Morrison Proves Versatile in Catalina’s One-Nighter

Talk about versatility. Or maybe the word is multipurpose. Or all-faceted. Take your choice. Any or all of the above apply to the playing of a remarkable Australian jazz musician named James Morrison.

Working a one-nighter at Catalina’s Bar & Grill Thursday, Morrison shifted, with no strain at all, between fluegelhorn, trombone and trumpet. A baritone horn, also available for action, didn’t quite make it into the first set of music.

What made Morrison’s work so special was his ability to perform in completely idiomatic fashion on each instrument. His trombone solos on “Stella by Starlight” and “Days of Wine and Roses” practically oozed the kind of slippery sensuality that can be produced only on a slide valve instrument.

When Morrison played fluegelhorn on “There Will Never Be Another You,” his style changed to the mellow attack and easy-flowing notes appropriate to that instrument.

And when he picked up his trumpet to soar through “Confirmation” and “Billy’s Bounce,” the Australian jazz man made a further adaptation, punching out high, brassy, open horn lines.

The addition of a trumpet mute for a ballad version of “In a Sentimental Mood” resulted in yet another musical perspective, as Morrison played a lovely, harmonically rich solo that moved across the tops of the chords like a wind sail in a gentle breeze.

All these stylistic shifts, technically fascinating as they were, revealed the one present flaw in Morrison’s work. His harmonic sense is so complete, and his technical expertise so thorough, that he rarely is obliged to move into the dark but rich corners of the imagination where real inspiration lives.

When he begins to explore some of those deeper levels, and begins to bring to his music an aesthetic density that matches his mechanical dexterity, Morrison will be something very special, indeed.

He was backed by the solid, supportive, but never intrusive rhythm work of Art Hillery on piano, Jeff Littleton on bass and Larance Marable on drums.