Barbara Morrison (September 10, 1949 – March 16, 2022) was an American jazz singer.

Biography

Born in Ypsilanti, Michigan, on September 10, 1949, and raised in Romulus, Michigan, Barbara Morrison recorded her first appearance for radio in Detroit at the age of 10. In 1973 when she was 23, she moved to Los Angeles and sang with Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson's band. Between the mid-1970s and early 1990s, she recorded several albums with Johnny Otis. In 1986, Morrison toured with the Philip Morris Superband, completing a 14-city one-month tour of Canada, Australia, Japan, and the Philippines, playing with jazz organist Jimmy Smith and backed by saxophonist James Moody, guitarist Kenny Burrell, trumpeter Jon Faddis and Grady Tate on drums. Morrison also completed a 33-city tour in the US in an all-star tribute to composer Harold Arlen. In 1995, Morrison appeared in a televised tribute to Ella Fitzgerald with Mel Tormé, Diane Reeves, Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, Tony Bennett, Dionne Warwick and Lou Rawls. Morrison worked with Gerald Wilson, Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Charles, Ron Carter, Etta James, Esther Phillips, David T. Walker, Dr. John, Kenny Burrell, Terence Blanchard, Joe Sample, Cedar Walton, Nancy Wilson, Joe Williams, Tony Bennett, Keb' Mo, Count Basie Orchestra, Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra and Doc Severinsen. She performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Nice, Pori, Carnegie Hall, North Sea, Darling Harbour, Sydney Opera House, Monterey, Long Beach, and in tributes to Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Golson. In 2011, Morrison began performing with Jack Hale, a guitarist, arranger and bandleader. She was an adjunct associate professor of global jazz studies at UCLA. In early March 2022, Morrison was hospitalized for cardiovascular disease. She died on March 16, 2022, at the age of 72.

Discography

As leader

As sidewoman

Legacy

The intersection of 43rd Street and Degnan Boulevard in Leimert Park, Los Angeles, was dedicated as Barbara Morrison Square on the anniversary of her birth, September 10. 2022. She had opened the Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center here as a launching pad for new artists.