The Morrie Louden Group

"World Class" jazz performance...

Morrie Louden

Morrie Louden was born into a musically-inclined family in Concord, CA. When he was 12, he began to play the electric bass. A year later he added formal acoustic bass and piano studies. By age 14, band leaders of some of the best bay area groups were hiring him to play, sneaking him through the back doors of night clubs. His dedication to his craft throughout high school led to a music scholarship at De Anza College in Cupertino, California, known for having the finest jazz department in the Bay Area.

After graduating in 1980, Morrie toured the world for many years with pop icons: Engelbert Humperdinck, Barbra Streisand, The 5th Dimension, and Paul Anka, to name just a few. These experiences led to performing with The New York Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra, and the London Symphony Orchestra at Royal Albert Hall.

In the nineties, Morrie formed his own group: The Morrie Louden Group or MLG. This group featured well-known jazz soloists---to include: Bob Sheppard, Carl Fontana, Rick Margitza, Eric Marianthal, Ralph Moore, Brandon Fields, among others. It was during that time that he had the great fortune of finding his lifetime instrument---a 300-hundred year-old Rogeri contrabass, circa 1714.

In 1996, he built the superb MoSound Recording Studios in Las Vegas, Nevada: a stateof- the-art recording facility where he has spent much time composing and producing.

After relocating to New York in 2005, the Morrie Louden Group continued to perform throughout the United States and Europe. Morrie also began playing and/or recording with Mike Stern, John Scofield, Adam Rogers, Howard Alden, Martin Taylor, Don Bradon and many other well known jazz musicians. He was also hard at work composing and recording his CD “Time Piece”. It was recorded, mixed, and mastered at two of the finest studios in New York: Avatar Studios (formerly The Power Station), and Sterling Sound. In addition to using horn and string sections, Morrie chose a cast of jazz greats to perform his music: Adam Nussbaum and Gary Novak on drums, Bob Sheppard and Seamus Blake on saxophone, Alex Sipiagin on trumpet, Edward Simon and Mike Eckroth on piano, Lionel Leouke on guitar, string and horn arrangements by Gil Goldstein, and the sensual voice of Gretchen Parlato.

Just two weeks after its release, “Time Piece” placed on the Jazz Billboard Charts and remained there for eight months, from May thru December of 2007.

“Time Piece” was selected Top Ten Jazz Albums of the Year by Downbeat writers.

“Time Piece” was also included in music publisher Chuck Sher’s Top Ten list.

The Morrie Louden Group is currently booking tour dates around the US and Europe.