Introduction
Morris Lane (born around 1920—May 30, 1967) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.
He played with many big names of the day in jazz, including Fats Navarro, Bud Powell, Earl Hines, and Lionel Hampton.
Active from 1946 to 1954, Lane was involved in 42 jazz recording sessions.
Life and career
Born around 1920, Morris Lane began his professional music career in the mid-1940s in trumpeter Fats Navarro's band "Modernists". On September 6, 1946, he played on Navarro's recordings of "Fat Boy" and "Boppin' A Riff" on Savoy Records alongside Sonny Stitt (alto saxophone), Eddie de Verteuil (baritone saxophone), Al Hall (bass), Kenny Clarke (drums), Bud Powell (piano), and Kenny Dorham (trumpet). The album was arranged by Gil Fuller.
During this time he also played in the orchestras of Mercer Ellington, Curley Hamner, and Earl Hines.
In November 1947, Lane made eighteen recordings on Decca with Lionel HamptonOrchestra, accompanied by Milt Buckner and Dodo Marmarosa (piano); Billy Mackel (guitar); Lionel Hampton (vibraphone); Charles Fowlkes (baritone saxophone); John Sparrow (tenor saxophone); Bobby Plater, Ben Kynard, and Jackie Kelso (alto saxophone); Charles Mingus, Joe Comfort, and Charles Harris (string bass); Leo Shepherd, Jimmy Nottingham, Kenny Dorham, Duke Garrett, Wendell Culley, Teddy Buckner, Snooky Young, Walter Williams, and Benny Bailey (trumpet); Andrew Penn, James Robinson, Britt Woodman, James Wormick, and Sonny Craven (trombone); Curley Hamner, and Earl Walker (drums); and Wini Brown (vocalist).
In 1947/48, Lane formed his band "Morris Lane and His Orchestra" and recorded "Summertime" and "Sellout" on Lenox Records. In 1951/52, his band recorded "Bobby's Boogie" and "Ghost Town" for Robin Records.
In 1952, Lane made eight recordings on Coral Records with organist Bill Doggett, drummer Rudy Traylor, guitarist Leroy Kirkland, and bassist Aaron Bell—"Midnight Sun", "Pale Moon", "Moon Ray", "I Don't Want to set the World on fire", "It ain't necessarily so", "Stairway to the Stars", "If I should lose you", and "A Pretty Girl is like a Melody".
The same year, he released "Poinciana" and "Twilight Time" on Scooter Records with Billy Taylor, Curly Russell, and Art Blakey.
In 1952, Lane's saxophone was heard on 6 recordings ("Down Beat", "Out of Nowhere", etc.) by pianist Mary Lou Williams, accompanied by Eddie Safranski (bass), Don Lamond (drums), Newell Johns (guitar), Vic Dickenson (trombone), and Harold "Shorty" Baker (trumpet). Around this time, he also worked with Roy Eldridge and Charlie Singleton.
In 1953, Lane's Orchestra and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis Orchestra released seven tracks on the album Hot Jazz (Remington Records).
In 1954, he played with Earl Hines and His Esquire All Stars (Gene Redd, Dicky Wells, Carl Pruitt, and Eddie Burns) at Hangover Club in San Francisco, California. The live performance was released as the LP Earl Hines And His Esquire All Stars Featuring Dicky Wells on Storyville Records. This was Lane's last recording.
Death
Morris Lane died in Gary, Indiana, on May 30, 1967, at age 47.
References
- The Jazz Discography by Tom Lord