La Sierra University’s Pierce Street Jazz series this month will feature Grammy-nominated vocalist Barbara Morrison, a celebrated Los Angeles artist and music educator.
Morrison will perform Wednesday, June 26 at 7 p.m. at Troesh Conference Center in La Sierra’s Zapara School of Business. Admission is free.
A Pierce Street Jazz backup trio of noted jazz industry musicians will accompany Morrison -- bassist Henry “the Skipper” Franklin, pianist Theo Saunders, and drummer Yayo Morales.
The performance will be dedicated to the late Ramon Banda, a dedicated and accomplished jazz musician who passed away on May 30 following an illness. Banda played drums for most of the Pierce Street Jazz concerts since the series’ inception in summer 2009. He was a longtime friend and music colleague of jazz series organizer Franklin and pianist Saunders. A Southern California native and widely acclaimed in jazz and Latin music circles for his skill on drums and timbales, Banda was a former 24-year member of the Grammy-winning Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band. He also performed as a bandmember with jazz organist Joey DeFranceso and pianist Bill Cunliffe.
Morrison, renowned for her three-and-a-half-octave range, has performed around the world in her own concerts as well as with a roster of A-list artists including Gerald Wilson, Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Charles, Etta James, Esther Phillips, Jimmy Smith, Nancy Wilson and many others. Notable appearances include participation along with other famed musicians in a televised tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, and as co-headliner of a 33-city tour honoring composer Harold Arlen whose contributions include music for the beloved 1939 Hollywood film classic, “The Wizard of Oz.”
She has recorded more than 20 albums and has garnered three Grammy nominations. In 2010 she was voted by NPR listeners as one of the “50 Greatest Jazz Vocalists.”
In 2008, she opened the Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles and is also credited with founding the California Jazz and Blues Museum. She serves as an adjunct associate professor of global jazz studies at UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music.
A Michigan native, Morrison made her first professional appearance at the age of 10 in a recording for a Detroit radio station. She moved to Los Angeles in 1973 and over the ensuing years recorded several albums with Johnny Otis. Since 2014 she has performed around Southern California with Bobby Barron and his band.
Franklin has organized the Pierce Street Jazz concerts at La Sierra University since their inception as a summer jazz series in 2009. He has recorded and produced more than 150 albums and compact discs including gold releases. He has performed with many headline artists and was part of the legendary Hugh Masekela's band during the late 1960s.
Saunders has performed in many of the world’s most prestigious jazz festivals and concert halls with distinguished artists including Freddie Hubbard, Carla Bley, David “Fathead” Newman, Gladys Knight, and many others. He has directed music for opera productions and international musical theatre. He also has numerous compositions to his credit as well as original scores for theatre, radio and multimedia production.
Morales, a native of Bolivia, earned a diploma from the Escuela de Música Creativa in Madrid, Spain, and also received a European professional music diploma in Belgium, his bio states. He plays a wide range of styles including jazz, Latin jazz, Brazilian jazz, Flamenco and rock, and has toured around the world with such notable artists as Rita Marley, La Calle Caliente, Benn Clatworthy, Steve Cotter, Pierce Street’s Franklin and many others. He has taught at various schools and was invited in 2013 by the Bolivian Department of Education to design and implement a new drum program at the National Conservatoire of Music.
The Zapara School of Business at La Sierra University is located at 4500 Riverwalk Parkway, Riverside, Calif., 92505. For further information call 951-785-2148.