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Wilber Morris (November 27, 1937 in Los Angeles, California and followed in the footsteps of his older brother Butch into the music industry and jazz. He began playing frums as a child but switched to the double bass during his tour of duty in the Air Force from 1954 to 1962.

He played around San Francisco, California with Pharoah Sanders and Sonny Simmons but after his discharge he returned home and played with Arthur Blythe and Horace Tapscott. 1969 saw Wilber back in San Francisco for a short period but it wasn’t until he moved aross the country for New York City in 1978 that his career took off. His association with Billy Bang from 1979 to ‘83 rendered five albums and multiple touring dates. He then became a mainstay in David Murray’s octet well into the 1990s which produced seven albums.

He put together a trio of players under the name Wilber Force in 1981 and recorded his debut album as a leader, Collective Improvisations, and would go on to record six more as a leader or co-leader. His final recording came in 2019 titled Monks, which is a collective interpretation of Thelonious Monk compositions.

Morris founded the One World Ensemble in 1995, and participated in John Fischer’s one-off reunion of INTERface and performed well into the new millennium.

Wilber performed with Pharoah Sanders, Steve Habib, Sonny Simmons, Alan Silva, Joe McPhee, Horace Tapscott, Butch Morris, Arthur Blythe, Charles Gayle, William Parker, Charles Tyler, Dennis Charles, Roy Campbell, Avram Fefer, Alfred 23 Harth, Borah Bergman and Rashied Ali.

As a sideman recorded thirty-one albums with Marshall Allen, Billy Bang, Thomas Borgmann, Rob Brown, Bobby Few, Avram Fefer, Charles Gayle, Steve Habib, Frank Lowe, Makanda Ken McIntyre, David Murray, Kevin Norton. Positive Knowledge, Alan Silva and Steve Swell.

Double bass player and bandleader Wilber Morris died on August 8, 2002 in Livingston, New Jersey from a previos bout with cancer that returned.

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