As a child in Petersburg, Virginia, Dick Morgan amazed adults by showing them he could play anything he heard. He landed his own local radio show at the tender age of 10, and soon he was playing with well-known jazz artists stationed at nearby Fort Lee. “Until then, my thing was just playing what I heard,” says Dick. “They taught me how to play jazz. I was lucky to have learned from the best.” In Norfolk, Virginia, Dick found himself performing one night for Duke Ellington, who had heard of the young pianist’s talents and dropped around to check him out. “Keep doing what you’re doing,” said the great bandleader. That fleeting moment remains one of Dick’s treasured memories.