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Last year, we never got around to checking up on what was new on the jazz front in Ohio, so let's kick off 2004 by catching up with the Sheffield Lake-based trio, Morris Code. Saxophonist Peggy Morris talked with OhioOnline music correspondent Peanuts about "Nothin' But a Daydream", the band's fourth recorded project, along with the trio's history and where they've been dreaming.
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| OO: |
How did you first get interested in music? |
| PM: |
"My family. I played baritone sax in the North Olmsted marching band in high school, but my first love was really dancing. I joined my first band, Family Affair, as a favor to my sister Judy, after my other sister, Sandee, left the band and they needed a female vocalist. It was only after I was already in the band that I heard my first Weather Report Album and it moved me so deeply and inspired me to learn how to improvise." |
| OO: |
Were you in any previously big bands before this? |
| PM: |
"My previous band was called Kick. We played mostly Top 40 dance music and the band was very popular in the Cleveland Area. Then there was Family Affair, which toured the eastern half of the U.S. and Canada." |
| OO: |
What national acts have influenced your song writing? |
| PM: | "David Sanborn, Weather Report, Yellow Jackets, Brecker Brothers, early Herbie Hancock, Jaco Pastorious." |
| OO: |
In that case, describe Morris Code. |
| PM: | "Most of our music is relatively simple in structure and very rhythmic. It usually starts with a strong groove at the center, which then inspires the melody and harmony. Even though each individual song is primarily either funk, Latin or R&B, there is always a jazz flavor to it. Contemporary jazz is probably what most people in the industry would label our music." |
| OO: |
How did the band get its name? |
| PM: | "My guitarist/keyboardist husband Bob and I form the nucleus of the band and our last name is Morris. The idea came to us to name the band after the old telegraphic communication system called Morse Code." |
| OO: |
Where did you cut "Nothing but a Dream"? |
| PM: | "In our own studio, M&M Recording." |
| OO: |
Was it a long process or did you enjoy it? |
| PM: | "We love the studio. It's in our time, so we can record on our time schedule. It is simple, yet well equipped with state of the art digital recording capability, driven by a Power Mac Computer." |
| OO: |
Favorite Ohio Venue to play?
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| PM: | "Mon Ami's outside jazz concerts in the summer at Catawba Island. It is one of the few places that we play that actually promotes the concerts as jazz and, as a result, we get audience that is largely there to listen to the music while they are also enjoying some great outdoor cooking and wine." |
| OO: |
Anything we didn't cover yet you want to mention? |
| PM: | "We have had the opportunity to learn how to record music over the internet with musicians around the world and without ever meeting them in person. I released a solo cd that was written and collaborated with musicians from Germany, New York, Italy, Argentina, New Jersey and Ohio. Morris Code also had some guest musicians via the internet on our last two discs." |
| OO: |
Final thoughts? |
| PM: | "We hope to keep writing, recording and performing original music, expanding our listening audience and to keep sharing our music with the world. We have also joined some organizations like TAXI, to help get our music into films, television and commercials." |
