Passings: Lawrence Douglas "Butch" Morris (1947-2013)

 Photograph © Claudio Casan

I missed this sad news at the end of last month, but the remarkable composer, cornetist, and conductor (of large improvising ensembles) Lawrence "Butch" Morris has died. You can find an obituary here at The Guardian, another here at The New York Times, and remembrances here and here at NPR and The New Yorker respectively.

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Update (27 February 2012): Over the past few days I have had the pleasure of watching Black February a film documenting the month, in 2005, during which Morris coordinated "44 performances in 28 days with 85 musicians pulled from all across New York’s musical community." In the film Morris comes across as brilliant, decent, demanding and exceptionally grounded. And I now have come across this touching remembrance of Morris by Wayne Horwitz who confirms that assessment.