[Dixielandjazz] Drummer Joe Morello dies at 82, longtime with Brubeck

[Norman Vickers]

To:  DJML and Musicians & Jazzfans lists

From: Norman Vickers, Jazz society of Penscaola

 

Here is obituary on Joe Morello from New York Times.

 

 

 

 




  _____  

March 13, 2011


Joe Morello, Drummer with Dave Brubeck Quartet, Dies at 82


By STEVE SMITH


Joe Morello, a jazz drummer whose elegant, economical playing in the Dave
Brubeck <http://www.davebrubeck.com/live/>  Quartet sounded natural and
effortless even in unusual time signatures, died on Saturday at his home in
Irvington, N.J. He was 82. 

His death was announced on his Web site, joemorello.net
<http://www.joemorello.net/> . No cause was given. 

Mr. Morello was most famous for his tenure in Mr. Brubeck’s band, in which
he was engaged initially for a brief tour in 1955. He became a member in
late 1956, and remained until the group disbanded at the end of 1967. 

Already popular for its work on college campuses during the 1950s, Mr.
Brubeck’s group reached new heights with Mr. Morello, who handled with
disarming ease the odd meters that Mr. Brubeck began to favor. In June 1959,
Mr. Morello participated in a recording session with the quartet — completed
by the alto saxophonist Paul Desmond and the bassist Eugene Wright — that
yielded “Kathy’s Waltz” and “Three to Get Ready,” both of which intermingled
3/4 and 4/4 time signatures. 

Less than a week later the quartet recorded Mr. Desmond’s “Take Five,” a
breezy composition in 5/4, with an airy solo by Mr. Morello over a rigid
vamp on piano and bass. The track became one of the most recognizable themes
and most succesful singles in jazz, selling more than a million copies and
reaching No. 25 on Billboard magazine’s Hot 100 chart in 1962. Those pieces,
and others like “Blue Rondo à la Turk” and “Strange Meadowlark,” were
featured on Mr. Brubeck’s most famous album, “Time Out.” 

Before working with Mr. Brubeck, Mr. Morello had played with the guitarist
Johnny Smith, the saxophonist Gil Melle and, briefly, Stan Kenton’s big
band. From 1953 to 1956 he played in the pianist Marian McPartland’s trio,
which worked frequently at the Hickory House nightclub in New York. 

During Mr. Morello’s engagement with Ms. McPartland, Mr. Desmond urged Mr.
Brubeck to hear the drummer, Mr. Brubeck said in an oral history recorded
for the Smithsonian Institution
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/s/smithso
nian_institution/index.html?inline=nyt-org>  in 2007. 

“He was playing brushes,” Mr. Brubeck recalled in the interview, “and Paul
just loved somebody that played brushes and didn’t interrupt with some hard
licks with sticks and clashing cymbals.” In need of a substitute drummer,
Mr. Brubeck approached Mr. Morello. 

Mr. Morello’s reply, according to Mr. Brubeck: “I’m interested in your
group, but your drummer’s out to lunch. I want to be featured.” By this, Mr.
Brubeck said, Mr. Morello meant that he wanted to be allowed to play solos
and experiment. 

After the quartet disbanded Mr. Morello primarily worked as a drum clinician
and teacher. His students included Jerry Granelli and Danny Gottlieb, both
notable jazz drummers, and Max Weinberg, the longtime drummer for Bruce
Springsteen
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/bruce_springst
een/index.html?inline=nyt-per>  and the former bandleader for “Late Night
with Conan O
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/conan_obrien/i
ndex.html?inline=nyt-per> ’Brien.” 

But Mr. Morello yearned for the bandstand. “I’m tired of saying to some
student, ‘This is a stick.’ ” he told The New York Times in 1973. “I want to
get out and play again.” 

Play again Mr. Morello did. He performed sporadically in the 1970s and ’80s,
including reunions with Mr. Brubeck in 1976 and 1985. During the 1990s Mr.
Morello led his own group, which featured the saxophonist Ralph Lalama. 

Joseph A. Morello was born in Springfield, Mass., on July 17, 1928.
Sight-impaired from an early age, he took up the violin at 6 and performed
Mendelssohn
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/felix_mendelss
ohn/index.html?inline=nyt-per> ’s Violin Concerto in E minor with the Boston
Symphony Orchestra
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/b/boston_
symphony_orchestra/index.html?inline=nyt-org>  three years later. According
to a biography on his Web site, Mr. Morello gave up the violin for drums at
15, after meeting his idol, the violinist Jascha Heifetz. 

Information on survivors was not immediately available.