Thomas Morgan
Thomas Morgan is an American jazz bassist whose many credits reflect his wide range and depth. While he rarely performs as a solo act and has yet to release an album as a headliner, Morgan has played with an impressive assortment of bandleaders including John Abercrombie, Tomasz Stanko, David Binney, Paul Motian, and Masabumi Kikuchi, to name but a few. He has collaborated frequently with guitarist Bill Frisell, whose clean, atmospheric sound is a strong complement to the rich tone and solid yet inventive rhythms of Morgan's bass work, and their collaborative projects helped considerably in raising his public profile.
Morgan was born in Haymarket, California and began studying cello at age seven. He studied the bass in high school and attended the Manhattan School of Music, where he received a Bachelor's degree. While in college he immersed himself in New York City's jazz scene. He began his recording career with 2002's Down Homeless on PG Records in a quartet with Will Vinson, Peter Gabis, and Steve Newcombe, billed as VNMG. That band gigged in and around the city as much as possible but Morgan was also busy working with other players, establishing himself on the scene with his clean, woody tone, fluid improvisational ability, and canny timekeeping skills; he proved adaptable to many settings and bandleaders. His first high-visibility date was 2006's Cities and Desire, playing in Binney's group with Mark Turner, Craig Taborn, and Dan Weiss, all of whom he would continue to work with in various settings. In 2007, he made his first recording with Tyshawn Sorey (That/Not) and in 2008 joined the Samuel Blaser Quartet -- marking the beginning of longstanding working relationships with both men. Morgan also worked as a member of Abercrombie's quartet in 2008, making his ECM debut as a sideman on Wait 'til You See Her. He played on four recordings in 2010 by bandleaders as diverse as Sorey, Dan Weiss, the Sylvie Courvoisier-Mark Feldman Quartet, and Scott DuBois. The following year proved even more fateful: Not only did he work in Blaser's, Sorey's, and Courvoisier & Feldman's groups, he made his debut with the Jim Black Trio (in which he continues to play). He played in Paul Motian's trio with Bill Frisell on The Windmills of Your Mind, the final album the drummer issued before his death.
Over the next two years, Morgan deepened his relationship with ECM by playing on important recordings by Stanko (the seminal Wislawa), and in trios for Kikuchi, Taborn, and pianist Giovanni Guidi. In 2014, the bassist returned to familiar terrain with Courvoisier-Feldman on Birdies for Lulu on Intakt Records, and in Black's trio on for Actuality on Winter & Winter; he also toured with both groups. In 2015 it was back to Blaser's quartet for Spring Rain (Whirlwind Recordings) and a collaborative date with Kikuchi (his last group date before his passing), Ben Street, and Kresten Osgood. He also played trio dates by guitarist Jakob Bro (Gefion) and Guidi (This Is the Day), both on ECM. The following year it was Bro's Streams and The Constant by Black. Morgan and Frisell recorded a live duo album for ECM at New York's Village Vanguard. 2017's Small Town was followed by a North American tour. Morgan and Frisell joined forces for another series of shows at the Village Vanguard that were recorded for the 2019 release Epistrophy, in which they interpreted several jazz and pop standards, movie themes, and compositions from Paul Motian's songbook.
© Thom Jurek /TiVo
Discography
22 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Taking Turns
Jakob Bro, Lee Konitz, Bill Frisell, Jason Moran, Thomas Morgan, Andrew Cyrille
Jazz - Released by ECM Records on 29 Nov 2024
Available in24-Bit/88 kHz Stereo -
A New Day
Giovanni Guidi, James Brandon Lewis, Thomas Morgan, Joao Lobo
Jazz - Released by ECM Records on 12 Jul 2024
Available in24-Bit/88 kHz Stereo -
Streams
Jakob Bro, Thomas Morgan, Joey Baron
Jazz - Released by ECM Records on 23 Sep 2016
Available in24-Bit/88 kHz Stereo -
Epistrophy (Live At The Village Vanguard, New York, NY / 2016)
Jazz - Released by ECM Records on 12 Apr 2019
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Bay Of Rainbows (Live At The Jazz Standard, New York / 2017)
Jakob Bro, Thomas Morgan, Joey Baron
Jazz - Released by ECM Records on 5 Oct 2018
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Returnings
Jakob Bro, Palle Mikkelborg, Thomas Morgan, Jon Christensen
Jazz - Released by ECM Records on 23 Mar 2018
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Small Town
Jazz - Released by ECM Records on 2 Jun 2017
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Streams
Jakob Bro, Thomas Morgan, Joey Baron
Jazz - Released by ECM Records on 23 Sep 2016
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Epistrophy (Live At The Village Vanguard, New York, NY / 2016)
Jazz - Released by ECM Records on 12 Apr 2019
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Gefion
Jakob Bro, Thomas Morgan, Jon Christensen
Jazz - Released by ECM Records on 6 Feb 2015
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Bay Of Rainbows (Live At The Jazz Standard, New York / 2017)
Jakob Bro, Thomas Morgan, Joey Baron
Jazz - Released by ECM Records on 5 Oct 2018
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Gefion
Jakob Bro, Thomas Morgan, Jon Christensen
Jazz - Released by ECM Records on 6 Feb 2015
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Books, Bottles & Bamboo
Anna-Lena Schnabel Quartet, Florian Weber, Thomas Morgan, Dan Weiss
Jazz - Released by ENJA RECORDS Matthias Winckelmann on 17 Jun 2016
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning (Live At The Village Vanguard, New York, NY / 2016)
Jazz - Released by ECM Records on 15 Mar 2019
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
The Constant
Jim Black Trio, Elias Stemeseder, Thomas Morgan
Jazz - Released by Intakt Records on 26 Aug 2016
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Red Hook (Live At The Jazz Standard, New York / 2017)
Jakob Bro, Thomas Morgan, Joey Baron
Jazz - Released by ECM Records on 7 Sep 2018
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Copenhagen Season
Emanuele Maniscalco, Thomas Morgan
Contemporary Jazz - Released by ILK Music on 15 Dec 2014
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
The Plant Project
Rock - Released by 1864608 Records DK on 11 May 2022
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
In the Blink of an Eye
Alternative & Indie - Released by Morgan Thomas on 23 Feb 2024
Available in24-Bit/48 kHz Stereo -
Fork in Life
Alternative & Indie - Released by Morgan Thomas on 29 Dec 2023
Available in24-Bit/48 kHz Stereo -
WAKE UP (Vocoder Version)
Dance - Released by 1864608 Records DK on 5 Jul 2022
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo