Morris played with some of the best musicians in the business
by Lee Pierre
James Bryon Morris was born January 7, 1941, in Roanoke to the now late James William Morris and Verna Morris Steadman. He died July 30, 2022, and was predeceased by his granddaughter, Andrea Morris Santiago.
Morris was an exciting but obscure jazz saxophonist who spent most of his adult life in Washington, D.C., and led or co-led the band Unity since the ‘70s. The alto, tenor, and soprano saxophonist attended Lucy Addison High School and played alongside pianist Don Pullen in a band called the Junior Aristocrats (named after the Aristocrats, a swing band his father led from 1947-1960). After graduating from high school in 1959, Morris attended Tuskegee Institute and graduated in 1964 with a degree in engineering. Byron was an accomplished musician, a retired Deputy Base Civil Engineer for Bolling AFB, and past President of the East Coast Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen. Since the mid-’60s, Morris has paid his bills as an engineer working for IBM as well as the federal government, while devoting evenings and weekends to jazz.
He played in both R&B and jazz bands in the ‘60s, and in 1972, he co-founded Unity with trumpeter Vincent McEwan and composer Gerald Wise. Specializing in a very spiritual style of post-bop along the lines of Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Pharoah Sanders, and John Coltrane, Unity often featured Jay Clayton, the expressive female vocalist. Unity’s first LP, Blow Thru Your Mind, was recorded in 1973, followed by Vibrations, Themes and Serenades (recorded in 1975 and 1978), and Honey, I Love (recorded in 1981). Unity didn’t record any more studio albums after that, although different Unity lineups came together for various concerts in the ‘80s and ‘90s.
Other bands Morris has co-founded include Three Saxes for Lester and the Swingin’ Saxes, both of which have celebrated the legacy of Lester Young. In 1994, Morris’ own By-Mor label reissued material from Blow Thru Your Mind and Vibrations, Themes and Serenades on the CD Vibrations in Time. Subsequently, By-Mor released Live! At the East Coast Jazz Festival, which documented a 1996 performance by Unity. Blow Thru Your Mind and Vibrations, Themes and Serenades were both reissued on CD in full by Japan’s Céleste Music in 2001, and Blow Thru Your Mind received yet another reissue in 2002, this time on CD and LP from Britain’s Soul Jazz Records.
Morris, meanwhile, continued to perform and record with Unity. The group added pianist Hilton Ruiz in 1998 and issued a new CD of live performances in 2003. When not performing, Morris often held clinics and taught at both the high school and university levels. In 2011, he joined McEwan in a new version of Unity for Unity, A Retrospective, which featured a mix of standards and band originals.
Those left to cherish his memory include his wife of 55 years, Retired Colonel Dr. Elizabeth Morris; his sons, Eric Morris Santiago, and Aaron Ali Morris; grandchildren, Erica, Aaliyah, Amber, Aaron E. Morris, Noah, Elisabeth Morris Santiago, Jeliel Perozo Yustiz, Nevaeh Page, Abram Morris Santiago, and Autumn Morris; great-grandchildren, Benji Jones, Aiden Robinson, Kazi Noble and Avery Williams and sister, Deborah Fuller Burnett among a host of other loving relatives and friends.
His funeral was held on August 16 at Woodstream Church, Bowie, MD with professional services entrusted to J.B. Jenkins Funeral Home in Maryland.
