Savvy as he is about jazz history, writer Alun Morgan probably took advantage of the alternate spelling of his given name in order to avoid confusion with one of the great bassists in jazz and RB, just plain Al Morgan. These two people with basically the same name seem to be in something of a dead heat over which one has amassed the larger number of recording credits, one coming up with basslines for different types of jazz songs and the other with written lines about different types of jazz. Any tally should also include Alun Morgan's excellent biography of Count Basie.

A British citizen whose plans for the new millennium included immigration to Australia, Morgan has supposedly come up with some 3,000 sets of liner notes. If it can be assumed that he owns nearly a complete collection of albums with his liner notes, it may also be assumed that this would constitute only a wee wedge of his record collection. The latter image of a truly magnificent personal record pile -- some friends of Morgan have put the total close to a quarter of a million sides -- is often part of any description of this writer's wealth of knowledge concerning the jazz genre. His contribution extends well beyond liner notes, the entire idea of which was once described by writer Frank Kofsky as something of a chisel in the eye of objectivity. Morgan has researched discographies, chosen and sequenced selections for important tribute releases, and contributed superb articles to small underground aficionado publications such as the British Jars, devoted to be-bop. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi