HERALD WEEKLY ISSUE 599: 18 January 2012

Maria Tanner Spends 5 Minutes with ...Peter Morgan
‘Great musician, great singer, spectacular person’ is how his website describes the well accomplished musician and performer that is Peter Morgan, although after sitting down and shooting it for five minutes with Morgan, whom I find out has a fondness for soul and jazz, I think they‘ve left out one important attribute. Crazy.
Bear with me here, I do have a point and purpose with where I’m heading but insanity tends to lend its self to a stream of genius that rare few can fathom, and I figure that if Peter Morgan could last this long within the entertainment industry and still be lining up gigs like a pro then he’s absolutely bonkers. New Zealand Maori born Morgan, who is currently in Rarotonga and plans to play three spectacular gigs at the Muri Beach Club Hotel, has been performing since the get go. Raised in a musically influenced environment with a family that all seemed to be able to either sing, play, pick or beat a tune out of any instrument can come off a tad ‘Von trapp’ but for Morgan it simply meant, “doing something I love. ” Raised on a staple diet of soul, jazz and blues, Morgan’s father who adored the Mills Brothers, and Uncle who was as cool as the Blues he played, meant at a young age Morgan’s ears were fine tuned to the sounds of Nat King Cole, Burl Ives, BB King and Bob Dylan, “I was lucky I had that influence,” says Morgan of the musical styling that has clearly had a lasting effect on the performer. During his formative teenage years Morgan attended Hato Petera Maori Boarding School and it was during that time the he honed his musical capacity and joined the school band, regardless of the socially awkward outcome he would bear from his peers, “I would cop a hiding from the other boys,” Morgan shares.
Whetting his pallet and sharpening his appetite Morgan scored his very first gig with the school band performing for the Westlake Girls school ball leaving an imprint on Morgan’s young impressionable mind, by the time he was 16 years old Morgan had been rubbing shoulders touring with the likes of Prince Tui Teka polishing up his on stage routine, “It was a very steep learning curve,” reveals Morgan, “I’ll never forget what the guys taught me on that tour.” Soon after Peter decided to join with the then hit band ‘Charisma’ which would prove to be a poignant decision for the young muso’s career, It (charisma) was the perfect way to start out …We had a lot of laughs and we were all mates.” Touring and gigging together across the greater Auckland venues it finally dawned on Morgan after being paid one weeks wages in one night “that something wasn’t right here,” needless to say eighteen months later Morgan was playing music full time. During the span of his career Morgan has shared the mic with numerous musicians including the one and only Quincy Jones, Betty-Ann and Ryan of Ardijah, jazz and RnB singer Randy Crawford and our very own Annie Crummer
If I had a vice it would be my curiosity and the lengths that I will go to engage it, so naturally I decided to tag along on Tuesday evening to see just what they hype was all about, and after watching Peter Morgan belt out The Commodores and then slide effortlessly into a Barry White like low rumble I was impressed, his websites right he’s an absolute “professional” and performs with an ease and that could only be acquired through a forty year love affair, with music. -Maria Tanner

Herald Issue 554 09 March
- Norm exposes Trio of Doom
- Briefs from PM’s media conference Tuesday
- Tourism Industry ponders $5 million draft strategy
- Norman George resigns from Cook Islands Party
- Letter of Resignation from CIP
- Norman selfish says Prime Minister

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