Jerry Morey's strengths include an extensive knowledge of
music theory and harmony, a large repertoire of musical influences
from jazz to classic rock, blues and soul. His bluesy
solos stretch the ear recalling the harmonic searching of John
Coltrane.
Beginning with the viola in 5th grade, Jerry's extensive
studies of music, anthropology, history, mythology, and many
other subjects makes him a fascinating and engaging instrumentalist
and educator. Jerry started playing guitar in 1982, the summer
he graduated high school. In August of 1982, he joined
the Navy and moved to San Diego. He started taking the
guitar seriously when he met other musicians in his squadron
that played. When
his enlistment was up, he traveled across the U.S. making stops
in Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee, and
fell in love with the Rhythm and Blues sound that had prospered
in these areas.
Jerry started school at one of the City Colleges of Chicago,
and would spend any other time he could at the blues clubs
in Chicago. He moved to Carbondale in Southern Illinois
to SIU. There he studied Music and Theatre, eventually earning
his Bachelor of Arts in Theatre with a second major in Music.
Carbondale, in the late 80's and the early 90's, still had
some reputation
as a party school. The music scene was pretty active
with lots of roadhouse rock and roll, jazz-funk bands, and
singer songwriter groups that played what was later called
alternative rock... One of the first groups he joined
was called Shravana, a trio similar to Crosby,
Stills, and Nash. Jerry also played in the school's jazz
band, as well as classical guitar ensembles, and musical theatre
productions.
School finished, Jerry moved to New Orleans
to sit at the feet of some of the jazz and blues masters. New
Orleans had a great music scene, with lots of open jams. Some
had such a family atmosphere; it was really easy to make friends. He
became hooked on the sound of the Funky Meters, and The Neville
Brothers. This sound is still evident in his playing
today. While just about every guitar player at the time
was trying to master the heavier and slow blues sound of Stevie
Vaughn, Jerry was more interested in the Jazzier melodic sounds
of Lenny and Riviera Paradise.
Jerry moved back up north to Chicago in late 1993, and started
going to every blues jam in Chicago to meet people on the scene
here. By day, he taught music at a Catholic grade school
on Chicago's north side and went to every blues jam he could
find. By early 1996, he had performed
or sat in with many performers on Chicago's active blues scene.
And in the summer of 2006 he acted as the Musical Director
for Camp Jam USA-Chicago. He has studied at the Old Town School of Music, the Bloom
School of Jazz, and with the Jamey Aebersold Summer Jazz Camps. He
has also studied Martial arts, and currently holds a Blue Stripe
Belt in the style of Shaolin Kempo.
Jerry has been an arranger, composer and performer for
many of the projects he has worked on. In 2006 he composed
the sound track for a short film called Bird Dog. Today, Jerry
teaches guitar privately to about 40 students a week. He
is currently working on a guitar method book that combines
principles of the Martial Arts with musical principles in order
to master the guitar.
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