Morris Hayes

Birth : 1962-11-28, Arkansas, USA

History

Morris Hayes is a talented musician, producer, and band leader. As a keyboardist, Hayes has worked with superstars such as Prince, George Clinton, Elton John, Whitney Houston, and Stevie Wonder. He was one of the 2013 inductees into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame. Morris Kevin Hayes was born in the small town of Jefferson (Jefferson County), just outside Pine Bluff (Jefferson County). He was inspired by the religious music he heard in church as a child. He majored in art at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB). When a rhythm and blues (R&B) band on campus lost its keyboard player, Hayes—who had learned to play a bit in high school—offered to fill in. Although he was still learning to play the keyboard, he played well enough to take the spot. After graduating from college, Hayes played in churches and with various bands, moving to Chicago, Illinois; Memphis, Tennessee; and then to Texas. He cofounded a group called the Bizness, which former Prince and the Revolution bass player Mark Brown heard. Brown asked the group to come to Minneapolis, Minnesota—which had a vibrant music scene—and record a demo. Hayes recorded the demo and then joined Brown’s band, Mazarati. When Brown’s group disbanded around 1991, Hayes remained in Minneapolis. When the keyboardist for the popular group the Time quit, Hayes replaced him and toured with the group in Asia. After the completion of the tour, Hayes formed another group called G Sharp and the Edge. This group performed as the house band in the popular Minneapolis club Glam Slam, which was frequented by Prince (who would later purchase the club). Prince signed the group to open for him on his “Diamonds and Pearls” tour in 1992. After the tour ended, Prince asked Hayes to join his band, the New Power Generation. Hayes played in the band for ten years. In 2003, he left for a scheduled six-week gig with funk and soul jazz saxophonist Maceo Parker. Instead, he stayed for two years before rejoining the New Power Generation as the leader of the band in 2005. Hayes has also performed with a long list of major artists, including Sheila E., Chaka Khan, Herbie Hancock, Kanye West, Elton John, Babyface, Carlos Santana, Kenny Loggins, Lenny Kravitz, Alicia Keys, Will.i.am, Mary J. Blige, Maroon 5, Ani Di Franco, Questlove, Kool Moe Dee, Sheryl Crow, Gwen Stefani, Erykah Badu, Amy Winehouse, Bono, The Edge, and Macy Gray. Hayes has received numerous honors for his work, including inclusion in the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame in 2013. Hayes is involved in a nonprofit called No Worries Now, which helps children with terminal illnesses by organizing proms for them. The organization also helps fund osteosarcoma research. Hayes is the owner and CEO of Ill Street, Inc., a music production company through which he has written for various films and television shows such as Flavor Flav’s Under One Roof, Martin Lawrence’s You So Crazy, and Laurel Avenue on HBO.

Movies

Prince - Welcome 2 America : Live at the Forum
This is Prince performing with his 2011-era lineup of the New Power Generation, including Shelby J., Liv Warfield, Elisa Fiorillo, and Morris Hayes, additional keyboardists Renato Neto and Cassandra O’Neal, bassist Ida Nielsen, drummer John Blackwell, and dancers Maya and Nandy McClean (The Twinz). Captured midway through his marathon “21 Nite Stand” on April 28, 2011 at The Forum in Inglewood, California, this performance documents the spontaneity and incendiary energy of that historic portion of the Welcome 2 America Tour!
Prince: Budapest
Keyboards
Prince performs at Sziget Festival as part of his Welcome 2 America Euro Tour 2011.
Prince : Welcome 2 America - MSG New York
Keyboards
Prince at his best, performing all his mega hits, to a booked out Madison Square Garden in New York, on the 29th December 2010.
Prince - Montreux Jazz Festival (Early Show)
The early show from 07/18/2009. Tracklist: 01. When Eye Lay My Hands On U 02. Little Red Corvette 03. Somewhere Here On Earth 04. When The Lights Go Down 05. Willing And Able 06. Eye Love U, But Eye Don’t Trust U Anymore 07. She Spoke 2 Me 08. Drum Solo By John Blackwel l 09. Love Like Jazz 10. All This Love 11. Empty Room 12. Elixer 13. In A Large Room With No Light 14. Curtain Call 15. Insatiable 16. Prince Introduces Band Members 17. Scandalous 18. The Beautiful Ones 19. Nothing Compares 2 U 20. Epilogue
Prince - Montreux Jazz Festival (Late Show)
The late show from 07/18/2007. Tracklist: 01. Prince Introduces Band Members 02. When Eye Lay My Hands On U 03. Stratus (Long Portion) 04. Drum Solo By John Blackwell 05. Stratus (Short Version) 06. All Shook Up [Elvis Presley] 07. Peach 08. Spanish Castle Magic 09. When You Were Mine 10. Little Red Corvette 11. Somewhere Here On Earth 12. She Spoke 2 Me 13. Eye Love U, But Eye Don’t Trust U Anymore 14. Love Like Jazz 15. All The Critics Love U In Montreux - Housequake 16. Break 17. In A Large Room With No Light 18. Purple Rain 19. Epilogue
Prince: Montreux Like Jazz
A two-DVD set of Prince at the 2009 Montreux Jazz Festival that serves as a reminder for those that forgot, Prince is still one of, if not the, greatest live musician alive. This set captures both of the shows performed on July 18, 2009 in a stunning pro-shot video. The quality is good enough for an official release, of which one was talked about and planned before Prince once again dropped the ball on preserving his musical legacy. It's absolutely asinine that this was not released to the world, it's that good. So Prince once again misses out on giving his fans what they want and leaves it to the bootleggers to do it right.
Prince: 21 Nights in London
Keyboards
A documentary film about Prince's 21 Night Stand at the O2 Arena in London. England.
Prince: Rave un2 the Year 2000
"Rave un2 the year 2000" celebrates the joy of life as PRINCE performs music from his critically acclaimed album Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic, as well as selections from his vault of smash hits and pop classics. Filmed at Paisley Park Studio in Minneapolis, where a multi-piece band, including legendary bass player Larry Graham and members of the Family Stone, join Prince in this spectacular historic event. Special guests include Lenny Kravitz, Rosie Gaines, Maceo Parker George Clinton, Morris Day and The Time.
Prince: Beautiful Strange
Listen to this intimate conversation between The Artist Formerly Known As Prince and Mel B. as they cover the subject of musical inspiration, freedom and influences. At home in his Paisley Park Studios, the Artist gives one of his most revealing interviews.
Prince: Love 4 One Another
A television special produced for VH1
Prince: The Sacrifice Of Victor
Available for The 1st Time! Exclusive footage taken from one of Prince and the N.P.G.'s infamous aftershow parties! Act II Aftershow - Bagley's Warehouse, London : 8th September 1993 (am)
Prince and the N.P.G. Present... 3 Chains o' Gold
In Egypt, princess Maytes father is assassinated by seven men, leaving her with the sacred three chains of gold. She decides to seek out the help of Prince in USA, and sends him a tape of her dancing. Prince immediately falls in love with her, but is frightened by the commitment. He tries to escape through having sex with others, but his heart isn't in it. His heart belongs to Mayte...
Prince: The Beautiful Experience
This promotional movie for 1-800-NEW-FUNK features a collection of unreleased music videos and live performances from the artist.
Prince: The Hits Collection
The Hits Collection is a collection of music videos released in 1993 to accompany the Prince's greatest hits collection, The Hits/The B-Sides. Being a single VHS cassette/DVD, the collection is only an hour long and excludes many tracks from the audio release
Prince: The Ryde Dyvine
An ABC TV Special that aired on December 19th 1992