Barbara Morrison – born in Ypsilanti, Michigan on September 10, 1949 – was an acclaimed jazz singer. Raised in Romulus, Michigan, she made her first radio appearance at the age of 10. She didn’t come to national prominence until she moved to Los Angeles, California in 1973, where she began performing win other artists including Eddie ‘Cleanhead’ Vinson and Johnny Otis. She made her first recorded appearance on the 1977 album Back to Jazz with Johnny Otis & His Orchestra and Introducing Barbara Morrison. She followed that up singing on a few songs on the album Johnny Otis! Johnny Otis! The 1984 Johnny Otis Show. Barbara Morrison’s first solo album, Love is a Four-Letter Word (1984), but it took another six years before she returned as a solo artist with Love’n You (1990). In the meantime, she sang on albums by Jimmy Smith and a third album with Johnny Otis. She also spent time performing live with the Philip Morris Superband alongside Jimmy Smith, James Moody, Kenny Burrell, Jon Faddis, and Grady Tate. She also worked with Ray Charles, Ron Carter, Joe Sample, Dr. John, Dizzy Gillespie, and many others. Barbara Morrison spent more time focusing on her solo career in the 1990s and beyond, releasing albums such as Doing All right (1992), I Know How To Do It (1997), Thinking of You, Joe (a 2002 tribute to Joe Williams), Double Standards (2006), A Sunday Kind of Love with Houston Person (2013), and Warm & Cozy with Stuart Elster (2021). Barbara Morrison died on March 16, 2022, at the age of 72.
