Rick Braun, Richard Elliot, Barbara Morrison to Jazz Up Governors Ball

Rick Braun, Richard Elliot, Barbara Morrison
to Jazz Up Governors Ball

Beverly Hills, CA — The Impulse Orchestra, a 21-piece ensemble, will accompany legendary jazz trumpeter Rick Braun, and saxophonist Richard Elliot, and jazz-blues vocalist Barbara Morrison in special performances at the Governors Ball, the celebration following the 81st Academy Awards® presentation on Sunday, February 22.

Braun and Elliot have more than two-dozen solo albums between them, a collaboration album, “RnR,” and a massive catalog of chart-topping radio hits. Braun, who started his professional career by writing a Top 20 hit for REO Speedwagon ("Here With Me"), plays trumpet, flugelhorn and keyboards. The Allentown, Pennsylvania, native has played in bands behind Rod Stewart, Sade, Tom Petty, Tina Turner, Natalie Cole and Crowded House.

Elliot began his recording career playing with Motown legends Smokey Robinson and The Temptations. He was still a teenager when he toured with Melissa Manchester. Elliot put out his first solo album in 1976, and in subsequent years, the Scotland-born, Los Angeles-raised saxophonist became a steady voice in contemporary jazz.

Michigan native Morrison has performed with a virtual ‘who’s who’ of the jazz and blues worlds, including such legends as Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Charles, Etta James, Johnny Otis, Terence Blanchard, Nancy Wilson and Tony Bennett. She has been a guest vocalist with the Count Basie Orchestra, the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra and Doc Severinsen and His Big Band. She also has been featured in more than 20 recordings and has toured extensively throughout the United States, Europe and Asia.

Braun, Elliot, Morrison and The Impulse Orchestra will alternate with music stylist Jason Bentley in performing for the Ball’s 1,500 guests, which will include Oscar winners and nominees, show presenters and performers and other luminaries.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2008 will be presented on Sunday, February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.