Sarah Jane Morris (singer)
Encyclopedia
Sarah Jane Morris is a pop music
, jazz
, rock
and R&B
singer and songwriter
.
In 1982, Morris joined The Republic as lead singer. A London-based Afro-Caribbean-Latin band with leftish tendencies, they received enormous publicity from the music press including cover stories with NME and City Limits and a documentary for Granada TV. But the band was deemed too political for radio play, with the exception of Capital Radio. The Republic were signed to Charlie Gillett
's Oval Records Ltd and released an EP entitled Three Songs From The Republic and two singles entitled "One Chance" and "My Spies". Success did not follow and the band split up in 1984.
Morris then sang with The Happy End
, a 21-piece brass band named after Bertolt Brecht
, Elisabeth Hauptmann
and Kurt Weill
's musical play
. Playing a circuit that included Brighton's Zap Club and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, The Happy End explored protest music from Africa, Ireland and Latin America on a way that emulated Charlie Haden's Liberation Orchestra.
Morris explored her more theatrical side on Brecht/Eisler
's There's Nothing Quite Like Money and Brecht/Weill's Pirate Jenny from The Threepenny Opera
.
The Happy End released two albums on the Cooking Vinyl label with Morris. Following a successful Edinburgh run in 1986, Morris then decamped to chart success with The Communards.
Morris found fame initially with the Communards, who are best known for their hit
"Don't Leave Me This Way
". Morris featured prominently on many Communards tracks, her low vocal range contrasting with Jimmy Somerville
's falsetto
. She has also recorded as a solo
artist
, releasing album
s since 1989. These have enjoyed most popularity in Italy
and Greece
.
Morris also contributed to the opera
The Fall of the House of Usher
(1991) by Peter Hammill
and Judge Smith
, singing the part of the chorus.
Solo
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
singer and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
.
In 1982, Morris joined The Republic as lead singer. A London-based Afro-Caribbean-Latin band with leftish tendencies, they received enormous publicity from the music press including cover stories with NME and City Limits and a documentary for Granada TV. But the band was deemed too political for radio play, with the exception of Capital Radio. The Republic were signed to Charlie Gillett
Charlie Gillett
Charlie Gillett , was a British radio presenter, musicologist and writer, mainly on rock and roll and other forms of popular music...
's Oval Records Ltd and released an EP entitled Three Songs From The Republic and two singles entitled "One Chance" and "My Spies". Success did not follow and the band split up in 1984.
Morris then sang with The Happy End
The Happy End
The Happy End was a brass band formed by Matt Fox in 1983. Inspired by the music of Kurt Weill, Hans Eisler and Charlie Haden, to name a few, the band reflected the political landscape of London and the UK throughout the Thatcher years...
, a 21-piece brass band named after Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
, Elisabeth Hauptmann
Elisabeth Hauptmann
Elisabeth Hauptmann was a German writer who worked with Bertolt Brecht....
and Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
's musical play
Happy End (musical)
Happy End is a surrealistic three-act musical comedy by Kurt Weill, Elisabeth Hauptmann, and Bertolt Brecht which first opened in Berlin at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm on September 2, 1929. It closed after seven performances...
. Playing a circuit that included Brighton's Zap Club and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, The Happy End explored protest music from Africa, Ireland and Latin America on a way that emulated Charlie Haden's Liberation Orchestra.
Morris explored her more theatrical side on Brecht/Eisler
Hanns Eisler
Hanns Eisler was an Austrian composer.-Family background:Eisler was born in Leipzig where his Jewish father, Rudolf Eisler, was a professor of philosophy...
's There's Nothing Quite Like Money and Brecht/Weill's Pirate Jenny from The Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera is a musical by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill, in collaboration with translator Elisabeth Hauptmann and set designer Caspar Neher. It was adapted from an 18th-century English ballad opera, John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, and offers a Marxist critique...
.
The Happy End released two albums on the Cooking Vinyl label with Morris. Following a successful Edinburgh run in 1986, Morris then decamped to chart success with The Communards.
Morris found fame initially with the Communards, who are best known for their hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
"Don't Leave Me This Way
Don't Leave Me This Way
"Don't Leave Me This Way" is an R&B/soul/disco song written by Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff, and Cary Gilbert. First charting as a hit for Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, an act on Gamble & Huff's Philadelphia International label in 1975, "Don't Leave Me This Way" was later a hit single for both...
". Morris featured prominently on many Communards tracks, her low vocal range contrasting with Jimmy Somerville
Jimmy Somerville
James William Somerville is a Scottish pop singer and songwriter. He had considerable success in the 1980s with the pop groups Bronski Beat and The Communards, and has also had a successful solo career. He is known in particular for his falsetto singing voice...
's falsetto
Falsetto
Falsetto is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous edges of the vocal folds, in whole or in part...
. She has also recorded as a solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
artist
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, releasing album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
s since 1989. These have enjoyed most popularity in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
.
Morris also contributed to the opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
The Fall of the House of Usher
The Fall Of The House Of Usher (opera)
The Fall of the House of Usher is an opera by Peter Hammill and Chris Judge Smith . It is based on the short story of the same name by Edgar Allan Poe....
(1991) by Peter Hammill
Peter Hammill
Peter Joseph Andrew Hammill is an English singer-songwriter, and a founding member of the progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Most noted for his vocal abilities, his main instruments are guitar and piano...
and Judge Smith
Judge Smith
Christopher John Judge Smith , is a songwriter, composer and performer, and a founder member of progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Initially working under the name Chris Judge Smith, he has been known simply as Judge Smith since 1994.- Early years :In 1967, with Peter Hammill, Judge...
, singing the part of the chorus.
Discography
With The Happy End- There's Nothing Quite Like Money (1985)
- Resolution (1987)
Solo
- Sarah Jane Morris (1989)
- Heaven (1992)
- Blue Valentine (1995)
- Fallen Angel (1998)
- I Am A Woman - The Best Of (2000)
- August (2001)
- Love And Pain (2003)
- Live In Montreal (2004)
- After All These Years (2006)
- Angels At Christmas (2007)
- Migratory birds (2008)
- Where it Hurts (2009)