Did I mention that I love jazz music? And James Morrison has to be one of the great jazz players of all time. Sydney Anglican has an interview with him about his music and his faith: What I know about all that jazz
It’s interesting. I will be playing at a secular concert that’s supposed to have nothing to do with Christian music or gospel music, then I will play a gospel number or two and people will be moved. Even people who profess to have no Christian faith and say ‘That stuff is not for me’.
I find that guys in my band – great musicians with no professed faith – would turn to me and instead of saying ‘I am not comfortable playing Christian stuff,’ the reverse has been true. They say, ‘That’s amazing. I really started to feel something amazing, but I don’t know what.’ Music – carrying the message that it does – can really move the people that are playing it.
The guy has talent in spades and he’s also into developing new music technology. He’s helped to develop a new electric trumpet. The Morrison Digital Trumpet, designed and built by Marshall MIDI. It has valves that use a light sensor to change the notes and an breath sensor to allow the player to change the sound like a normal trumpet, but the really interesting thing is the keypad on the side:
Controlling the octaves on the MDT is achieved using a series of tactile buttons on the left side of the trumpet. This technique gives the player the ability to jump between 4 octaves of range instantly and by pressing another button a total of 10 can octaves is achieved. This “keypad” can also be assigned to various MIDI functions e.g. pitch change, volume control etc.
Very nice.
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