What a find!

Butch once told me about an amazing project which featured a roaming opera based on Goya’s paintings while he conducted a band of musicians from room to room in an abandoned East Village warehouse.

As it turns out, there’s a video of the performance, called “Goya Time.” The footage below has some rare video of Butch from that era.

David Dann has published a review of the project on his Gems of Jazz blog.

 Declaiming actors wandered in and out of the gymnasium where Butch’s musicians were creating a soundscape of melody, poly-rhythms and spiky cacophony. Dancers flitted by, appearing in the doorways one moment, on balconies the next. Interpretations of Goya’s paintings hung on the walls and – if I remember correctly – an artist was on stage painting on a huge canvas and on a naked woman’s body.

It was one whacky scene, and in the midst of it all was Butch and his musicians.

Read the entire post. It also features some priceless photos of a young Butch Morris in L.A. and in the army.

Dann also provides a link to a eulogy written by Butch’s dear friend Don Heffington. 

There’s also a description of the event on the Plexus International website.

Here, for your pleasure, is a short film of Goya Time.