Morrison flying high for music festival

Jazz virtuoso, multi-instrumentalist, festival director ... pilot?

“The engine of my aeroplane will not go cold for 17 days,” James Morrison said after the launch of the Queensland Music Festival program.

It's one of the accomplished musician's lesser-known skills – he's been a licensed pilot for 25 years and owns his own light plane. That Cirrus SR20 has been getting quite a workout, with Morrison and the QMF team travelling around Queensland to meet councils and tee up festival projects.

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“We can hit three towns a day and get right around the state,” he said.

“It's a handy thing for an artistic director!”

The biennial festival runs from July 12 to 28, and Morrison will be trying to get to as many of the 200-odd scheduled gigs as possible.

“I'll be finishing seeing a concert or being in one, leaping in the plane and flying to another town ready for the next thing,” he said.

But Morrison laughed off the idea he's a control freak, instead saying he is somebody who likes to get things done.

“If there's music happening, don't you want to be the one playing it? If there's a plane flying, don't you want to be the one flying it?

“Whatever's going on, I want to be right in the middle doing it.”

James Morrison. Photo: Supplied
Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/entertainment/music/morrison-flying-high-for-music-festival-20130529-2nbsf.html#ixzz2UmVt7Ln5