National Sawdust presents Morley — Meditations on The Gift of Awe Record Premiere Celebration

Morley brings Meditations on The Gift of Awe to National Sawdust for a record premiere celebration. The evening presents her genre-defying song cycle in a vocal-trio-and-chamber-ensemble setting. Morley is joined by Chris Bruce, Daniel Mintseris, Jack DeBoe, Chris St. Hilaire, Levon Henry, Arun Ramamurthy, Trina Basu, Kenita Miller and Justin Hicks; the event information does not specify which musicians comprise the vocal trio and which the chamber ensemble.

Raised in Jamaica, Queens, Morley is a New York singer-composer and producer whose work weaves jazz, soul and folk traditions, and connects music with human rights and environmental justice. Her songs have appeared on network television and in human-rights documentaries, and she spearheaded Borderless Lullabies, a benefit album for K-I-N-D. She has contributed lyrics to work by William Parker, Youn Sun Nah, Lizz Wright, Richard Bona and Yuri Buenaventura, while collaborators on her forthcoming album include Chris Bruce, Toshi Reagon, Trina and Arun Ramamurthy, Meshell Ndegeocello and Justin Hicks. Hilton Als calls her voice “necessary to the cosmos,” finding in it “such joy and calm”; other praise singles out her “poetic and large-hearted lyrics” and “vocal sophistication.”