This tribute is from Margaret Davis, Editor & Publisher, "Art Attack!," the publication for & about liberation musicians in NYC (& often elsewhere), on the Web at http://www.jazznewyork.org .
Dear friends in the music, Here in New York, we are all very sad at our loss of the great bassist Wilber Morris, one of the gentlest, most endearing, & most beloved of all musicians, as well as one of the deepest, most creative & impassioned. Wilber Morris (born 11/27/37 in Los Angeles) left this life on Thursday, August 8th at St. Barnabas Hospital in Livingston, NJ due to a fatal recurrence of the cancer that nearly took him out some years earlier.
He had made a miraculous recovery & had been healthy & strong for so many years that we never thought he would have to fight that fight again.
Wilber's survivors include his wife Nanae, three children (the youngest, Neenah, is 11), his brother Lawrence "Butch" Morris, all the musicians who have ever played music with him, & all of us who knew, heard, love & revere him.
WILBER MORRIS CELEBRATION CONCERT
TUESDAY, Aug. 27, 2002 8:00 PM
$2O for Wilber's family to help defray medical expenses
with: AMINA & AMIRI BARAKA, LAWRENCE "BUTCH" MORRIS, REGGIE NICHOLSON, HENRY THREADGILL, AVERY BROOKS & many others
Bowery Poetry Club, 3O8 Bowery (3rd Ave.) at Houston St., NYC
Info: 212.614.O5O5 --- PEMorgan@aol.com --- www.bowerypoetry.com
If you cannot attend the concert, please send a check (as you can) made out to Nanae Suzuki (Wilber Morris's wife), 2OO Irvington Ave., #2A, South Orange, NJ O7O79.
For those who'd like to obtain some of Wilber Morris's recorded music, here is a partial summary, taken from his discography on http://www.allmusic.com :
Bob Ackerman Old & New Magic (1993) Bass Bob Ackerman Big Daddy (1998) Bass Bob Ackerman And Now I Can See Crows Mating in... (2001) Voices, Bass (Acoustic), Co-Leader Rashied Ali, Belogenis and Morris Live at... (2001) Bass Marshall Allen/Lou... PoZest (2000) Bass Billy Bang Sweet Space (1979) Bass Billy Bang Rainbow Gladiator (1981) Drums Billy Bang Outline, No. 12 (1982) Bass, Contrabass Billy Bang Invitation (1982) Bass John Bickerton Trio Open Music (2000) Bass Thomas Borgmann Trio Stalker Songs (1997) Bass, Arranger Thomas Borgmann BMN Trio...You See What We're... (1998) Bass Thomas Borgmann Last Concert (2000) Bass, Liner Notes Thomas Borgmann Organic: Live In Karlsruhe,... Bass, Liner Notes Thomas Borgmann/Wilber... Boom Swing Bass Rob Brown 3 Visage (2000) Bass, Double Bass Roy Campbell Quartet It's Krunch Time (2001) Bass Denis Charles Triangle Queen Mary (1989) Bass Ehran Elisha Kicker (1998) Bass Marco Eneidi Quintet Final Disconnect Notice (1994) Bass Bobby Few/Avram K. Fefer... Few and Far Between: Live at Tonic (2002) Bass Charles Gayle Testaments (1995) Bass Charles Gayle Daily Bread (1998) Bass Tiziana Ghiglioni So Many Stars (1993) Bass Frode Gjerstad Through the Woods (1997) Bass, Arranger Frode Gjerstad Quartet Breath (1997) Bass Lou Grassi Mo' Po (1997) Bass Lou Grassi Po Band Joy of Being (2001) Bass, Arranger Burton Greene Throptics Bass Noah Howard Quartet Live at the Unity Temple (1997) String Bass INTERface Another INTERface: Live at the BIM (1996) Bass Andrew Lamb Portrait in the Mist (1994) Bass Claude Lawrence Trio Presenting (1997) Bass Frank Lowe Exotic Heartbreak (1982) Bass Frank Lowe Quintet Live from Soundscape (1982) Bass Makanda Ken McIntyre New Beginning (2001) Bass David Murray Ming (1980) Bass David Murray Octet Home (1981) Bass David Murray Murray's Steps (1982) Bass David Murray Octet Hope Scope (1987) Bass David Murray Octet New Life (1988) Bass David Murray Lucky Four (1988) Bass David Murray Body and Soul (1993) Bass David Murray Picasso (1995) Bass Eve Packer/Noah Howard... West Frm 42nd (1998) Bass Ivo Perelman Eye Listens (1999) Bass, Vocals Alan Silva Alan Silva and the Sound Visions... (2001) Double Bass Luther Thomas Quartet BAG' In It (1996) Trio Viriditas Waxwebwind @ ebroadway (2002) Bass, Voices Various Artists October Revolution (1994) Bass Various Artists Critics Picks, Vol. 1 (1997) Bass Various Artists Vision One: Vision Festival 1997... (1997) Bass Various Artists Silkheart Sampler: The Spirit of...Bass
The great discographer George Scala,
http://www.mindspring.com/~scala
, gscala@carolina.rr.com
, adds these to the above list:
Billy Bang Untitled Gift Anima 3BG9 2/7/1982 Arthur Blythe Elaborations Columbia 38163 1982 Chris Chalfant Convergence C. Chalfant Music 2306-7 6/23/1997 Arthur Doyle Quartet Live @ the Cooler The Lotus Sound 002 3/15/1995 Ehran Elisha Suite Empathy CJR 1080 Avram Fefer Quartet Lucille's Gemini Dream CIMP 237 1/11/2001 Yuko Fujiyama Quartet Re-Entry CIMP 229 8/1/2000 Frank Lowe Skizoke CJR 1007 3/31/1981 Butch Morris In Touch...But Out of Reach Kharma 9 12/22/1978 Wilber Morris Trio Collective Improvisations Bleu Regard 73639 7/1/1981 Wilber Morris/David Murray/Dennis Charles Wilber Force DIW 8001/2 2/6/1983 Wilber Morris/Reggie Nicholson Drum String Thing CIMP 228 7/31/2000 David Murray Last of the Hipmen Jazzline 11126 7/12/1989 Eve Packer & Noah Howard Trio NY Woman AltSax 90014 10/1/1997 Eve Packer & Noah Howard That Look Boxholder 013 10/24/1998 Quartet If I Think of Something, You'll Let Me Know Progressive Winds 1001 5/1/1993 Luther Thomas Quintet "Don't Tell"! Creative Consciousness 1000 1993 Oluyemi Thomas Positive Knowledge at the Center Earlight 1 Charles Tyler Folk and Mystery Stories Sonet 849 4/13/1980 Barry Wallenstein In Case You Missed It Sky Blue 106 12/9/1994 Among many others, Wilber Morris also worked with: Geri Allen, Giovanni Bonandrini, Billy Higgins, Steve McCall, Sun Ra, Steve Swell, Henry Threadgill, & many others.