James Morrison is Australia’s best-known jazz musician, both at home and abroad. Ever since his teen years, he has seemed destined for stardom, thanks to his freakish ability as a multi-instrumentalist (his signature instrument is the trumpet, but he is equally brilliant on trombone, piano, saxophone and more). Instrumental facility aside, James has always treated playing music as sheer pleasure, and has always been able to communicate that pleasure to his audience. James’ CV reads like the who’s who of jazz. Don Burrows was his first mentor, and other jazz greats who took him under their wing included Dizzy Gillespie and Ray Brown. James has played with such names as Wynton Marsalis, George Benson, Red Rodney, Frank Sinatra, Cab Calloway, Lalo Schifrin, Graeme Lyall, Paul Grabowsky, Dale Barlow, James Muller and many more. James has won numerous awards and honours, including the Order of Australia, admission to the Bell Awards Hall of Fame, several ARIA and Mo awards, doctorates at Edith Cowan University and Griffith University, and an adjunct professorship at the University of South Australia. James has always been keen to encourage young musicians, the way that Don Burrows and other teachers encouraged him when his career was just beginning. The James Morrison jazz scholarships, awarded at the annual Generations In Jazz, have boosted the careers of many exceptional young musicians. James took things a step further this year, with the opening of the James Morrison Academy of Music, in Mt Gambier, affiliated with the University of South Australia.