Dick Morgan (pianist)

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Dick Morgan (born June 5, 1929 in Petersburg (Virginia) , † October 20, 2013 in Silver Spring , Maryland ) was an American jazz pianist who was mainly active in the jazz scene in Washington, DC .

Live and act

Morgan played his family's harmonium at the age of five; as a pianist he was self-taught . When he was ten, he had his own radio show in his hometown. Morgan graduated from Virginia State University and played in an army band while performing his military service in the early 1950s. In the middle of the decade he was working in Norfolk, Virginia , where band leader Tommy Dorsey brought him into his orchestra to perform in Las Vegas. In the late 1950s he returned to Norfolk, where he worked with Charlie Byrd . Byrd helped him get engagements in Washington DC, where the pianist then played with his own trio in the Showboat Lounge . From then on, he performed in nightclubs, hotels and concert halls in the capital, such as Blues Alley and the Kennedy Center. He also studied law at Howard University Law School and also worked as a lawyer. He recorded a number of albums (including through the agency of Cannonball Adderley for Riverside Records ) and played a. a. with Etta Jones , Joe Williams and Keter Betts . Stylistically, his piano playing was based on models such as Oscar Peterson and Erroll Garner . Morgan died of prostate cancer in October 2013 . In the field of jazz he was involved in 14 recording sessions between 1960 and 2010.

Dick Morgan should not be confused with the guitarist of the same name , who played with Ben Pollack and Irving Mills in the 1930s .

Discographic notes

  • Dick Morgan at the Showboat (Riverside, 1960), with Bertell Knox, Keter Betts
  • Settlin 'In (Riverside, 1961), with Joe Benjamin , Ben Riley
  • Drive, Passion, Unpredictable (1994)
  • After Hours (1997)
  • Bewitched (2010)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Obituary in The Washington Post
  2. ↑ Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed October 29, 2013)
  3. ↑ Dick Morgan (guitarist) at Discogs (English)
personal data
SURNAME Morgan, Dick
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz pianist
DATE OF BIRTH June 5, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH Petersburg (Virginia)
DATE OF DEATH 20th October 2013
Place of death Silver Spring , Maryland