James Morrison is, by anybody’s standard, a virtuoso in the true sense of the word. Besides the trumpet, this multi-instrumentalist also plays trombone, piano, saxophone and double bass.
At the age of six he started on piano, at seven he took up brass, at nine he formed his first band and at thirteen he was playing professionally in nightclubs. His international career developed just as quickly with a debut in the USA at the Monterey Jazz Festival at age sixteen.
Following this were performances at the world’s major jazz festivals, including Montreux, North Sea, Nice and the Hollywood Bowl, playing with many of the legends of jazz - Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock, Dave Brubeck, Chick Corea, George Benson, Quincy Jones, Ray Charles, B.B. King, Ray Brown and Wynton Marsalis to name a few. James also frequents the world’s most famous jazz clubs – Birdland, The Blue Note and Village Vanguard in New York, the New Morning in Paris, the Tokyo Blue Note and Ronnie Scott’s in London.
James has been appointed a member of The Order of Australia, has won countless awards and has been inducted into the Australian Jazz Hall of Fame. He has received several honorary Doctorates and was an Adjunct Professor at the University of South Australia, leading his own music Academy.
Now 60, James Morrison’s career has included much more than just jazz…
He has recorded with The London Symphony Orchestra, rock legends INXS and the European Brass Ensemble, performed at the Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms, written the opening fanfare for the Olympic Games, played for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and for US Presidents Bush, and Clinton. He has played classical trumpet at the Kremlin, broken a Guinness record conducting the World’s Largest Orchestra, was TV presenter on Top Gear Australia and in 2016 James was a guest of President Barack Obama at the White House.
He’s a pilot, rally driver, sailor, author and even a builder of Tiny Houseboats.