Morris Day and The Time: still going strong

When you look up the word cool in the dictionary, the face of Morris Day might be plastered next to it. Morris Day stands for cool. He looks cool. He walks like he is cool. He struts on stage with coolness. His band The Time plays music as if they are the ultimate showmen in the definition of cool. 

That’s probably why they are so freaking good. And legendary. Morris Day and The Time have stood the test of time and are still making audiences revel in their soul-funk musical sound. The music industry is better for it. 

Morris Day and The Time first hit the national scene when their first album, which was simply called The Time, came across the airwaves in 1981. Today, the man and the band are cultural icons. 

The band is sounding as good as ever. That first album, a project Prince produced and practically played every instrument on as rumors would have it, charted two memorable tracks. 

“Get It Up,” is an ultra-sleek tribute to the funk era and perhaps the most recognizable song in the group’s long list of hits. The anthem “Cool” perfectly personifies Day and his always chill presence on stage. This summer, Morris Day and The Time performed at a variety of different venues in Southern California.  

It was fun each time. The best way to describe the music put out by Morris Day and The Time is relatable to making a dish. There’s a scoop of funk. You have a dose of pop/rock. You can then add a dash of soul and mix them all up.      

Some of the other songs that Morris Day and The Time are widely known for include “Gigolos Get Lonely Too,” “Jungle Love,” “Jerk Out,” “777-9311,” and “The Bird.” 

Part of being great is longevity. Morris Day and The Time have outlasted many bands and have kept their groove going so that multiple genres have had an opportunity to enjoy their music. 

Some of the original and principal players on that initial album are no longer part of the musical product put on display all over the country and abroad these days. 

And that’s okay. The coolness is there. So is Day and The Time. That’s all that matters to their loyal fans. People move on. Things change and never stay the same. But the one constant the group cannot afford to lose is its charismatic leader. 

Morris Day is the main attraction. Rightfully so. Day is ultra-cool, super-savvy, and knows how to work a crowd to bend to his will. In so many words, Morris Day is the perfect frontman for the legendary band.    

What makes Morris Day and The Time so relevant in today’s hip-hop culture is that there is still an audience that appreciates good musicianship. The musicianship is a critical component lacking in the music world today.   

That’s something you don’t have to worry about whenever Morris Day and The Time take the stage. In their performances over the summer months of 2024, Morris Day and The Time brought their ultra-cool aura to the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa, joined other throwback artists at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood for a quick trip down memory lane, and closed out the Jazz at Drew concert in South Los Angeles.   

It was a busy summer for Morris Day and The Time. And when you consider that Morris Day and The Time are of the last great bands around, you start to appreciate the music and the man. Their sound is just as refreshing as when the group was in its heyday. 

For decades, Morris Day and The Time performed and made music in the shadow of Prince, perhaps the most gifted musician to ever live. The Minneapolis sound was real. It still is. 

To that end, Day and his group pay homage to the Purple One with a heartfelt and endearing tribute in all of their shows, a classy and moving nod to the late singer and musician.   

When it comes to performances, Morris Day and The Time aren’t too bad themselves. All the shows the group played over the summer were simultaneously the same and different at the same time. 

With a smorgasbord of artists performing at the Fool in Love concert, Morris Day and The Time had an abbreviated time slot and that was cut short because the venue’s microphones didn’t work properly. 

That was not the case when the group shared the performance card with Kool & The Gang at the Pacific Amphitheatre. During their hourlong set, Morris Day and The Time lit it up and stole some of the thunder from Kool & The Gang, which got top billing for the show.  

It was a nice surprise to see Morris Day and The Time headline a jazz-infused lineup that included Norman Brown and Erin Stevenson at the Jazz at Drew daylong concert in September. By the time Morris Day and The Time hit the stage, it was time to party. 

The group made sure the audience did just that with their funkified keyboard sound being amplified and Morris Day supplying the cool.