AN ONLINE QUARTERLY MUSIC MAGAZINE
EDITOR: KOFI NATAMBU
SPRING, 2022
VOLUME ELEVEN NUMBER TWO
ROSCOE MITCHELL
Featuring the Musics and Aesthetic Visions of:
MORGAN GUERIN
(March 18-24)
KENNY KIRKLAND
(March 26-APRIL 1)
JUSTIN BROWN
(April 2-8)
CHARENÉE WADE
(April 9-15)
JAMAEL DEAN
(April 16-22)
MILES MOSELY
April 23-29)
JONTAVIOUS WILLIS
(April 30-May 7)
UNA MAE CARLISLE
(May 8-14)
STACEY DILLARD
(May 15-21)
TYLER MITCHELL
(May 22-28)
BENJAMIN BOOKER
(May 29-June 4)
CHRIS BECK
(June 5-11)
http://morganguerin.com/
New York based multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer, and engineer Morgan Guerin has achieved much in his young, burgeoning career. From composition to appearances on significant stages, Guerin has spent his life exploring new and exciting ways to navigate sound.
Born right outside of New Orleans, Louisiana, Guerin gravitated towards the drums when he was just a few months old and started playing the saxophone when he was seven. He moved to Atlanta in 2009 to complete middle and high school where he also began playing more instruments and getting deeper into engineering and production. He then moved to New York City in 2016 for college and to fully pursue his career.
Guerin is skilled in several instruments, including bass, saxophones, electronic wind instrument (EWI), drums, and keys. Notable collaborators include Terri Lyne Carrington and Kassa Overall, both with whom Guerin played bass, sax, EWI, and drums; Esperanza Spalding, with whom he played bass, sax, and synthesizers; and Tyshawn Sorey, with whom Guerin played tenor and soprano sax and EWI.
Dubbed a “wunderkind saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist” by The New York Times, Guerin was born into a musical family with a pianist mother and bassist father. Later, he went on to study at The New School in Manhattan. In 2016, the Huffington Post named his debut album, “The Saga,” one of the best Jazz albums of the year. In 2017, Stereogum highlighted his sophomore album, “The Saga II,” as one of the best new albums. He was featured on Terri Lyne Carrington & Social Science’s award-winning album, “Waiting Game.” He was also a songwriter and co-producer of Esperanza Spalding’s 2019 Grammy-winning record, “12 Little Spells”. His third album, “The Saga III,” was released on September 18, 2020.
Morgan Guerin
Growing up in a musical family, Morgan was given his first pair of drumsticks at the age of six months…followed shortly thereafter by a drum set. By six, Morgan had his first saxophone and his instrumental repertoire expanded to many more instruments. Having grown up in such a musical household, Morgan had the good fortune of being exposed to jazz from the Marsalis family, Donald Harrison, Christian Scott, among many others. He has shared the stage with such notables as Nicholas Payton, Ellis Marsalis, Herlin Riley, Jimmy Cobb, Esperanza Spalding, Allen Toussaint, Freddy Cole, Terri Lyne Carrington, Robert Glasper, Russell Gunn, Wallace Roney, and Buster Williams.
Now, Morgan is currently studying at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City. Morgan was a member of the Rialto Youth Jazz Orchestra (Directed by Gordon Vernick) from 2010-2016 and has performed at the Atlanta Jazz Festival annually since 2011. He attended The New Jazz School for two summers (directed by Donald Harrison and Christian Scott), studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston for two summers in a row (2014 and 2015), was a member of the 2014 Vail Jazz Workshop, and performed at The Monterey Jazz Festival as a member of the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra in 2015 and 2016. In February 2016, Morgan was selected to be a part of the Grammy Band and had the opportunity to attend and perform at the 58th Grammy Awards and in January 2017, Morgan was selected as a Young Arts Finalist in Jazz. Since Morgan had started school in New York, he’d soon reconnect with his long time mentor Terri Lyne Carrington by joining her new band “Social Science” also featuring Matt Stevens and Aaron Parks.
PHOTO: Morgan Guerin is among the 25 artists DownBeat thinks will help shape jazz in the decades to come. (Photo: Bill Douthart)
Morgan Guerin conjures earthbound grooves and then releases them into the cosmos. At 22, the multi-instrumentalist, mixing engineer and first-call collaborator recently issued The Saga III, the final installment of an autobiographical album trilogy, having received critical acclaim for both I (2016) and II (2017). With each self-produced release, Guerin has refined nuances of his expression.
“I’m trying to create an environment of otherworldly sounds for the listener,” said the Brooklyn-based artist. “I’m influenced by Wayne Shorter and Flying Lotus—people who embrace the sounds of space.”
When he isn’t traveling as the bassist in Terri Lyne Carrington’s band Social Science, or as a synth-organ-bass-saxophone player and vocalist for Esperanza Spalding’s touring quartet, Guerin hones his production skills from a small studio inside his Crown Heights apartment.
“I can definitely do all my engineering work here,” he said. When crafting The Saga III, he played 19 instruments. With contributions from guitarist Matthew Stevens, drummer JK Kim and vocalist Safa, among other guests, the album comprises modal space-scaping, polyrhythmic-inspired sound design and ethereal lines that pair Guerin on EWI with vocalist Débo Ray.
The compositions’ galactic feel belies Guerin’s introspective personality. “I’m a pretty quiet person,” he said. “I don’t always know how to say what I wanna say with words. The album’s cosmic world is me being in my own head.”
Guerin, who considers The Saga III his mixing debut, said that one of the intentions behind the album was to establish his own unique voice as an engineer. “I want to find a mixing sound that’s personal to me,” he explained. Guerin now is challenging himself to expand the scope of his expression beyond his own music. “In 2020, it’s so hard to do something that hasn’t been done before,” he said, “but there are still a lot of opportunities. I’m trying to be that low-key, go-to guy who can make your stuff sound super colorful.” DB
This story originally was published in the November 2020 issue of DownBeat.Morgan Guerin
Friday, August 9th and Saturday, August 10th
Multi-Instrumentalist Jazz Prodigy Morgan Guerin
Morgan Guerin is a multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer, and engineer. He has performed with such notables as Terri Lyne Carrington, Ellis Marsalis, Tyshawn Sorey, Esperanza Spalding, Jimmy Cobb, Nicholas Payton, Christian Scott, Stefon Harris, Allen Toussaint, Freddy Cole, Russell Gunn, Amina Figarova, Wallace Roney, and Buster Williams.
Guerin was born in Metairie, Louisiana and moved to Atlanta at age 11. Growing up in a family of musicians, Morgan was given his first pair of drumsticks at the age of six months, followed shortly thereafter by a drum set. By six, Morgan had his first saxophone. With his mother being a pianist and his father being a bassist, Morgan began playing piano and bass early on. His debut record “The Saga” was released in 2016. It featured Guerin performing the majority of the instruments on the record. Since moving to New York in 2016 and attending the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, Morgan had the great fortune of joining Terri Lyne Carrington’s band, “Social Science” where he plays electric bass, saxophone and EWI in the group.
The Huffington Post named Morgan’s first album, “The Saga” one of the best Jazz albums of 2016 and Stereo Gum showcased his sophomore album, “The Saga II” in their August article for their favorite albums. He has also been featured in Downbeat Magazine, New York Times and Burning Ambulance. In 2018, Jammcard selected Morgan as one of their “20 under 20” artists.
Now at age 20, Morgan performs regularly with Terri Lyne Carrington and Social Science, Esperanza Spalding, Amina Figarova Sextet and Tyshawn Sorey. Also an active mixing engineer, Morgan has helped engineer albums from artists such as Justin Brown, Jesse Fischer, Grüt and Fullmoon Groove. During the fall of 2018, Morgan joined Esperanza Spalding on her “12 Little Spells” tour and played bass, Prophet, saxophone, bass drum and sang background vocals. Morgan was a part of her record, “12 Little Spells” and composed the song “How To” from the record with Spalding.
Before starting college, Morgan was a member of the Rialto Youth Jazz Orchestra (Directed by Gordon Vernick) from 2010-2016. He studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston the summers of 2014 and 2015, was a member of the 2014 Vail Jazz Workshop, and performed at The Monterey Jazz Festival as a member of the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra in 2015 and 2016. In February 2016, Morgan was selected to be a part of the GRAMMY Band and had the opportunity to attend and perform at the 58th Grammy Awards. In January 2017, Morgan was selected as a National Youngarts Finalist. Morgan is endorsed by P. Mauriat Saxophones, Jody Jazz Mouthpieces, and Key Leaves.
https://roulette.org/event/morgan-guerin-wishes/
Roulette’s Fall 2020 Season will be live streamed from our stage and archived on our website. Watch the video of this concert below.
The composer and multi-instrumentalist Morgan Guerin presents his Roulette commission, Wishes – a premiere in two parts drawing inspiration from the jazz saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter’s quote ”write what you wish for.” The 30-minute 2-part suite of “Few and Far Between” and “Reassurance” will feature an eight-person ensemble with two violas, cello, flute, bassoon, piano, bass, and drums. Guerin will conduct and play EWI in his most ambitious and realized piece for a large ensemble to date.
Morgan Guerin: Wishes was originally scheduled for April 23, 2020, but was postponed and rescheduled due to Covid-19. Roulette’s Fall season will be presented virtually and available for free on a variety of streaming platforms. Our theater is currently closed for public performances as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the safety measures that Roulette has put in place to keep staff, artists, and the public safe.
Morgan Guerin: Compositions, Conducting, EWI
Nicole Wright: Viola
Brianne Lugo: Viola
Chris Hoffman: Cello
Bart Platteau: Flute
Adam Cordero: Bassoon
Lex Korten: Piano
Hannah Marks: Bass
Kush Abadey: Drums
Morgan Guerin is a multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer, and engineer. He has performed with such notables as Terri Lyne Carrington, Ellis Marsalis, Tyshawn Sorey, Esperanza Spalding, Jimmy Cobb, Nicholas Payton, Christian Scott, Stefon Harris, Allen Toussaint, Freddy Cole, Russell Gunn, Amina Figarova, Wallace Roney, and Buster Williams. Guerin was born in Metairie, Louisiana and moved to Atlanta at age 11. The Huntington Post named Morgan’s first album, The Saga one of the best Jazz albums of 2016 and Stereo Gum showcased his sophomore album, The Saga II in their August article for their favorite albums. He has also been featured in Downbeat Magazine, The New York Times and Burning Ambulance. In 2018, Jammcard selected Morgan as one of their “20 under 20” artists. At age 21, Morgan performs regularly with Terri Lyne Carrington and Social Science, Esperanza Spalding, Amina Figarova Sextet, and Tyshawn Sorey. Also an active mixing engineer, Morgan has helped engineer albums from artists such as Justin Brown, Jesse Fischer, Grüt and Fullmoon Groove. During the fall of 2018, Morgan joined Esperanza Spalding on her 12 Little Spells tour and played bass, Prophet, saxophone, bass drum and sang background vocals, whila also composing the song “How To” from the record with Spalding.
This performance is made possible, in part, by the Jerome Foundation. The Jerome Foundation, a long-time supporter of young composers, was a mainstay in Roulette’s early development and continues to help us fulfill our mission by presenting ambitious work by promising artists. Each year, the Jerome Foundation supports five artist residencies and four commissions at Roulette.
Photos: Brianna Williams, Chase Guerin
https://www.sequential.com/morgan-guerin/
Morgan Guerin
New York City-based multi-instrumentalist Morgan Guerin has achieved much in his young, burgeoning career, from composition to significant stages. A talented producer and engineer, Guerin is skilled in several instruments including bass, saxophones, electronic wind instrument (EWI), drums, and keys. Notable collaborators include drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, (bass, sax, and EWI), bassist Esperanza Spalding (bass, sax, and Prophet Rev2), and multi-instrumentalist Tyshawn Sorey (tenor and soprano sax, and EWI).
Dubbed a “wunderkind saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist” by The New York Times, Guerin was born into a musical family with a pianist mother and bassist father. Later, he went on to study music at the prestigious Berklee College of Music and The New School. In 2016, the Huffington Post named his debut album, The Saga, one of the best Jazz albums of the year, and Stereogum named the LP one of its favorites in August that same summer. He was also a songwriter on and co-producer of Esperanza Spalding’s 2019 Grammy-winning record, 12 Little Spells. His third album, The Saga III, will be out on September 18th, 2020.
We chatted with Morgan on how he uses Sequential instruments in his music:
What made you choose the Rev2?
I chose the Rev2 because I was asked to tour with Esperanza Spalding back in 2018, and wanted a single synth that I could use to recreate all of the sounds from her records for the live shows. I was able to recreate all of the sounds effortlessly with the Rev2. Prophets are legendary in general, and the Rev2 continues the legacy as being one of the best synths out there.
How are you using it?
It is one of my main synths, and I use it for everything/on everything. It’s super versatile and I particularly love the string sounds that I’ve been able to create on it.
What is one of your favorite things about it?
I love how I’m able to tap into the vintage world with horns and retro pads, yet can also produce sounds and textures that are super futuristic and otherworldly. The Rev2 sounds and performs like no other. I can’t think of another 8-Voice analog synth with as much flexibility and functionality in the same price range as the Rev2.
Any interesting tricks or techniques you would like to share?
When I have maybe a warm percussive patch, I’ll take advantage of being able to use the B stack for a separate patch maybe a string patch or a pad of some sort with a long release. I’ll use an expression pedal to fade in and out of the B patch to create some cool automation on the spot, just using my foot.
Morgan Guerin is just 19, but in that short span of life, he has released two impressive self-produced albums, toured with some world-class musicians and formed a progressive, cross-genre, experimental band with his peers, all the while continuing his studies at the New School of Contemporary Music in New York City.
Born in New Orleans, Guerin moved to Atlanta in 2009. His band, Grüt, released an album over the summer, Side Room Stories, and they perform Tuesday night at Smith’s Olde Bar.
Rhythm seemed to be in Guerin’s DNA at birth. His musical talents were recognized early on by his grandmother, who used to sit with him on her lap, playing a groove to the then four-month-old. Guerin could reproduce the beat with his tiny arms to the astonishment of friends and family.
By the age of two he was playing on his first drum set. By early childhood, he was immersed in the vibrant music scene of New Orleans. His father, Roland Guerin, is an accomplished jazz bassist and introduced his son to members of the Marsalis family, the drummer Herlin Riley, the saxophonist Donald Harrison and the late pianist/composer/producer Allen Toussaint.
By 2005, Guerin had added saxophone and the EWI (electronic wind instrument) to his arsenal of instruments he could play, and for the last three years he has been honing his skills on the bass. He can also play keyboards, which he uses for formulating musical ideas.
Guerin has attended elite jazz workshops in Vail, Colorado, at Berklee in Boston and at the New School in New Orleans. “It was my first introduction to playing with other students from across the US who were all extremely serious about what they were doing,” he says. “That was huge for me.”
Two years ago, when he was 17, Guerin released his first album, The Saga, an ambitious project where he played many of the instruments and wrote all the compositions.
But before life as a professional musician, Guerin decided to study music at the college level and is now attending the New School of Contemporary Music in New York City.
“The main reason I wanted to go to the New School is because they allow you to choose your teachers,” he says. “You can choose anyone you want on any instrument. They give you like a list of maybe 700 musicians that are available to teach through the program.”
Living in New York City and being around the crème de la crème of the world’s jazz musicians was the ultimate pull for Guerin, who received a scholarship to Berklee but opted for New York instead.
“The opportunities in New York, the people, the places, the musicians that are already there, were all important,” he says. “I didn’t feel like I needed to wait.”
While in New York, Guerin made the most of the opportunities that the city had to offer, taking part in late-night jam sessions at venerable jazz haunts like Smalls in the Village or as the occasional sideman with fellow Atlantan Russell Gunn and drumming legend Jimmy Cobb at a gig at Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola.
Last year, Guerin started his career as a touring musician when Azerbaijani pianist Amina Figarova, who had played with his father and chose the young man to play saxophone and EWI with her sextet.
“She’s an amazing pianist,” says Guerin. “She was the first bandleader that took me out of the country. She asked me to play with her in Istanbul, Turkey, and that was the first time anyone has taken me on the road.”
Guerin also plays bass in the band Social Sciences with drummer Terri-Lyne Carrington, whom he met at a band camp at Berklee, where she teaches full-time.
In addition, he started Grüt, an experimental music group, with Guerin on drums, guitarist Patrick Arthur, bassist Brandon Boone, trombonist Daniel Wytanis and Avys Burroughs on saxophones.
“Grüt is a band that started in Atlanta at the Elliot Street Pub, getting together on Tuesday’s, opening for Kevin Fox’s jam,” says Guerin. “There is a bunch of jazz elements, some electronic elements, even indie rock and experimental music elements in our work. It’s not easy to place it in any particular genre.”
Guerin returns to school at the end of the month. He looks forward to increasing his exposure to some of the musical talent that the New School has to offer. He has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge in every aspect of his craft and some lofty ambitions.
“There are a lot of things I want to do with my life,” Guerin says. “I want to be a full-time musician, and I also want to be a teacher. I want to own my own studio, I want to be a mixing and mastering engineer. I want to do film scores. I want to do everything.”
http://voyagela.com/interview/meet-morgan-guerin-morgan-guerin-brooklyn-ny/
Meet Morgan Guerin
Today we’d like to introduce you to Morgan Guerin.
Morgan, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was born right outside of New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1998. I
gravitated towards the drums at a few months old thanks to my
grandmother, who would sit me on her lap, put her arms around mine, and
show me different grooves on the drums. She plays bass, and we would
play everything from Blues, Jazz, Zydeco, Funk, and R&B.
On Halloween in 2005, Wessell “Warmdaddy” Anderson gave me my first saxophone along with a fingering chart so that I could learn the notes on my own. I’ve been playing saxophone since. My mother, a pianist, and lawyer taught me some of my first jazz tunes growing up and my father, a bassist and recording engineer showed me a lot of good stuff growing up too. I usually tagged along with my parents to all of their gigs and met many musicians in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. I would always ask tons of questions after the shows and soaked in as much knowledge as possible.
I moved to Atlanta in 2009, where I was introduced to a completely different scene of musicians and artists. I lived there for middle and high school. During my time there, I had a ton of space and freedom to expand my curiosity for instruments, production, and engineering. Over the years, I collected more and more instruments and equipment until I had somewhat of a studio in the basement of my mother’s house. There, I was able to experiment and figure out what type of music I wanted to create. My first record, “The Saga” (2016), is a result of this curiosity. I recorded it entirely in that basement. I released my second record, “The Saga II” (2017), the following year.
I moved to New York City in 2016 to start college at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and recently just graduated this past spring. During the last four years and while still in school, I’ve toured and recorded with Terri Lyne Carrington, Esperanza Spalding, Tyshawn Sorey, Kassa Overall, Amina Figarova, to name a few. Esperanza’s most recent record, “Twelve Little Spells,” won a GRAMMY this year, and I co-wrote the song, “How To” from the record.
I recently released my third record, “The Saga III,” on September 18th, 2020.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I wouldn’t say that the road has been exactly smooth, but I would say
that I treated each experience as a learning experience growing up,
whether it was good or bad. It’s been an insightful road, nonetheless.
Being under 21 for most of those years, most of the musicians I was
performing with were much older than me. I’d learn how to navigate life
as a musician a little differently than some of my peers at the moment.
Because I was building a career while still in college, I did miss quite
a bit of school here and there. One of my biggest struggles so far was
trying to balance my career and getting my undergraduate degree at the
same time. I was doing a lot of work and traveling outside of school.
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
I’m a 22-year-old multi-instrumentalist, engineer, composer, and
producer. I’m most proud of my ability to be comfortable on many
instruments, including drums, piano, synths, saxophone, EWI (electronic
wind instrument), bass, and other woodwind doubles like the oboe, bass
clarinet, and flute. I am also really proud of where I’ve landed thus
far as a producer and engineer. On my latest record, “The Saga III,” I
cultivated a production sound that was unique to me and how I feel. Its
the project that I’m most proud of so far because it highlights the
growth coming from the previous two records. I think what sets me apart
from others is my proficiency in being a multi-instrumentalist and
engineer and my production and composition style. I’m always searching
for something beyond the norm.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success, to me, is a very personal thing. People can get brainwashed in
the age of social media into thinking that success only means fame and a
lot of money. Though that would be nice, that’s not the only way to see
somebody as successful. I think success means acknowledging your growth
from the previous day and continuing to build upon that diligently.
Success can be both short term and long term. My mother introduced me to
vision boards a few years ago, and checking off some of the things that
I’ve worked towards on my boards can help me celebrate individual
successes. Though, overall as long as somebody is accomplishing
something and are genuinely happy, to me, that’s a success.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.morganguerin.com
- Email: morganguerinmusic@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/morganguerin_/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/morganguerinmusic/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/morganguerin_
- Other: https://morganguerin.bandcamp.com/
Image Credit:
Brianna Williams, Jacob Blickenstaff, Tsuneo Koga
https://burningambulance.com/2016/06/15/morgan-guerin/
Morgan Guerin is one of the most talented young musicians on the current jazz scene. Originally from New Orleans, he’s currently based in Atlanta. He plays alto and tenor saxophones, flute, EWI (Electronic Wind Instrument), trumpet, guitar, piano, Fender Rhodes, organ, synth bass, drums, and percussion. He’s performed multiple times at the Atlanta Jazz Festival, attended Berklee, and was a member of the house band at the 2016 Grammy Awards. He released his debut album, The Saga, in April. (Get it on Bandcamp.)
Though its title may recall Kamasi Washington‘s The Epic, this is no three-disc slab of retro-minded spiritual jazz. It’s a concise, melodic disc, packing eight tracks into just 43 minutes. While Guerin plays the majority of the instruments himself, including multiple overdubbed horns, keyboards, and drums, there are several guests present. None of them are famous (yet), but their contributions are worth noting. Patrick Arthur plays electric guitar on all but two tracks, and acoustic on one more; Brandon Boone plays electric bass on two tracks and upright on three others, while Roland Guerin and Paul Johnson also contribute electric bass to one track each; Julius Rodriguez guests on organ, Grace Sommer on cello, Curtis Olawumi on flugelhorn and Danny Wytamis on trombone. Four tracks feature vocals: Dashill Smith raps on the opening “Parallel,” there’s a spoken word interlude by Allana Hudson on “Blueprint,” and Risa Pearl sings on the two-part “With a Peace of Mind.”
The music sits in a weird zone of its own making, somewhere between soul, fusion, and progressive rock. At times, it can be hard to tell what instrument Guerin is using to generate his long, winding solos, which only makes the whole thing more interesting. The title piece features an extended interlude of scat singing through what could be a vocoder, or the EWI, but that yields to a more traditional synth solo, and then a straightforward tenor sax excursion, with string patches behind him giving it the feel of something Stanley Turrentine might have recorded for CTI in the early 1970s. Guerin’s drumming is as solid as his lead work is expansive; he plays grooves that swing, but feel informed by rock as well. “Madeira” is a lush post-bop mood piece that wouldn’t be out of place on almost any modern jazz album; the piano and Fender Rhodes (and drums) are ably bolstered by Boone’s bass, as Guerin takes an exploratory tenor sax solo that maintains the smooth feel he’s clearly happiest with, but takes the occasional step outside.
The two-part “With a Peace of Mind” runs nearly nine minutes; it starts with a two-minute introduction, Pearl crooning wordlessly over piano. As the rhythm section (with Boone on upright bass again) comes in for the second half, Arthur adds a slow-burning lead guitar line, which eventually becomes an exchange between himself and Guerin’s piano. In the deep background, at the quietest moments, a soft sci-fi pulse from some kind of synth can be heard.
Morgan Guerin‘s music is remarkable not only for its stylistic breadth—this album jumps from squiggly ’70s fusion to acoustic balladry, and makes room for rap and poetry along the way—but for the organic feel it maintains despite being largely created via overdubbing. He jumps from keyboards to drums to reed instruments, layering it all in a dense but still breathable manner, leaves room for guests to make their voices heard, and somehow makes it sound like a real live band working it out in a room. The Saga is an impressive achievement indeed.
—Phil Freeman
http://morganguerin.com/new-album
The Saga III
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PRESS
The New York Times
“Whatever this wunderkind saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist is up to, it’s probably worth paying some attention.”
“Though still in his early 20s, Guerin has already started to accrue a reputation as a jaw-dropping musical polymath.”
--Giovanni Russonello
American SONGWRITER
“The New York City-based multi-instrumentalist is an accomplished composer and engineer, too, capable of spinning sonic webs from lampposts to the Empire State Building’s steeple to blue corner mailboxes. He’s a superhero of sound.”
-Jacob Uitti
WBGO
“The gifted multi-instrumentalist Morgan Guerin — a serious talent on saxophone and bass, and a smart keyboardist, drummer and producer besides…”
-Nate Chinen
ROLLING STONE JAPAN
“…but even more shocking was 21-year-old Morgan Guerin…”
“If you listen to Morgan's 2017 album "The Saga Ⅱ", you can see that his style of playing every instrument by himself had taken shape long before his performance in Japan.”
-Mitsutaka Nagira
Stereogum
“His compositions owe as much to rock as to jazz—as reminiscent of ’80s AOR prog as ’70s fusion.”
-Phill Freeman
Burning ambulance
“Morgan Guerin‘s music is remarkable not only for its stylistic breadth—this album jumps from squiggly ’70s fusion to acoustic balladry, and makes room for rap and poetry along the way—but for the organic feel it maintains despite being largely created via overdubbing. He jumps from keyboards to drums to reed instruments, layering it all in a dense but still breathable manner, leaves room for guests to make their voices heard, and somehow makes it sound like a real live band working it out in a room. The Saga is an impressive achievement indeed.”
-Phill Freeman
https://www.cc-seas.columbia.edu/wkcr/node/19902
Morgan Guerin for the Musician's Show
Tune in to the Musician's Show tomorrow, May 3, from 6:00-9:00 PM EST for an interview with Morgan Guerin. Growing up in a musical family, Morgan was given his first pair of drumsticks at the age of six months, followed shortly thereafter by a drum set. By six, Morgan had his first saxophone and his instrumental repertoire expanded to many more instruments. Having grown up in such a musical household, Morgan had the good fortune of being exposed to jazz from the Marsalis family, Donald Harrison, Christian Scott, among many others. He has shared the stage with such notables as Nicholas Payton, Ellis Marsalis, Herlin Riley, Jimmy Cobb, Esperanza Spalding, Allen Toussaint, Freddy Cole, Terri Lyne Carrington, Robert Glasper, Russell Gunn, Wallace Roney, and Buster Williams. Now, Morgan is currently studying at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City. Morgan was a member of the Rialto Youth Jazz Orchestra (Directed by Gordon Vernick) from 2010-2016 and has performed at the Atlanta Jazz Festival annually since 2011. He attended The New Jazz School for two summers (directed by Donald Harrison and Christian Scott), studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston for two summers in a row (2014 and 2015), was a member of the 2014 Vail Jazz Workshop, and performed at The Monterey Jazz Festival as a member of the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra in 2015 and 2016. In February 2016, Morgan was selected to be a part of the Grammy Band and had the opportunity to attend and perform at the 58th Grammy Awards and in January 2017, Morgan was selected as a Young Arts Finalist in Jazz. Since Morgan had started school in New York, he’d soon reconnect with his long time mentor Terri Lyne Carrington by joining her new band “Social Science” also featuring Matt Stevens and Aaron Parks.
https://musicloveharmony.com/morgan-guerin-a-prodigys-heart/
Morgan Guerin: A Prodigy’s Heart
Multi-Instrumentalist, Producer and Composer Morgan Guerin is an artist with incredible musicality and talent in his DNA. Born into a family of musicians, Morgan displayed a natural ability for learning instruments at a very young age.
With talent beyond his years, Morgan has toured the world and shared the stage with several jazz musicians throughout the course of his professional career.
In this interview, Morgan discusses his musical upbringing, the creation of his first album, The Saga and what’s yet to come.
Feature photo by: Chase Guerin
MLH: You grew up in a musical family. Tell us about some of your early experiences learning instruments.
Morgan Guerin: My mother is a pianist, and my grandmother taught my father how to play bass, but I’d say the drums were the first instrument I naturally gravitated towards. A story that my grandma would always tell me is that she’d sit me on her lap and would hold my arms and play a groove, and when she would let go of my arms, I would keep the groove going in the same tempo. My father had a Viola in the house and I played that in elementary school for a few years until 2005 when Wess “Warmdaddy” Anderson gave me my first alto saxophone on Halloween. When I moved to Atlanta in 2009 to start middle school, I started to get into composing and becoming interested in piano, bass, tenor saxophone and producing. I played Oboe for three years in my high school’s symphonic band and also got heavily into EWI around that time.
MLH: Who are some of your musical influences?
Morgan Guerin: Soooooo many. Can’t name them all, but some that come to mind are Wayne Shorter, John Coltrane, D’Angelo, Pat Metheny, Bon Iver, Flying Lotus, Esperanza Spalding, Milton Nascimento, Joe Henderson, Kenny Garrett Herbie Hancock, Terri Lyne Carrington, Miles Davis and all of his bands, Hermeto Pascoal, J Dilla, Joni Mitchell, Jaco, Michael Brecker, Kendrick Lamar, Meshell Ndegeocello, Nate Wood, Brian Blade, Anderson .Paak, Billy Childs, Brian Eno, Derrick Hodge, Derek MixedbyAli, Mike Dean and the list goes so long.
MLH: What was it like being mentored by jazz musician, Terri Lyne Carrington and playing in her band Social Science?
Morgan Guerin: Terri is such an incredible resource. I was already a huge fan of hers for years before I met her in 2014 when I was attending Berklee’s 5-week summer program. I was there for tenor saxophone, but I expressed my interest in other instruments to her and showed her some of my music/videos. When I moved to New York in 2016, Terri had a gig that she wanted me to sit in on that got canceled. So she, Aaron Parks and Matthew Stevens were already rehearsing for something else in Brooklyn and she told me to come by and play bass. Since then, we’ve been doing shows and clinics around the world and released Social Science’s debut album, “Waiting Game” in November 2019. This project is so special because it hits all major points in what’s wrong with the world today, from mass incarceration, patriarchy and the sociopolitical climate in America all while conveying extremely powerful lyrics and messages, strong melodies and improvisation.
“A story that my grandma would always tell me is that she’d sit me on her lap and would hold my arms and play a groove, and when she would let go of my arms, I would keep the groove going in the same tempo.” – Morgan Guerin
MLH: You played many of the instruments and composed all of the music on your first album The Saga, tell us about your experience in the process of creating it.
Morgan Guerin: When I moved to Atlanta in 2009 and had the space to start collecting instruments and gear, it led me to become curious about playing all of the roles myself. I didn’t have too many friends my age who were as serious about the music as I was at the time so I spent a bunch of time just figuring things out on my own. I would compose a lot in Logic Pro (Ableton Live nowadays) on my laptop and would just replace all of my MIDI with real instruments after the fact. I did a few YouTube videos of that and then figured that I release a body of work to document how I was feeling at the time. After I went to Berklee 5 weeks, I was so inspired from all of my peers to get my compositional voice out into the world. The reason why I chose the name, “The Saga” is because I wanted to make an audio autobiography of my upbringing until that present moment (that explains the first album cover). I also mixed the project all myself.
MLH: What did you love the most about attending the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City?
Morgan Guerin: The location, the fact that you can choose just about anybody in NYC to be your private teacher and the flexibility they’ve offered me during my four years there because I also did a ton of touring and traveling during my time there.
MLH: What was it like performing at the 58th annual Grammy awards as a member of the Grammy band?
Morgan Guerin: It was so surreal! That was also my first time to LA. We were all in high school at the time and to just be in the same room with so many of the artists I looked up to at that age was crazy. We performed at the after-party and other events during that week and even had a chance to record a record at Capitol Records. The music was fun and most of those kids in the band that year I’m still very close with today, same for 5-weeks.
MLH: Which artist(s) would you love to collaborate with?
Morgan Guerin: Pat Metheny, Anderson .Paak, Nai Palm, H.E.R., Solange, Kendrick Lamar, Justin Vernon, Emily King, Mike Dean, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Thundercat, so many more.
MLH: You’ve been involved in numerous projects ranging from performing, producing and engineering. What’s next for you?
Morgan Guerin: I’ll be releasing the third and final volume of my album trilogy, “The Saga III” later in the spring/early summer. It’s been a little over a two-year process but I’m happy to finally say that it’s done. I’ll have some shows supporting the release and I also have shows/tours this year with Tyshawn Sorey, Terri Lyne Carrington and Social Science, Amina Figarova as well as a new group called, “The Jazz Gallery AllStars”. That group features Miguel Zenon, Gerald Clayton, Joel Ross, Renée Neufville, Linda May Han Oh, Charles Altura, Kendrick Scott and myself. I was recently commissioned by Roulette and the Jerome Foundation to premiere a body of work for their 2019-2020 season. My work premieres on April 23rd.
THE MUSIC OF MORGAN GUERIN: AN EXTENSIVE VIDEO OVERVIEW, A CROSS SECTION OF RECORDINGS, MUSICAL ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY, PLUS VARIOUS INTERVIEWS WITH MORGAN GUERIN:
Morgan Guerin - Impressions @ Churchill Grounds/Harper Pop Up Jam, Mason
"A Love Supreme" - The Orrin Evans Trio w/ special guests; Morgan Guerin, and Ruth
Morgan Guerin - Tenor Saxophone - GRAMMY Band Audition 2016
Morgan Guerin - live - Atlanta Jazz Festival @ Piedmont Pk - Sun My/27/2018
Morgan Guerin - Lk02 (feat. Zacchae'us Paul)
Morgan Guerin - But I (feat. Alyssa McDoom)
Morgan Guerin Quartet - Apollo - Live @ The Velvet Note
Morgan Guerin - The Saga
In Conversation with Morgan Guerin
Jazz | "Lost" Composed by Wayne Shorter | 2017 National YoungArts Week
Morgan Guerin - The Saga
Morgan Guerin - live - Atlanta Jazz Festival @ Piedmont Pk
Morgan Guerin - Impressions @ Churchill Grounds/Harper Pop Up Jam, Mason Tavern - Thu Jun/1/2017
Videotape (feat. Chris Fishman)
