Chad Morris: smooth jazz blue ice

News:
14-12-2008:
"Progression", Chad Morris new cd featuring 16 songs that chronicle his artistic progression over the span of 3 years in the genre of smooth jazz music. Available now for download only, "A Chad Morris Christmas" - an internet album featuring tastefully jazzed up Christmas carols and ballads. "A Chad Morris Christmas"
Now available for download, "A Chad Morris Christmas" features 5 classic Christmas carols transformed into jazzy bop and ballad arrangements. Tracks include carols such as "Silent Night", "Deck the Halls" and "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire". All instrumentation is performed by Chad Morris. check out the demo

Chad Morris Guitar Solo at 17 Years Old


Chad Morris - Shockwave


Chad Morris - Blue Ice


Chad Morris - Counter Clockwork


Background:
Charles “Chad” Edward Morris was born in Los Angeles, California to Charles and Louise Morris on December 7th 1986. He is the second child of the Morris family after his sister Stacie Morris. The Morris family—a particularly musically talented family—is rooted in Memphis, Tennessee, birthplace of both Morris’ parents and their siblings.

Morris’ childhood was comfortable and secure, being born into an upper-middle class family. At the age of 3, Morris was given an electric toy piano by his grandmother, which started his powerful interest in music. His father, being a guitar and bass player, introduced Morris to jazz music at a very early age. Morris’ father gave him his first guitar at the age of 5, an acoustic nylon guitar scaled down for his size, built by a family luthier named Bronco. Morris switched focus from piano to guitar and back several times before deciding to play the guitar primarily. Morris has never had a formal lesson in guitar, but has taken lessons for piano at the Yamaha School of Music in California.

Morris attended the Escuela de Montessori elementary school in Westchester, California and continued high school at Pacific Hills School in West Hollywood, California. An introverted, artistic and intelligent Morris excelled in school, but was an anti-social child. He would often play guitar and piano for school auditorium events, pageants and even got the opportunity to play a song composed by him and his classmates at the House of Blues in the 5th grade. The song was entitled “The Fifth Grade Blues”.

In high school, Morris brought his guitar to school nearly everyday, getting to school early to practice before class. It was during the time that Morris became engrossed with guitar after viewing one of his father’s movies “Crossroads”. It starred the great rock guitarist Steve Vai and “karate kid” Ralph Macchio. The movie’s last scene featured the staged playing of an adapted version of Paganini’s 5th Caprice, performed with freakish speed and accuracy. After seeing this, Morris fell feverishly in love with progression toward virtuosity.

Morris attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia briefly before returning to California to study audio engineering. He graduated from the Musician’s Institute of Technology in Hollywood, California in 2006, receiving a certification in audio engineering. While still in recording school, he was contracted to work as a producer and engineer at Motown writer Mickey Stevenson’s home studio in Woodland Hills, California. After leaving this studio, Morris began to conduct recording and mixing sessions out of his uncle’s studio in Leimert Park, California (Larry Morris Studios). During this time, Morris picked up the soprano and alto saxophone, as well as the violin.

In 2006, a very hungry and tenacious Morris recorded a full length album by himself, playing all instruments and programming all percussion and drums on his own. Morris was able to reproduce the impression of individual musicians through multi-tracking. Moreover, he was able to emulate the feelings of each instrument possessing its own personality, as if played by different people. While playing saxophone for just 1 year, he felt comfortable recording soprano on his album (the song “Night Lights”). Morris self charted his music mainly on the east coast, through persistent phoning of radio stations and costly mailing campaigns. WUMR University of Memphis radio kept Morris on the charts for 7 months and still rotates songs from this album.

A new album is in progress; it will be commercially distributed nationally, and is scheduled for release Winter 2008/Spring 2009. It will feature some of the older material from Morris’ first album and new material featuring premier jazz vocalists from the Los Angeles area.

Some of Morris’ favorite inspiring musicians: Charlie Parker, Wes Montgomery, Pat Martino, George Benson, Birelli Lagrene, Joe Pass, John Coltrane, Pat Metheny, Freddie Hubbard, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Arnold Schoenberg, Jean Luc Ponty, Jimi Hendrix, Joe Satriani, Yngwie Malmsteen, Paul Gilbert, Steve Vai.

Morris’ vision is ultimately to never stop progressing in his art.

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