Butch Morris was one of the bright lights. When you find one of those people, you follow them and you can end up in some unexplored places. When he let us see with his eyes and hear with his ears, we found the world to be wondrous and illuminated. He developed an entirely new system for creating and sharing music in the moment. I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone who could simultaneously be so bemused and so fearless.
Butch left us 5 years ago today and many of his friends have not let him out of our thoughts since. He and I had been talking about doing a Deep Focus but I am sad to say that we never got to do it. His choices of topic might be revealing to my music friends: either Gil Evans or Don Redman. If you don’t know those names or Butch’s, please explore. You will be richly rewarded.
I took this pic of Butch at Don Palmer and Beth Fredrick’s legendary Memorial Day BBQ in 2008. I have never shared it before. Photo Copyright 2013 by Mitch Goldman