tomeka Reid (cello), Kyoko Kitamura (voice), Taylor Ho Bynum (cornet, trumpet) |
| 2019 | Geometry of Distance | Relative Pitch | Quartet with Tomeka Reid (cello), Kyoko Kitamura (voice), Taylor Ho Bynum (cornet, trumpet) |

### As sideman

| Release year | Leader | Title | Label |
| 1992 | Rob Brown | Youniverse | Riti |
| 2023 | Jeff Platz | Sun Spells | Setola di Maiale |
| 2005 | Rob Brown | Radiant Pools | RogueArt |
| 2009 | Petr Cancura | Fine Objects | Not Two |
| 2000 | Whit Dickey | Big Top | Wobbly Rail |
| 2002 | Whit Dickey | Prophet Moon | Riti |
| 2004 | Whit Dickey | Coalescence | Clean Feed |
| 2005 | Whit Dickey | In a Heartbeat | Clean Feed |
| 2006 | Whit Dickey | Sacred Ground | Clean Feed |
| 2008 | Hamid Drake | Blissful | RogueArt |
| 2009 | Flow Trio | Rejuvenation | ESP-Disk |
| 2011 | Flow Trio | Set Theory, Live at the Stone | Ayler |
| 2006 | Dennis Gonzalez | No Photograph Available | Clean Feed |
| 2009 | Dennis Gonzalez | Songs of Early Autumn | No Business |
| 2011 | Ingebrigt Håker Flaten | Now Is | Clean Feed |
| 2010 | Stephen Haynes | Parrhesia | Engine |
| 2015 | Stephen Haynes | Pomegranate | New Atlantis |
| 2008 | Jim Hobbs | The Story of Mankind | Not Two |
| 2011 | Noah Kaplan | Descendants | hatOLOGY |
| 2017 | Noah Kaplan | Cluster Swerve | hatOLOGY |
| 2000 | Steve Lantner | Voices Lowered | Leo |
| 2004 | Steve Lantner | Saying So | Riti |
| 2005 | Steve Lantner | Blue Yonder | Skycap |
| 2006 | Steve Lantner | Paradise Road | Skycap |
| 2007 | Steve Lantner | What You Can Throw | hatOLOGY |
| 2008 | Steve Lantner | Given – Live in Munster | hatOLOGY |
| 2004 | Daniel Levin | Don't Go it Alone | Riti |
| 2006 | Daniel Levin | Some Trees | hatOLOGY |
| 2007 | Daniel Levin | Blurry | hatOLOGY |
| 1995 | Joe Maneri | Three Men Walking | ECM |
| 1996 | Joe Maneri | Out Right Now | hatOLOGY |
| 2002 | William Parker | Eloping with the Sun | Riti |
| 2007 | William Parker | Double Sunrise Over Neptune | AUM Fidelity |
| 2016 | William Parker | Counteract This Turmoil Like Trees And Birds | RogueArt |
| 1997 | Ivo Perelman | Strings | Leo |
| 2011 | Ivo Perelman | The Hour of the Star | Leo |
| 2012 | Ivo Perelman | Family Ties | Leo |
| 2012 | Ivo Perelman | Living Jelly | Leo |
| 2013 | Ivo Perelman | One | RareNoise |
| 2015 | Ivo Perelman | Counterpoint | Leo |
| 2016 | Ivo Perelman | Blue | Leo |
| 2016 | Ivo Perelman | Breaking Point | Leo |
| 2016 | Ivo Perelman | The Art Of The Improv Trio Volume 5 | Leo |
| 2016 | Ivo Perelman | The Art Of The Improv Trio Volume 6 | Leo |
| 1997 | Matthew Shipp | Thesis | hatOLOGY |
| 2007 | Matthew Shipp | Piano Vortex | Thirsty Ear |
| 2008 | Matthew Shipp | Right Hemisphere | RogueArt |
| 2008 | Matthew Shipp | Cosmic Suite | Not Two |
| 2009 | Matthew Shipp | Harmonic Disorder | Thirsty Ear |
| 2010 | Matthew Shipp | Broken Partials | Not Two |
| 2009 | David S. Ware | Shakti | AUM Fidelity |

## Books

* Morris, Joe. Perpetual Frontier / The Properties of Free Music. Riti Publishing, 2012.