He was a drummer, percussionist, pianist, arranger and composer born in Arbroath, Scotland, into a family where his father was a saxophone player who performed with the Marine Band and owned a music shop.
When he was a school he won medals in music and he went on to gain a Bachelor of Music degree from his further studies at Edinburgh University. He followed that by going to London and entering the Royal Academy as a composition and percussion student. He gained several awards for his compositions and his orchestral work Xumba-Atu won the Royal Philharmonic Award in 1970.
Following his graduation he worked in collaboration as a composer and performer with Stomu Yamash’ta who was a Japanese percussionist. Around that time he established the experimental group called Suntreader and was a member of the jazz-rock group Brand X and Come to the Edge.
He became sought after as a composer for Shakespearean productions, the BBC and the Munich Opera Orchestra, for whom he wrote many commissioned works. His works included three symphonies, chamber and choral works, piano pieces and electronic “sonic landscapes”.
At the same time his talents as a percussionist were also being called on by many of the top artists of the day. This saw him becoming a first choice session musician on many recordings and in 1977 Billboard magazine ranked No. 4 in the world’s jazz and rock percussionists.
Throughout his career he worked with numerous artists and composers and a few are Colin Blunstone, Brand X, Phil Collins, Elvis Costello, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Yvonne Elliman, Marianne Faithfull, Genesis, Gordon Giltrap. Peter Hammill, Murray Head, The Kane Gang, Andrew Lloyd-Webber, John Martyn, Sally Oldfield, Graham Parker, The Upsetters, The Walker Brothers and John Williams among many others.
The countless albums he featured on as a musician, arranger or composer, including five that reached gold status, are too many to mention but a select few include his own The Music of Stars and Desert Dances as well as Song of Seven by John Anderson, Moving Home by Rod Argent, Hounds of Love by Kate Bush, Caravan &The New Symphonia by Caravan, Another Time, Another Place by Bryan Ferry, Tango in the Night by Fleetwood Mac, Peter Gabriel (3) by Peter Gabriel, Rock & Soul by Daryl Hall & John Oates, North of a Miracle by Nick Heyward, Classic Rock, Vol. 5: Rock Symphonies by the London Symphony Orchestra, Back to the Egg by Paul McCartney & Wings, Ommadawn by Mike Oldfield, Hooked on Classics by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Small Creep’s Day by Mike Rutherford, Zin Zin by Suntreader, It’s My Life by Talk Talk and Welcome to the Cruise by Judie Tzuke.
He established his home and a recording studio in the remote Scottish location of Balchrick in Sutherland where he continued to compose, often using Scotland’s ancient pictish culture and symbolism as an influence. Alongside that he worked with the Japanese soprano Natsuko Minegishi and The Klang Collective.
In the field of musical education he worked as an Associate Professor at Trinity College, London where he taught piano.
In April 2010 he passed away at his home in Balchrick when he was 62 years old.
Peter Gabriel Recordings
Games Without Frontiers (Peter Gabriel)
(Charisma CB 354)(UK45)
Sources:
- http://www.arbroathherald.co.uk/news/local-news/obituary-morris-pert-1-194630
- http://www.allmusic.com/artist/morris-pert-mn0000990481/biography
- http://www.katebushnews.com/index.php/2010/04/morris-pert-1947-2010/
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Pert
- http://www.allmusic.com/artist/morris-pert-mn0000990481/credits
- http://www.discogs.com/artist/281925-Morris-Pert