Raymond McMorrin

Raymond McMorrin was born on March 13th, 1979 in Norwalk, Connecticut. At age 11 He began studying the tenor saxophone in the 6th grade. He began taking saxophone lessons from Judson Watts. He soon became involved in the concert band, symphonic band, jazz band, marching band and also participated in the all regional jazz band all throughout high school. In his junior year of high school he studied saxophone with Herb Wilson. In 1997 Raymond went to the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to major jazz performance. While at UArts he studied with saxophonist Ron Kerber. In 1999 Raymond transferred to the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz at the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, Connecticut. There he had the opportunity to study with saxophonist Jackie McLean, trombonist Steve Davis, bassist Nat Reeves, and saxophonist Kris Jensen. In 2002 Raymond graduated from the Hartt School of music cum laude and was active in the Connecticut and New York jazz scene until 2005. During this time he performed with musicians such as Steve Davis, Jimmy Greene, Craig Handy, Dennis Irwin, Billy Drummond, Don Friedman, Eric McPherson, Dezron Douglas, Josh Evans, Abraham Burton, Craig Hartley, Curtis Torian and many others. In April of 2004 Raymond received a phone call from Pianist Horace Silver to perform in his octet for a week at the Blue Note New York. This band(which was Horace’s last performing band) included trombonists Steve Davis and Conrad Herwig, saxophonist Eric Alexander, trumpeter Mike Mossman, drummer Joe Farnsworth, and bassist John Webber. In Aug of 2005 Raymond made a big move to Japan and became involved in the Tokyo Jazz scene. Since moving to Tokyo he’s performed with musicians such as Masahiko Osaka, Yosuke Inoue, Terumasa Hino, Yuichi Inoue, Shigeharu Mukai, Sonosuke Imaizumi, Hajime Yoshizawa, Yosuke Onuma, Tadataka Unno, Koichi Inoue, Tiffany, Jimmie Smith, Roy Hargrove, Tommy Campbell, Frank Gordon and many others. On Aug 14th and 15th of 2009 Raymond recorded a live CD with pianist Hank Jones at club “Basie” in Iwate Japan. This recording which included bassist David Wong and drummer Lee Pearson was made into a crystal CD. On Feb 12th of the following year He recorded another CD with Hank entitled “Last recording” at Sony Music Studios Tokyo with the same personnel. Raymond Continues to make a name for himself in the Japan jazz scene traveling all over the country with various musicians. Some of his biggest musical influences are Charlie Parker, Jackie McLean, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Joe Henderson, Miles Davis, Elvin Jones and Thelonious Monk mixed with his own sound giving him a very unique style, reminiscent of the past but yet modern and progressive.