Now is the right time to become an American Federation of Musicians member. From ragtime to rap, from the early phonograph to today's digital recordings, the AFM has been there for its members. And now there are more benefits available to AFM members than ever before, including a multi-million dollar pension fund, excellent contract protection, instrument and travelers insurance, work referral programs and access to licensed booking agents to keep you working.

As an AFM member, you are part of a membership of more than 80,000 musicians. Experience has proven that collective activity on behalf of individuals with similar interests is the most effective way to achieve a goal. The AFM can negotiate agreements and administer contracts, procure valuable benefits and achieve legislative goals. A single musician has no such power.

The AFM has a proud history of managing change rather than being victimized by it. We find strength in adversity, and when the going gets tough, we get creative - all on your behalf.

Like the industry, the AFM is also changing and evolving, and its policies and programs will move in new directions dictated by its members. As a member, you will determine these directions through your interest and involvement. Your membership card will be your key to participation in governing your union, keeping it responsive to your needs and enabling it to serve you better. To become a member now, visit www.afm.org/join.

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Home » Recent News » AFM Life Member Robert “Doc” Morgan Inducted Into Jazz Education Hall of Fame


AFM Life Member Robert “Doc” Morgan Inducted Into Jazz Education Hall of Fame

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Robert “Doc” Morgan is the 2020 inductee into DownBeat magazine’s Jazz Education Hall of Fame. Now retired, Morgan served for 23 years as director of jazz studies at Houston’s Kinder High School for Performing and Visual Arts, the school that has spawned so many of the jazz world’s current pacesetters, including:

•  Mark Kelley, Local 802 (New York City), bassist with The Roots.

•  Jason Moran, Local 802 (New York City), pianist/composer; MacArthur “genius” Fellow.

•  Chris Walker, Local 47 (Los Angeles, CA), bassist/vocalist/composer, long associated with Al Jarreau.

Morgan, an alumnus of the University of North Texas and the University of Illinois/Urbana, is a life member of Local 65-699 (Houston, TX), having first become an AFM member during his freshman year in high school (then-Local 147, Dallas, TX). He was a member of two of the best-ever big bands in Texas, Dallas’s Euel Box Orchestra (trumpet) and Houston’s Ed Gerlach Orchestra (piano).

“Doc” is the 29th member of DownBeat’s Hall of Fame and is only the sixth public school educator to be so honored.







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