By GRAHAM REID
Those who saw it remember the sound to this day.
Many years ago Australian trumpeter James Morrison, then unknown to those outside an exclusive circle of jazz aficionados, was on his first visit to New Zealand and playing a small room in the Sheraton Hotel.
At the end of
one tune he went for an impossibly high note - and nailed it dead centre. He went for another even higher and pinned it with equal precision.
There seemed nowhere left to go. But then he aimed even higher again. Same result.
It was a virtuoso display, a little showy even, but Morrison proved he had the lung power and perfect pitch to be a world beater. A young man to watch.
In subsequent years Morrison, now a multi-instrumentalist who also plays trombone, tuba, saxophones and piano, has proven his talents many times over.
He's played alongside trumpeters Wynton Marsalis and Arturo Sandoval, with blues legends such as B.B. King and Ray Charles, is a fixture on the European jazz festival circuit, has performed in every major jazz club in New York, London and Paris, and has written film scores alongside his jazz and symphonic work.
And at 36 you can't help but think he is still a young man to watch.
Morrison - who was awarded the Order of Australia in 97 for his services to the arts - has built an impressive career in a difficult music. But he also makes that music accessible and his Jazz Meets the Symphony concert with the London Symphony Orchestra filled the Royal Albert Hall.
He's coming back to Auckland to perform with the Auckland Philharmonia at an Aotea Centre concert next Saturday in a programme entitled Doing the Swing Thing.
The concert will launch the Ord Minnett Jazz and Cabaret series of Auckland Philharmonia concerts at the Aotea Centre which includes double Grammy nominee Diana Krall (September 23 and 24), and Matt Catingub with singer Caitlin Smith (October 21).
With Australian singer Emma Pask, who performs with his quartet and big band, the Morrison concert will favour big swinging sounds. And a few high notes too perhaps.
