“I love what I do,” says Morgan, who is also the director of music for the 3,000 member Reid Temple A.M.E. Church in Glendale, MD. “I look forward to this event every year. It’s like spring break for me.” Over the years, Morgan’s inspired ivory-tinkling has backed the likes of Stevie Wonder, India Arie and Aretha Franklin on The BET Honors and fans of the program can witness Morgan in performance mode on Monday, February 24th @9:00 p.m. EST when the annual TV special airs on BET.
Aside from his regular duties with BET and a recent stint performing behind Patti Labelle and others on the “Super Bowl Gospel Celebration” TV broadcast, Morgan is preparing to step on to center stage himself with a jazz-inflected album of gospel hymns that will release later this year. “My roots are gospel but I was always influenced by Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock and those kinds of artists,” he adds. “I’m going to do 6-7 hymns and then do jazz renditions the way I hear them in my head. I already know who I want to have sing the songs. A lot of churches don’t even do hymns because the musicians don’t know them… I’m fortunate to have grown up in the middle of the old school and this new school generation so I know the old stuff and I think I’m hip enough to keep up with what’s going on now but the hymns of the church will never die and that’s part of what I’m here for.”
