What a weekend of music!  The 2014 Emory Jazz Fest was an exciting three-day event providing world-class jazz for thousands of jazz fans at the beautiful Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts.  The second night of the 2014 Emory Jazz Fest featured the Gary Motley Trio with Barbara Morrison.  Gary Motley, on piano, is the Director of Jazz Studies at Emory University.

Photo by Bill Head

Motley hosted the event and selected a superb band to support the occasion.  Rodney Whitaker played bass.  He is Professor of Jazz Double Bass and Director of Jazz Studies at the Michigan State University College of Music. He is also a member of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra.  Drummer Sean Dobbins is a Special Lecturer for Jazz Percussion and Jazz Combos at Oakland University School of Music.

Together, the trio provided a rich and vibrant tapestry of music with a deep and mature understanding of piano trio jazz.  The exquisite acoustics of the Emerson Concert Hall showcased their ability to play soft and delicate as well as robust and forward.  It was a pleasure to hear the trio.

Barbara Morrison is a wonderful singer who has performed with Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Charles, and the Count Basie Orchestra.  She has a tremendous range and a unique understanding of jazz vocals. Her style was respectful, joyous, irreverent, and polished.  She had the audience clapping, standing, at one point dancing!  Yes, dancing at the Schwartz Center! In the second set, Richard Prior conducted the Emory University Symphony Orchestra string section as they played arrangements written by Motley for  Ms. Morrison.   The result was complex, opulent, rich, and a treasure to hear.

Atlanta jazz fans were lucky to have the option to attend such a unique and marvelous concert.  Every year the Emory Jazz Fest gets better.  This year was certainly among the best.