morphine-doc

'90s trio Morphine chronicled in new documentary 'Journey of Dreams'; Vapors of Morphine on tour (2 NYC shows)

morphine-doc

Boston trio Morphine were a unique band, using the blues as a base but going in new directions thanks to their lineup of Mark Sandman’s one and two-string slide bass style, Dana Colley’s baritone saxophone, and drums (Billy Conway / Jerome Dupree). Nobody else sounded like them. Sadly, Sandman suffered a fatal heart attack on stage in Italy in 1999, ending the band after 10 years and five albums. But their story is now told in Mark Shuman’s new documentary Morphine: Journey of Dreams:

Journey of Dreams doesn’t just get behind the music but inside the band as its story is primarily told by the trio’s surviving members, saxophonist Dana Colley and drummers Billy Conway and Jerome Dupree plus the close-knit familial coterie that worked with them as well as Sandman’s girlfriend Sabine Hrechdakian. It’s punctuated by incisive commentary and observations from such friends and admirers of the group as Henry Rollins, Joe Strummer and Steve Berlin of Los Lobos. A wealth of live performance footage gathered from across Morphine’s career recalls and amplifies the band’s innovative yet at the same time classic, timeless and “beautifully bottom-heavy” sound, as Rolling Stone praised it. Viewers ride and fly along with the hard- touring band’s road experiences, vibrantly brought to life as Colley reads from his tour diaries at key points in the film as well as through his accompanying Polaroid pictures and Super 8 films.

Morphine: Journey of Dreams will be out on DVD, Blu-ray and digital/demand on October 18 and you can watch the trailer for the documentary, along with Morphine videos, below.

Dana Colley and Jerome Dupree, joined by slide guitarist Jeremy Lyons, have been carrying the torch as Vapors of Morphine since 2009. They’ll be in NYC on October 15 to help promote the DVD release of the film, playing a free in-store at Rough Trade at 3 PM, and then that night they’ll play Union Pool and their performance follows a screening of the film. The film’s at 8 PM and the band plays at 9:45 (tickets).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP8QhblSkRI

Vapors of Morphine – 2016 Tour Dates
FRI 30 SEPTEMBER – Utopia Music Festival Utopia, TX, US
SUN 2 OCTOBER – Smoke This Rib Fest Cambridge, MA, US
SAT 8 OCTOBER – Atwood’s Tavern Cambridge, MA, US
SAT 15 OCTOBER – Rough Trade NYC Brooklyn, NY, US (free, 3 PM)
SAT 15 OCTOBER – Union Pool Brooklyn, NY, US
WED 19 OCTOBER – Hotel Cafe Hollywood, CA, US
THU 20 OCTOBER – The Casbah San Diego, CA, US
SAT 22 OCTOBER – Atwood’s Tavern Cambridge, MA, US
SAT 29 OCTOBER – Atwood’s Tavern Cambridge, MA, US
SAT 5 NOVEMBER – Atwood’s Tavern Cambridge, MA, US
TUE 8 NOVEMBER – Circolo Magnolia Segrate, Italy
THU 10 NOVEMBER – Monk Rome, Italy
FRI 11 NOVEMBER – Locomotiv Club Bologna, Italy
SAT 12 NOVEMBER – Latteria Artigianale Molloy Brescia, Italy
SUN 13 NOVEMBER – Centrum Kultury Zamek Poznan, Poland
TUE 15 NOVEMBER – Grote Zaal, Paard Van Troje The Hague, Netherlands
WED 16 NOVEMBER – Autumn Falls Festival Brussels, Belgium
THU 17 NOVEMBER – Het Burgerweeshuis Deventer, Netherlands
SAT 19 NOVEMBER – Fuzz Live Music Club Athens, Greece
SAT 26 NOVEMBER – Atwood’s Tavern Cambridge, MA, US