MUSIC

Filoli is proud to bring to our stage for the first time, Barbara Morrison and her All-Star Band. Ms. Morrison can be as playful as Ella, as thoughtful as Sarah, as naughty as Etta ...and has gained a national following with her big personality and delicious sense of swing (L.A. Times). Equally striking is her ability to belt out down-home, soul-stirring blues. Ms. Morrison tours extensively across the United States, Western Europe the Far East, “Down Under,” and has performed at renowned blues and jazz festivals around the world including Montreaux, Nice, Carnegie Hall, North Sea, and Monterey, wowing audiences with her band. We are very grateful that her list of venues now includes Filoli.

Born in Ypsilanti, Michigan, Barbara Morrison recorded her first radio appearance in Detroit at the age of 10. She is now a veteran in the music industry, having performed with a virtual "who's who" of the jazz and the blues worlds; a list that includes legends like: Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Charles, James Moody, Ron Carter, Etta James, Mel Torme, Joe Williams, Tony Bennett, Jimmy Smith, Johnny Otis, Dr. John, Terence Blanchard, Joe Sample, Cedar Walton, Nancy Wilson, Carlos Santana, and Keb' Mo. Ms. Morrison also guest stars with the Count Basie Orchestra, the Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra and Doc Severinsen's Big Band.

Barbara has been featured on over 20 recordings, dazzling fans from traditional jazz and blues to gospel and pop. Her melodic voice, with its two-and-a-half-octave range, is known worldwide, as are her rich, soulful and highly spirited interpretations of both familiar jazz / blues classics and original contemporary tunes. Her impassioned renditions of old and favorite torch songs are nothing short of breathtaking. Barbara also has a number of notable film and television appearances, such as the movie sound track for The Hurricane (starring Denzel Washington), Goin’ Home: A Tribute to Duke Ellington and Johnny Otis's CD Ooo Shoo Be Dooo, the hit NBC TV comedy The Naked Truth, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and The Dennis Miller Show.