Brian Morton (Scottish writer)

Brian Morton (born 1954 in Paisley, near Glasgow ) is a Scottish jazz author, journalist and jazz critic.

Life

Morton grew up in Dunoon and studied at the University of Edinburgh. He then taught at the University of East Anglia and the University of Tromsø in Norway. Later, he was a literary critic ( and "Literary Editor") at the literary supplement of "The Times Higher Education Supplement " from " The Times" and the Times itself He also wrote about jazz and generally as a music critic and was a freelance artist since 1992. Among other things, he was frequently in the British BBC radio, where he on Radio 3 from 1992 to 1997 the fortnightly broadcast jazz program " Impressions" moderated and also moderated in the music programs Composer of the Week and In Tune.

Morton moderated for ten years as a senior editor at BBC Radio Scotland's own " The Brian Morton Show" and " The Usual Suspects ". 2003, the contract was canceled after he had criticized the culture section of the BBC. He currently lives on a farm in the West of Scotland with his current wife, the landscape photographer Sarah MacDonald. He has a son and ( from a previous union ) two daughters.

Work

He is best known as co -author of the authored with the late 2007 Richard Cook " The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD " (or " The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings", 8th edition 2006), which appeared in 1992. In addition to jazz but he also deals with modern classical music. With Pamela Collins, he published in 1992 an overview Contemporary Composers ( Chicago: St. James Press). He wrote biographies of Shostakovich (House Publishers, 2007), Prince ( Canongate Books 2007 ) and Miles Davis (House 2005), and further published Modern Music - a Book of Words.

Morton is the publisher of " The Blackwell Guide to Recorded Contemporary Music " (1996). He writes for the Jazz Review Magazine and in 2008 was briefly the editor. He also wrote columns for the Scottish edition of the " Observer". Morton also works as a translator from Norwegian, including short stories of Jonas Lie. He also wrote frequently for the Jazz Review, which he headed after the death of Richard Cook also short time ( 2008). In 2009 he published a biography of Edgar Allan Poe ( Edgar Allan Poe (Life & Times ), House, 2009, ISBN 978-1-905791-52-1 ).

Honors

• 2000 Honorary Doctorate of the University of St Andrews