Photo provided Cathy Morris will headline Jazz at Helen’s at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 12 at Helen Haddad Hall.
Columbus native Cathy Morris may have a lot on her plate, what with her being an electric violinist and vocalist, a recording artist, an educator and the founder of a nonprofit, but that doesn’t mean she can’t find time to return to her old stomping grounds of Columbus for a Jazz at Helen’s performance.
Morris’s Jazz at Helen’s show will begin at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 12 at Helen Haddad Hall.
Growing up in an artistically-inclined family, Morris has been fortunate to have performed not only across the country, but in Spain and Japan as well. Those in her audience have included President Bill Clinton, Mikail Gorbachev, Sen. Hillary Clinton and Indiana governors Evan Bayh, Mitch Daniels and Mike Pence.
“I’ve opened for George Benson, I’ve opened for Al Jarreau, I’ve opened for Burt Bacharach,” Morris said. “I’ve shared stages with lots of international musicians too.”
Morris has released five CDs of original music, in addition to a compilation recording, titled “Here For You,” featuring all women’s music to benefit Indianapolis Women’s Fund. Outside of performing, Morris has been a teaching artist for over 30 years, going to schools and teaching students subjects such as geography and science through the arts.
It was from her teaching efforts that she realized how imperative the arts are for society for social and emotional support, and from there, she founded Arts With A Purpose. This nonprofit sees over 30 artists of different disciplines, including visual arts and musical arts, provide workshops, presentations and more to communities that do not have access to the arts or cannot afford them.
Arts With A Purpose caters to all ages and backgrounds, from those in memory care to those in schools. In 2024 alone, Morris said they booked over 750 presentations.
“It’s an honor… it’s an honor for me to get to facilitate other artists and to get the arts to these communities,” Morris said. “It warms my heart, I call it soul fulfilling and I get testimonies from the artists who go out and they say, ‘I remembered why I started doing art’ when they connect with these people because it’s just such a beautiful, reciprocal exchange. It’s amazing.”
Her upcoming Jazz at Helen’s performance, where she will be joined by keyboardist Winton Reynolds, bassist Peter Kienle and drummer Darnell Perkins, will feature selections from her original songbook and her signature party jazz style. Named that way for its uplifting and positive nature, party jazz combines the rhythms of several styles, from straight ahead swing to Latin jazz to bossa nova.
“It’s a term that I made up to describe my original music,” Morris said. “Nobody else uses that term. Smooth jazz, I guess you’d call a lot of my music smooth jazz, but you could call a lot of my music Latin jazz. Jazz is a small, small word for a very large world of music.”
Being from Columbus, Morris said playing at Jazz at Helen’s is a really special opportunity to reunite with old friends and perhaps make some new ones. She said the selection she has chosen for Jazz at Helen’s is sure to take listeners on a fun and high energy journey.
“I get to serve people, and that’s the way I look at it, I get to serve people with my music. It’s not about me, it’s never been about me,” Morris said. ”First of all, it was about just trying to earn a living, and then it’s transformed into opportunities that I had no idea would come around. But I’ve never stopped playing anywhere, I’ll play anywhere, anytime with anybody, any place, for any amount of money.”
Tickets are available at thecip.org. Doors open at 6:45 p.m.
