Classic Gospel Song, The Music of Kenneth Morris: Dean of the Chicago Publishing Dynasty
name: label: Collection Collector
content: Maltsby, Portia
label: Collection Creator
content: Smithsonian Institution. Program in African American Culture
setName: label: See more items in
content: Program in African American Culture Collection
label: See more items in
content: Program in African American Culture Collection / Series 1: Program Files
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1986-10
container: label: Container
content: Box 15, Folder 14
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Concert and colloquium held Saturday, October 25, 1986, at the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution as a tribute to one of gospel music's most distinguished composers and publishers. Kenneth Morris was born August 28, 1917, in New York City. While attending grammar school he began piano lessons, which he continued throughout high school. Morris had a profound interest in jazz and by the age of sixteen had decided to become a jazz musician. However, he studied piano, composition, arranging, and orchestration at the Manhattan Conservatory of Music. His career in the Chicago gospel movement began at the Bowles House of Music, owned by Lillian Bowles, a Chicago publisher. He arranged many songs that later would become gospel standards. In 1940, Morris joined with Roberta Martin, another noted gospel composer, to form the Martin and Morris Studio of Music. It is the oldest continuously operating Black gospel music publishing firm in the nation. Morris notated and arranged the music of other composers. He was also responsible for selling music at the studio. In the 1970s Morris became the sole black music distributor for all publishers of gospel music. He has distributed the music of such artists as Andrae Crouch, Edwin and Walter Hawkins, Sandi Patti, Amy Grant, and Bill Gaither. The program was organized by Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, director, Program in Black American Culture (later known as the Program in African American Culture). Program number AC408.43.