Elise Morris

As a professional studio and stage musician, Elise Morris' credits cover a wide range of experiences. She was the featured keyboardist/vocalist with Joe Jackson on the international Heaven and Hell tour; she headlined The Water Festival in Sweden as a core member of the fusion band GeWaDoKa; she was music director in concert for Ronnie Spector, and she was featured vocalist and master of the prepared piano, playing the highly improvisational score of TanDun (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) in the playAmerica Dreaming at The Vineyard Theatre in New York. She has played and/or sung with Cy Coleman, Rebecca Pidgeon, and Peter, Paul, and Mary, among others, and has performed with many artists of the vibrant NYC music scene over the years, including music directing the current Stone Soul Picnic project featuring the music of Laura Nyro.

As a composer, Morris has written underscores for Scholastic Audio Books for children, for documentary film shorts, and for straight plays as well as music and lyrics for musicals. Her dance scores have often included her performing live with dancers all around the globe. As a lyricist, she has written lyrics for Pat Metheny and Charlie Haden. Her voice has brought life, color, and a world of sounds to myriad TV commercials, and as a voiceover artist, she created the character voice of Candy for the animated Moviefone promos in theaters. She is a recipient of the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Music Composition, the I-Park Sound Sculpture Award and has been awarded multiple artists residencies, fellowships, and grants. 

With the  release of her long-awaited album DANCIN' WITH THE BOYS, listeners are introduced to her inventive songs that blend influences of jazz, pop, theatrical, classical, progressive, world, experimental, and folk. Elise calls her unique style "jazzbo" because it captures the enigma of music that doesn't fit into one genre alone, but rather crosses stylistic borders.