Paul Morris (musician)

Paul Morris
Paul Morris on tour with Over the Rainbow.
Background information
Born	(1959-11-02) November 2, 1959 (age 57) Santa Monica, California, USA,
Genres	Rock, hard rock, heavy metal, soul, jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician, session musician, songwriter
Instruments	Piano/Keyboards
Years active	1977–present
Associated acts	Doro Pesch, Mark Wood, Rainbow, Nena, The Teen Idols, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Joe Lynn Turner, Chris Caffery
Website	http://www.paulmorris.nyc

Paul Morris (born 2 November 1959, Santa Monica, California) is a musician best known as a keyboardist in Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. He played keyboards on the Stranger in Us All album and co-wrote the song "Black Masquerade".

Paul Morris studied piano as a child in New York City. He studied under well-known jazz pianists, Lennie Tristano, Hal Galper, and Sal Mosca. He began his career playing with some local bands on Long Island named Vixen and Full House. He then played with Todd Wolfe in the band, Troy and the Tornados. Todd Wolf later became the guitarist for Sheryl Crow. In 1989 Paul got a call from rock drummer Bobby Rondinelli to play keyboards for Doro Pesch's first solo tour without Warlock for the "Force MaJure album tour.

In 1990 Paul Morris played keyboards on the album Rare Diamonds by former Warlock singer Doro Pesch. The album was produced by Gene Simmons. In 1991 he went on tour with Doro Pesch promoting the Rare Diamonds album. In 1992 Paul Morris toured with heavy metal violinist Mark Wood through the US and Canada.

In 1994, Paul Morris was notified that Ritchie Blackmore was looking for a keyboardist. He sent Ritchie Blackmore a tape, auditioned, and was hired. He played on the STRANGER IN US All and co-wrote "Black Masquerade", which then became a fan favorite. He then performed with Rainbow for two European tours, one tour in Japan, South America, and in the US. In 1997, Paul Morris toured with Nena of "99 Luftballons" fame featuring, Tony Bruno on guitar, and Tommy Price on drums. This was followed by a tour with The Teen Idols starring Davy Jones, Peter Noone and Bobby Sherman. In 2000, Morris received a call from the musical director of Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Al Pitrelli, to play with the West Coast Trans-Siberian Orchestra for the holiday season. After this tour, Morris continued his career composing and producing his own original music and doing session work. In 2002, Morris joined an 11 piece soul band called the Sensational Soul Cruisers where he remained until 2007. In 2009, Morris was approached by Joe Lynn Turner asking him to fill in for Tony Carey who had become very ill. Two weeks later Over the Rainbow performed at the Sweden Rock Festival. Morris continued touring with Over the Rainbow for the next two years.