Morrison Brothers In 1983 James and John Morrison formed the Morrison Brothers Big Bad Band, a 13-piece group. In 1984 the band included James Morrison on trumpet, trombone, and piano, Warwick Alder on trumpet, Peter Cross on trumpet, Paul Andrews on alto saxophone, Tom Baker on alto and baritone saxophones, Jason Morphett on tenor saxophone, Glenn Henrich on
vibraphone, Craig Scott on bass, and John Morrison on drums. The band's debut album,
A Night in Tunisia, was released in 1984 by ABC Records as part of the Don Burrows Collection. The
title track is a jazz standard by
Dizzy Gillespie; another track, "Burrows Bossa", was written by Morrison. The album was live at Rothbury Estate Winery. Morrison played the wrong
Spanish national anthem at the
Davis Cup final in Australia
in 2003. Instead of playing the current anthem,
Marcha Real, he performed the
Himno de Riego, not heard since the
Second Republic era (1931–1939), causing the Spanish Secretary of State for Sport to walk out in anger. Morrison later revealed he had mistakenly learned the incorrect tune due to being given the wrong sheet music. Fortunately an official quickly found a CD of the correct anthem, placating the Spanish and allowing the match to proceed.
Association with other musicians Morrison has performed with Dizzy Gillespie (the first Australian to do so); Don Burrows,
Ray Charles, and
B.B. King. He has also worked with
George Benson,
Ray Brown,
Cab Calloway,
Jon Faddis,
Herbie Hancock,
Whitney Houston,
Quincy Jones,
Graeme Lyall,
Wynton Marsalis,
Mark Nightingale,
Red Rodney,
Arturo Sandoval,
Woody Shaw,
Frank Sinatra, and
Phil Stack. In 1990, he recorded the album
Snappy Doo with Ray Brown on double bass,
Herb Ellis on guitar,
Jeff Hamilton on drums, and Morrison on piano, trumpet, trombone (tenor and bass), saxophone (soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone), and bits of clarinet, flute, flugelhorn, and euphonium. He recorded a sequel,
Snappy Too, in 2011 with Hamilton, but Brown and Ellis died in the interim, so Morrison played guitar and bass in addition to all of the other instruments from the first album. In 1999, he collaborated with
Gina Jeffreys and
The Idea of North on the song "
Blue Christmas", which is included on Jeffreys' album,
Christmas Wish. In 2005, he was guest soloist at the 150th anniversary concert of the
Black Dyke Band; and in 2009 performed with them as special guest during their Australian tour. In 2007, he again appeared as guest soloist at concerts with the band in Manchester and London. In 2003 he founded the band on the Edge together with the German keyboardist and composer
Simon Stockhausen, son of
Karlheinz Stockhausen. Morrison has a long association with composer and pianist
Lalo Schifrin (composer of the
theme from Mission: Impossible) and has recorded albums for Schifrin's "Jazz Meets the Symphony" series. These include recordings with the
London and the
Czech National symphony orchestras. He found his lead vocalist,
Emma Pask, at a school concert when she was 16, and she became an internationally renowned jazz singer. Morrison sponsors scholarships for musicians and is involved with youth bands. His association with Generations in Jazz has spanned three decades. He was chairman of this organization, which ran one of the largest youth jazz events in the world. ==Other activities==