Morley Kamen, known professionally as Morley, is an American singer-songwriter. Born in New York City, a Jamaica, Queens native, Morley has released four studio albums, including ''Undivided'' in 2012.

Biography

Morley began her performing career as a dancer and choreographer/poet, and taught yoga in community centers and shelters around the NY tristate area. By the mid-1990s she began writing songs, and in 1998 she released her first album, ''Sun Machine'', on Sony/Work.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

writer Tom Demalon called it an "impressive ebutthat infuses her melodic brand of adult pop with

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

world In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

, and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

." Martin Johnson of '' Newsday'' wrote that the album's songs "recalled the socially conscious soul of the early '70s." ''Spin'''s Tracey Pepper suggested that the album shared qualities of those by Annie Lennox and

Tracey Thorn Tracey Anne Thorn (born 26 September 1962) is a British singer. She is best known as being one half of the duo Everything but the Girl from 1982 to 1999. She was a member of the band Marine Girls between 1980 and 1983 and since 2007 has bee ...

while ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' compared Morley to

Sade Sade may refer to: People * Marquis de Sade (1740–1814), French aristocrat, writer, and libertine * Sade (singer) (born 1959, Helen Folasade Adu), British Nigerian musician and lead singer of the eponymous band * Sade Baderinwa (born 1969), WAB ...

and Portishead. Morley released her second album, ''Days Like These'', in 2005, followed by ''Seen'' in 2008. Thom Jurek of

praised ''Seen'' as "an album so original and poetically beautiful, it deserves its own category." On album track "Women of Hope", Jurek remarked: "Morley prays for and celebrates those women who suffer in the hellholes of the world – from American

ghetto A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...

s to the killing fields of Sudan – without once sounding preachy or holier-than-thou or precious." In addition to releasing records, Morley is engaged in conflict resolution work with teens from conflict zones, here in the US and abroad. She has performed for several

TED TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depa ...

events and for such world leaders as the

Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current D ...

, Nelson Mandela, and Ban Ki-moon. Morley's fourth album, ''Undivided'', was released in April 2012. Recorded with such guests as

Joan Wasser Joan Wasser (born July 26, 1970) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and producer who releases music as Joan As Police Woman. She began her career playing violin with the Dambuilders and played with Black Beetle, Antony and the Johnsons, ...

Raul Midón Raul Midón (born March 14, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist from New Mexico. Biography Early life Midón was born prematurely in a rural hospital in Embudo, New Mexico, Embudo, New Mexico, to parents of Argentines, Arg ...

, and

David Amram David Werner Amram III (born November 17, 1930) is an American composer, arranger, and conductor of orchestral, chamber, and choral works, many with jazz flavorings.

, the album was inspired by trips Morley had taken to Paris and parts of North Africa. The music video for the single "Wild Bird", directed by Damani Baker, was filmed in the Sahara. In August 2012 Morley published her fifth album, "Yoga Release (Rhythms & Improv)", an exploration of rhythm and spiritual warrior survival.

Discography

*''Sun Machine'' (1998) *''Days Like These'' (2005) *''Seen'' (2008) *''Undivided'' (2012) *''Yoga Release (Rhythms & Improv)'' (2012) *''Thousand Miles'' (2018)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morley American contraltos American women singer-songwriters American pop rock singers Record producers from New York (state) American rock songwriters Women rock singers Living people Musicians from Queens, New York Singers from New York City Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women singers American women record producers 21st-century American singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from New York (state)