Addicted
only to jazz
Free of heroin,
By Burl Burlingame
Frank Morgan has made a
remarkable comeback
Star-BulletinFOR a jazz guy who seems to have stepped out of a be-bop time capsule, alto saxophonist Frank Morgan ought to be playing the blues.
He was a golden child: son of guitarist Stanley Morgan, introduced to his chosen instrument and guided by none other than Charlie "Bird" Parker, a sought-after session man in the early '50s, star of the ground-breaking jazz album "Introducing Frank Morgan."
And then he dropped from the public's radar.
The problem was heroin. Morgan spent nearly 30 years in prison for drug-abuse violations. He even shot up junk the night he heard Parker had died of the same addiction.
But he continued to play while inside, at one point forming a memorable all-prisoners band in San Quentin with Art Pepper, Jimmy Bunn, Frank Butler and Dupree Bolton. In the mid-'80s, Morgan emerged clean, sober and ready to play, and began one of the most remarkable comebacks in jazz history.
Jazz critics continue to wax exuberant over the purity of his tone, the breadth of his imagination, the driving swing of his phrasing. "His music has a unique freshness, especially on ballads, which he bleeds like an inspired romantic, and his gorgeous tone is deeply dyed in the blues," gushed the generally snooty Village Voice. "Morgan belongs to a small and precious circle of superb improvisers in that category who have gotten stronger over time."
Clint Eastwood was so enchanted with Morgan's playing he tried to cast Morgan as Charlie Parker in "Bird," Eastwood's biographical essay on Parker's life. Morgan demurred. "No, I'm not Charlie Parker," he told Milwaukee's "Sound Check." "I'm Frank Morgan. If I played Charlie Parker, I'd never get a chance to play Frank Morgan."
Morgan is appearing in Hawaii as part of Black History Month Jazz 1999, along with a couple of jazz films.
In a related event, "The Jazz Art of John Henry Nichols" will be exhibited at the Honolulu Academy of Arts Theatre in conjunction with the Black History Month Film Series, through Feb. 27.
Included in the exhibition are a portrait of Louis Armstrong, an etching of Miles Davis signed by Davis and Pianorama, a montage of nine stride pianists, from Duke Ellington to Thelonius Monk.
More jazz
"Hawaii Jazz Stars in Concert," a series at the Honolulu Club's Alan T Restaurant, continues with "A Tribute to Duke Ellington" at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday.The Friday show will feature the DeShannon Higa Quintet with Rocky Brown as guest vocalist. The Saturday show includes the Honolulu Jazz Trombones with guest Shari Lynn.
Admission is $18. Tickets can be obtained by calling producer Jackie Ward at 734-0397, or Bill Yee at 372-3250.
Frank Morgan
Performance: 7:30 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday
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