Phil Morrison to perform for 90th birthday concert featuring Ken Trimmins Jazz Collective and Keith Williams (March 17 2024 at the Ritz Theater)
- Keith Williams
- 2024年6月5日
- 読了時間: 4分
Phil Morrison to perform for 90th birthday concert
featuring Ken Trimmins Jazz Collective and Keith Williams
March 17 2024 at the Ritz Theater
By LINDSEY ADKISON Mar 14, 2024
Just The Facts A Special Afternoon of Jazz, celebrating the 90th birthday of local musician Phil Morrison, will be held at 3 p.m. March 17 at the Ritz Theatre in downtown Brunswick. It will also feature Ken Trimmins Jazz Collective and Keith Williams. The cost is $20 per person. For information, email Bonnie.Springer1@gmail.com. Tickets are available on goldenislesarts.org. 850e50d9-c81e-4a2c-b9cb-07418e4e587a
If anyone has earned the title of local legend, it’s Phil Morrison. He’s a U.S. Air Force veteran, an award-winning songwriter, an activist and a self-taught musician.
His original music includes an official song for the Beijing Olympics and a song for the unveiling of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Statue in Washington, D.C. Morrison spent time in Brazil while working with singer and pianist Freddy Cole (the youngest brother of Nat King Cole). He also toured Japan, China and most of Europe with blues star T-Bone Walker.
And today, he continues to grace the stage — even as his 90th birthday approaches.
“It’s nothing but a number,” he says with a giggle.
Never one to make a fuss, Morrison had planned to let this milestone slide under the radar. But his friends weren’t about to let that happen.
“I’m a bassist, so I just like to kind of be in the background. I’m not a big ‘rah, rah’’ person. A couple of my close friends, though, they started to secretly plan a party,” he said.
Dr. Bonnie Stringer, who Morrison has known since the 90s, got the ball rolling, tapping other musical friends to get on board.
“I was completely unaware. I was working with Bonnie on some projects and we got on a Zoom call. When we got on, some of my other friends were on it too. Ken Trimmins and Keith Williams, who is in Japan, were there and I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ And they started singing happy birthday and I thought, ‘Good Lord,’” he said with a laugh. “So that’s when they sprung it on me.”
It turns out that the gang had planned a soirée in his honor. The event will include a performance by the Phil Morrison-Ken Trimmins Jazz Collective. It will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Ritz Theater in downtown Brunswick.
Tickets are $20 per person and can be purchased at goldenislesarts.org or from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the box office, 1530 Newcastle St., Brunswick.
As hesitant as he is to celebrate himself, Morrison is excited to see his friends and share some music.
“Keith Williams is actually coming in from Japan for this. He did a lot of gigs in Asia and met his wife there and he moved,” he said.
Morrison’s other close friend and frequent collaborator, Ken Trimmins, will obviously be a part.
“He’s also a military guy and was in the Air Force band. He’s a great classical jazz player. He went on to get his doctorate and he’s the concert band director at Albany State University,” he said.
Trimmins has performed around the world, even making an appearance on “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno. But for Morrison, the bond they share is more important than the flashy accolades.
“Keith and I are really good friends and musical collaborators for a long time, so Bonnie figured it would be a great idea to get us together. It will be a homecoming for Ken and Keith, so it’s a combination … my birthday and their return.”
But even with the big day looming, Morrison is showing no signs of slowing down. On this particular Wednesday, he was packing up for a gig at Schro Glo downtown.
“It’s a historic location, 1305 Gloucester St. It was one of the locations in the Green Book back during segregation. It was a called the Cozy Kitchen, and it was a place that African Americans could find food and shelter,” he said. “Judge Orion Douglass owns the building and resurrected it. A lot of great musicians played here … Duke Ellington and Count Basie. It’s exciting to be a part of that tradition.”
While he doesn’t often stop to reflect on his enviable health and longevity, Morrison does believe there are a few things that have contributed to it.
“I became a member of the Baha’i faith many years ago and one of their moral principles and ethics is to avoid alcohol and tobacco. So I gave that up … then you know, eat healthy and don’t overdo anything. All things in moderation. I kind of give musicians a bad name,” he said of his straight-laced lifestyle.
And of course, he also feels like music has had something to do with keeping him going.
“Oh it’s all about the music. It’s food for the soul and food for the body,” he said.
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