Mo Pleasure presents 'The Magic of Michael Jackson', Yamaha Music London 4th Dec 15

myosotis

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The Magic Of Michael Jackson

Friday 4th December 2015, 6:30pm, Instore at Yamaha Music London

Free Entry - Book Tickets at the link Below

Standing Room Only (Very Limited Priority Seating)

One of the greatest keyboard players and multi-instrumentalists of our generation, Morris 'Mo' Pleasure is in constant demand from some of the world's biggest musical names. When Michael Jackson put his band together for his This Is It tour, Mo's name was top of the list. Tragically, that band never got to play the This Is It show, but they can be seen on the This Is It Blu Ray and DVD released after the superstar's untimely death.

We're delighted that Mo will be instore this December. As well as playing songs from This Is It, Mo will also talk about the production of the show and about Michael Jackson's vocal percussion techniques. As a long-time Yamaha Motif Synthesizer player, this is un-missable event both for Yamaha Motif players and fans of Michael Jackson.


Tickets will go fast - book yours today:

http://www.yamahamusiclondon.com/article.php?article_id=58

(I think you need to register with the site first)
 
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This was a hugely enjoyable event :)

These are Mo's own photos from his FB page afterwards, and an article from a North London local paper.


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FATE has conspired to make Morris “Mo” Pleasure who he is today – from how he joined Ray Charles’ band (music director needed a beer), to meeting his wife for the second time (finding her 15 years after their first cancelled date), to playing in Michael Jackson’s band ill-fated This Is It tour (wife tour gossip), which never happened due to the singer’s death. And Mo is well aware of this. “I really believe the universe brings things together,” the multi-instrumentalist/producer/musical director and musical philanthropist states during our interview in My Village Café.

On Friday we saw Mo give a This Is It masterclass at Wardour Street’s Yamaha Music, with full band. Switching between instruments, talking about Jackson – “a prankster”, he confides – and introducing vocalists, including one he discovered at a workshop, Mo demonstrated the music pulsing through his veins. While working on a million projects, he spends considerable time helping budding musicians and those from difficult backgrounds. It was his work with the Amy Winehouse Foundation that led him to Chalk Farm Road’s Camden Guitars, leading to a friendship with owner Deicola Neves.

Musicians wishing to benefit from this maestro’s knowledge – Mo has worked with everyone from Earth Wind and Fire to Roberta Flack, Christina Aguilera to Janet Jackson – should follow this page. He will soon be holding masterclasses at Camden Guitars, helping musicians as the shop’s in-house producer in its new music studio and to find jobs and gigs. His album Mo – Elements of Pleasure and Michael Jackson Tribute album are out next year.

“Since Michael died I dedicated myself to recreating his songs in different styles,” said Mo. “Just Another Part Of Me was a major funky tune. I’ve got it as a straight jazz version, like Miles Davis’ So What.” He feels the depth of Jackson’s music production and vocal percussion techniques were not given the recognition they deserved.

“He knew everything about everything – the lighting cues, the CGI, the magic, he was part of every bit of it,” Mo said. “From what I understand, he did the show for his children. They knew he was a superstar but they’d never seen him in concert. It is horribly sad.”

Mo thanks his wife for leading him to Jackson after she learned of his tour from friends. “Us musicians, our wives talk to each other,” he said. Michael’s music director happened to contact Mo and mentioned he was working with Jackson but said they already had a keyboard player.

“Stay tuned,” he added. The keyboard player was locked into an American Idol contract so Mo was brought in three weeks behind in rehearsals.

“I started in March, Michael died on 25th June,” said Mo. “We were days away from coming to the O2. We would have started in August.”

Unsurprisingly, Jackson was very much the perfectionist and required flexibility from his musicians.

“He was adamant about sounding like the record,” said Mo. “We had to learn all songs in three or four keys. When you’re singing, the voice changes and sometimes you can’t sing as high. Michael wanted to be able to choose, so at any given day he could change the key.”

From early on, it was clear Mo had an ear for music.

He said: “I went to my first piano lesson at four years old at my church. The organist told my parents, “he’s too young”, before I started. They said, ‘do one lesson and we’ll see’. Afterwards, he said, “you have to be very careful, because your son has an incredible ear, he went through the whole book, but he’s not reading the notes, he’s watching me and copying’.”

Mo later learned to read music and credits that for giving him an edge at auditions. At 14, his big sister brought him to an Earth, Wind and Fire concert (in 1976). “A defining moment for me,” said Mo. By 1993 he was playing in the band.

“I never experienced music that touched your soul before, and the show was incredible, magic, the sound of that bass, I knew I had to play the bass. Before that I had played piano, violin, guitar.”

At 19, Ray Charles played Mo’s college homecoming. “I went back to the bus to see the musicians, to see if I could get an autograph from Ray, and the musical director asked me if there was anywhere he could get a beer.”

Mo took him to a pub, seizing the opportunity to ask how to get a gig. When the director learned Mo played bass, he informed him that Charles’ bass player was leaving and asked for a tape of his work.

“I recorded three songs and sent them to the address, thinking it’s never going to happen. I was still in school.” Seven months later, Mo received a call asking if he could hold for Mr Charles.

“The dorm was almost empty, I thought someone was playing a trick on me,” said Mo. But it really was Ray Charles.

“He said , ‘I want to know if you want to be in my band’. I said, ‘Mr Charles, I’m in school’. My parents are both teachers so the idea of leaving school would be devastating’. So I said no. He said I understand. I hung up and said “what did I just do? Everybody was like…. What?. So I called him back, but by that time they had called other people.”

So Mo had to audition and, while he got the gig, he was coming up to his finals in electrical engineering, so once again reminded Charles he was in school. “He said, ‘I forgot about that, go back to school’,” said Mo.

A year later Charles’ band came back through town. Mo stepped in for a few gigs and a year later finally got the gig as Ray Charles’ bass player.

“I really believe that the universe brings stuff together,” he said. “So that’s how I got into that professional world.”

In the same way, the universe conspired to bring him to his future wife Lori. They first met aged 14. He invited her to an Earth Wind and Fire concert but it was cancelled, the date never happened and they didn’t see each other for years. By then both had been married and separated. One day on tour Mo met a mutual friend and asked about Lori. The friend passed on her number and he called. She had left her house and shut the door but went back in to answer the phone. They eventually met and married. Mo spent some time in New York where he became music director for saxophonist Najee, who later introduced him to Earth Wind and Fire in LA.

“I’ll never forget the day (percussionist) Philip Bailey came to my house,” said Mo. “I was starstruck. I couldn’t talk but I handed him a demo tape. Earth Wind and Fire weren’t even playing then, this was 1993. They had disbanded since the 80s and were just getting back together. When they did they called me.

“This led to working with Janet Jackson. I started getting calls like that and getting the auditions. That led to pop tours like Christina Aguilera.”

Mo is now music director for Bette Midler.

“She’s incredible, 70 years old, doing all the choreography. Bette Midler is absolutely one of the most incredibly talented and nicest person in the world. I would call her a diva because she knows exactly what she wants.”

Mo splits his time between his many projects in the UK and the US, running masterclasses, giving talks, working on group projects, producing young artists – look out for Alice Ella – and educating young musicians, as well as working on his own music. He is also working on the music for a film with quasi-manager Tony Larkin – the working title is Fatman, a love story about a homeless man coming into money.

http://www.camdenreview.com/reviews/music/‘michael-and-me’-by-morris-mo-pleasure
 
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