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Lee Morgan
Albums
![Sixth Sense [Bonus Tracks]](/cache/JS/g3/130x130_on-sale_g39994twjlu.png)
From late 1967 through 1968, Lee Morgan fronted a fine sextet with alto saxophonist Jackie McLean and the less-heralded tenor saxophonist Frank Mitchell. The group recorded [more]
- List Price: $17.98
- Member Price: $11.98
Curious listeners who encounter Lee Morgan for the first time through this single-disc anthology will come away mightily impressed, even inspired, but they will be hearing only the [more]
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- Member Price: $11.98
This session (reissued on CD by Blue Note) is best known for introducing Lee Morgan's beautiful ballad "Ceora," but actually all five selections (which include Morgan's "Cornbread," "Our Man [more]
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- Member Price: $11.98
![Live at the Lighthouse [Blue Note]](/cache/JS/c2/130x130_c25987ys295.jpg)
This three-CD set from Blue Note expands trumpeter Lee Morgan's original two-LP set from four selections to 12. Morgan's music had become much more modal by this time, [more]
- Member Price: $44.98
Carried by its almost impossibly infectious eponymous opening track, The Sidewinder helped foreshadow the sounds of boogaloo and soul-jazz with its healthy R&B influence and Latin tinge. [more]
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![Cooker [RVG]](/cache/JS/h4/130x130_on-sale_h42925wfiaq.png)
From the time of his emergence in 1956 as a remarkably talented 18-year old up until his untimely death in 1971, Lee Morgan was one of the top trumpeters in jazz. [more]
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- Member Price: $11.98
![City Lights [RVG]](/cache/JS/h6/130x130_on-sale_h63370n0jlc.png)
From the time of his emergence in 1956 as a remarkably talented 18-year old up until his untimely death in 1971, Lee Morgan was one of the top trumpeters in jazz. [more]
- List Price: $17.98
- Member Price: $11.98
This set (the CD reissue is a duplicate of the original LP) is one of the finest Lee Morgan records. The great trumpeter contributes five challenging compositions ("Search for [more]
- Member Price: $11.98
![Delightfulee [RVG]](/cache/JS/j0/130x130_on-sale_j04060sojco.png)
As Lee Morgan's career moved from hard and post-bop to soul-jazz, Delightfulee serves as a further bridge in a half-and-half fashion. Four of the seven cuts feature his potent [more]
- List Price: $12.98
- Member Price: $11.68
Recorded when he was only 19, Candy was one of the first albums (along with The Cooker, recorded the same year) where Lee Morgan showed his own unique style. His prodigal technical virtuosity [more]
- List Price: $31.98
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Appearances
![Mode for Joe [Japan Bonus Track]](/cache/JS/g0/130x130_on-sale_g03976eef61.png)
The only difference between this "Rudy Van Gelder Edition" of Joe Henderson's classic 1966 Mode for Joe album, which starred Lee Morgan, Bobby Hutcherson, Curtis [more]
- List Price: $17.98
- Member Price: $11.98
![Indestructible [Bonus Track]](/cache/JS/g0/130x130_on-sale_g00335cjij9.png)
This 2003 reissue of the Art Blakey classic Indestructible is part of Blue Note's Rudy Van Gelder series. Van Gelder himself has done the 24-bit remasters from analog masters. The added track left off the original session is Wayne Shorter's
- List Price: $17.98
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Why any critic would think that Hank Mobley was at the end of his creative spark in 1963 -- a commonly if stupidly held view among the eggheads who do this for a living -- is [more]
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Think!, organist Lonnie Smith's 1968 sophomore effort for Blue Note, is easily one of the strongest dates the Hammond B-3 master would produce for the label. Featuring a stellar group of [more]
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- Member Price: $11.98
From late 1967 through 1968, Lee Morgan fronted a fine sextet with alto saxophonist Jackie McLean and the less-heralded tenor saxophonist Frank Mitchell. The group recorded [more]
- List Price: $17.98
- Member Price: $11.98
![Big Beat [RVG Edition]](/cache/JS/g9/130x130_on-sale_g92595sojco.png)
Perhaps the best-known and most loved of Art Blakey's works, The Big Beat is a testament to the creative progress of one of the best jazz drummers of all time. [more]
- List Price: $17.98
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This two CD collection was originally released as part of Blue Note's 60th Anniversary boxed set. Jimmy Smith, who was signed by Alfred Lion after he [more]
- List Price: $33.98
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Most Blue Note soul-jazz albums from the late '60s went one of three ways: it either was a straight-ahead commercial session, a slightly psychedelic outing, or a funky workout with a [more]
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This is a particularly obscure live set by Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, one not even listed in most discographies. The 1968 edition of Blakey's band was a strong if [more]
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Part of a slightly frivolous sampler series that features various jazz musicians and vocalists playing or singing the blues, Blue Trane: John Coltrane Plays the Blues has six selections [more]
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Biography
- Born Jul 10th 1938 in Philadelphia, PA
- Died Feb 19th 1972 in New York, NY
- Styles
- Soul Jazz
- Instrument(s)
A cornerstone of the Blue Note label roster prior to his tragic demise, Lee Morgan was one of hard bop's greatest trumpeters, and indeed one of the finest of the '60s. An all-around master of his instrument modeled after Clifford Brown, Morgan boasted an effortless, virtuosic technique and a full, supple, muscular tone that was just as powerful in the high register. His playing was always emotionally charged, regardless of the specific mood: cocky and exuberant on up-tempo groovers, blistering on bop-oriented technical showcases, sweet and sensitive on ballads. In his early days as a teen prodigy, Morgan was a busy soloist with a taste for long, graceful lines, and honed his personal style while serving an apprenticeship in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. As his original compositions began to take in elements of blues and R&B, he made greater use of space and developed an infectiously funky rhythmic sense. He also found ways to mimic human vocal inflections by stuttering, slurring his articulations, and employing half-valved sound effects. Toward the end of his career, Morgan was increasingly moving into modal music and free bop, hinting at the avant-garde but remaining grounded in tradition. He had already overcome a severe drug addiction, but sadly, he would not live to continue his musical growth; he was shot to death by his common-law wife in 1972. Edward Lee Morgan was born in Philadelphia on July 10, 1938. He grew up a jazz lover, and his sister apparently gave him his first trumpet at age 14. He took private lessons, developing rapidly, and continued his studies at Mastbaum High School. By the time he was 15, he was already performing professionally on the weekends, co-leading a group with bassist Spanky DeBrest. Morgan also participated in weekly workshops that gave him the chance to meet the likes of Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, and his idol Clifford Brown. After graduating from high school in 1956, Morgan -- along with DeBrest -- got the chance to perform with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers when they swung through Philadelphia. Not long after, Dizzy Gillespie hired Morgan to replace Joe Gordon in his big band, and afforded the talented youngster plenty of opportunities to solo, often spotlighting him on the Gillespie signature piece "A Night in Tunisia." Clifford Brown's death in a car crash in June 1956 sparked a search for his heir apparent, and the precocious Morgan seemed a likely candidate to many; accordingly, he soon found himself in great demand as a recording artist. His first session as a leader was cut for Blue Note in November 1956, and over the next few months he recorded for Savoy and Specialty as well, often working closely with Hank Mobley or Benny Golson. Later in 1957, he performed as a sideman on John Coltrane's classic Blue Train, as well as with Jimmy Smith. Morgan's early sessions showed him to be a gifted technician who had his influences down pat, but subsequent dates found him coming into his own as a distinctive, original stylist. That was most apparent on the Blue Note classic Candy, a warm standards album completed in 1958 and released to great acclaim. Still only 19, Morgan's playing was still imbued with youthful enthusiasm, but he was also synthesizing his influences into an original sound of his own. Also in 1958, Gillespie's big band broke up, and Morgan soon joined the third version of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, which debuted on the classic Moanin' album later that year. As a leader, Morgan recorded a pair of albums for Vee Jay in 1960, Here's Lee Morgan and Expoobident, and cut another for Blue Note that year, Leeway, with backing by many of the Jazz Messengers. None managed to measure up to Candy, and Morgan, grappling with heroin addiction, wound up leaving the Jazz Messengers in 1961. He returned to his hometown of Philadelphia to kick the habit, and spent most of the next two years away from music, working occasionally with saxophonist Jimmy Heath on a local basis. His replacement in the Jazz Messengers was Freddie Hubbard, who would also become one of the top hard bop trumpeters of the '60s. Morgan returned to New York in late 1963, and recorded with Blue Note avant-gardist Grachan Moncur on the trombonist's debut Evolution. He then recorded a comeback LP for Blue Note called The Sidewinder, prominently featuring the up-and-coming Joe Henderson. The Morgan-composed title track was a funky, danceable groover that drew from soul-jazz, Latin boogaloo, blues, and R&B in addition to Morgan's trademark hard bop. It was rather unlike anything else he'd cut, and it became a left-field hit in 1964; edited down to a 45 rpm single, it inched onto the lower reaches of the pop charts, and was licensed for use in a high-profile automobile ad campaign. Its success helped push The Sidewinder into the Top 25 of the pop LP charts, and the Top Ten on the R&B listing. Sales were brisk enough to revive the financially struggling Blue Note label, and likely kept it from bankruptcy; it also led to numerous "Sidewinder"-style grooves popping up on other Blue Note artists' albums. By the time "The Sidewinder" became a phenomenon, Morgan had rejoined the Jazz Messengers, where he would remain until 1965; there he solidified a long-standing partnership with saxophonist Wayne Shorter. Morgan followed the most crucial recording of his career with the excellent, more abstract Search for the New Land, which was cut in early 1964, before "The Sidewinder" hit. An advanced modal bop session called Tom Cat was also recorded shortly thereafter, but both were shelved in hopes of scoring another "Sidewinder." Accordingly, Morgan re-entered the studio in early 1965 to cut The Rumproller, whose Andrew Hill-penned title cut worked territory that was highly similar to Morgan's breakout hit. Commercial lightning didn't strike twice, but Morgan continued to record prolifically through 1965, cutting excellent sessions like The Gigolo, Cornbread, and the unissued Infinity. The Gigolo introduced one of Morgan's best-known originals, the bluesy "Speedball," while the classic Cornbread featured his ballad masterpiece "Ceora." Search for the New Land was finally issued in 1966, and it achieved highly respectable sales, reaching the Top 20 of the R&B album charts; both Cornbread and The Gigolo would sell well among jazz audiences when they were released in 1967 and 1968, respectively. By the time Morgan completed those albums, he had left the Jazz Messengers to begin leading his own groups outside the studio. He was also appearing frequently as a sideman on other Blue Note releases, working most often with tenorman Hank Mobley. Morgan was extraordinarily prolific over 1966-1968, cutting around eight albums' worth of material (though not all of it was released at the time). Highlights included Delightfulee, The Procrastinator, and the decent-selling Caramba!, which nearly made the Top 40 of the R&B album chart. His compositions were increasingly modal and free-form, stretching the boundaries of hard bop; however, his funkier instincts were still evident as well, shifting gradually from boogaloo to early electrified fusion. Morgan's recording pace tailed off at the end of the '60s, but he continued to tour with a regular working group that prominently featured saxophonist Bennie Maupin. This band's lengthy modal explorations were documented on the double LP Live at the Lighthouse, recorded in Los Angeles in July 1970; it was later reissued as a three-CD set with a generous amount of extra material. Morgan led what turned out to be the last session of his life in September 1971. On February 19, 1972, Morgan was performing at the New York club Slug's when he was shot and killed by his common-law wife, Helen More. Accounts of exactly what happened vary; whether they argued over drugs or Morgan's fidelity, whether she shot him outside the club or up on the bandstand in front of the audience, jazz lost a major talent. Despite his extensive recorded legacy, Morgan was only 33 years old. Many of his unreleased Blue Note sessions began to appear in the early '80s, and his critical standing has hardly diminished a whit. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
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