Ismael "Esy" Morales (March 3, 1916 - November 2, 1950), was a musician born in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

. His brothers, Humberto and

Noro Noro may refer to: * Noro, Solomon Islands * , in the Cíes Islands, Spain * Noro (priestess), within the Magiri system of the Ryukyu Kingdom in the Ryukyu Islands * "Noro", a song on the 2009 album '' Daisy'' by Brand New People with the surname ...

, were also musicians. Before the age of ten, Esy was performing on

tenor sax The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

and

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

. In 1930 he moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and is credited on Xavier Cugat's album ''Cugat On Film'', as well as other Cugat records. In the late 1930s he formed a band with his brothers

Humberto Humberto is a Portuguese and Spanish masculine given name of Germanic origin. It may refer to: *Humberto Aguilar Coronado *Humberto Ak'ab'al *Humberto Albiñana *Humberto Albornoz *Humberto Alonso Morelli *Humberto Alonso Razo *Humberto Andrade Que ...

and

. Morales went on to form his own band, The Esy Morales Orchestra and had a cameo appearance in the 1949 motion picture '' Criss Cross'' performing the song "Jungle Fantasy". His name is also listed in the credits of this movie. He also performed in several other films. George Greeley recorded "Jungle Fantasy" on his 1966

Reprise Records Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels. Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Enya, Michael ...

single R-0490.Reprise Records Discography
/ref> The song Jungle Fantasy appears on Herbie Mann's 65th Birthday Celebration: Live At The Blue Note In New York City (Live), as well as

Yusef Lateef Yusef Abdul Lateef (born William Emanuel Huddleston; October 9, 1920 – December 23, 2013) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and prominent figure among the Ahmadiyya Community in America. Although Lateef's main instruments ...

's 1960 recording ''

The Centaur and the Phoenix ''The Centaur and the Phoenix'' is an album by multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef recorded in 1960 and released on the Riverside label. Reception The Allmusic review by Stacia Proefrock stated the performance "takes the risks and the innovations ...

''.

Death

Morales died in 1950 at the age of 33 from a heart attack which was possibly brought on by diabetes. There was also an unconfirmed report that his death was the result of a cocaine overdose. He also became blind due to diabetes. He was about to re-sign with Rainbow Records, which had recorded his "Jungle Fantasy" a few years earlier. Morales recorded for Artistic, Manor, Caravan, and Decca under his own name.

Filmography

References

External links

* * 1916 births 1950 deaths Puerto Rican musicians Manor Records artists Deaths from diabetes {{Caribbean-musician-stub