Alice Coltrane / Hamza El Din / Brian Eno / Robert Fripp / Keith Jarrett / Augustus Pablo / Sun Ra / Mike Ratledge / Terry Riley / Erik Satie / Booker T / Robert Wyatt / and the divine ever-present inner light...
Morgan’s Organ is the title of an ongoing series of monthly solo improvisation concerts performed by Japan-based British keyboardist Morgan Fisher since November 2003 at a club called Superdeluxe in Tokyo, Japan. Almost since the first concert, the improvisations have evolved into two long continuous pieces of about 40-60 minutes in length, accompanied by slide shows of Morgan’s abstract photography and/or selections from his avant-garde video collection.
The instruments Morgan plays are generally vintage analogue instruments, some extremely rare and up to 50 years old. As well as organs they include electric pianos, synthesizers, lo-fi circuit-bent samplers, drum machines, accordions, melodicas, bells and whistles, bird calls, percussion, and Morgan’s voice. Almost the only digital equipment used are the delays and looping devices which allow Morgan to create rich, sometimes orchestral or even choral layers of sound which can be further manipulated in real time.
All the concerts have been recorded and will gradually be made available as downloads on iTunes and other sites. The purpose of this website is to do what cannot be done at iTunes and similar websites: offer longer samples of the music, provide information and photographs relating to the concerts and the instruments, and invite discussion of the music.
More information about the ongoing concerts can be found at www.super-deluxe.com
Here is a short biography - more information about Morgan can be found at www.morgan-fisher.com
Morgan Fisher was born in London, England, on January 1st, 1950.
1966 - 1970: played the organ with soul / pop band The Soul Survivors, who in 1967 were renamed The Love Affair. They had a number one hit in 1968 with "Everlasting Love".
1972 - 1973: formed progressive rock band Morgan, with singer Tim Staffell (the vocalist with the band Smile, who later became Queen). Recorded two albums and a solo album "Ivories".
1973 - 1976: after a brief liaison with Third Ear Band, joined seminal British rock band, Mott the Hoople, whose biggest hit "All The Young Dudes" was written and produced by David Bowie. The band later became Mott, after singer Ian Hunter left; then with the addition of vocalist John Fiddler from Medicine Head it was renamed British Lions.
1978: set up a home studio and recorded, by himself, the Hybrid Kids album, an experimental/parody/art-punk covers album. A sequel entitled Claws soon followed.
1980: conceived and produced the unique Miniatures album (51 one-minute tracks by Robert Fripp, Gavin Bryars, Michael Nyman, The Pretenders, XTC, Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Robert Wyatt, The Damned etc). A sequel was released in 2000. Also recorded his first ambient album, Slow Music, with sax supremo Lol Coxhill.
1982: played with Queen on their 1982 tour of Europe, then took a long break from music and travelled in India and the USA.
1985: moved to Japan, where continued to make ambient and improvised music, and evolved a style of abstract photography he calls Light Painting. Japanese artists he has worked with include Yoko Ono, Dip in the Pool, The Boom, Heat Wave, Kina Shoukichi, Kokoo, Haruomi Hosono of Yellow Magic Orchestra.
2005: collaborated with Austrian musician Hans-Joachim Roedelius (of Cluster and Harmonia) on the ambient album Neverless.
2006: Performed with The Minus 5 and Robyn Hitchcock. Composed music for "A Zen Life", Michael Goldberg’s documentary film on D. T. Suzuki, the renowned Zen scholar.
2007: Arranged and sang on a Soft Machine track for the Delta Saxophone Quartet, England’s leading contemporary saxophone quartet. Two exhibitions of light paintings in Tokyo.
