Kent

653 Words2 Pages

Lee Morgan
The hard bop era. A time where the influence of the blues and gospel music began to dominate the field of jazz. This time was dominated by the likes of Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Cannonball Adderley, and Miles Davis, but was also affected by equally as talented musicians like Lee Morgan.
Edward Lee Morgan began his life on July 10, 1938 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the youngest of 4 children and had always had a passion for music. He began by playing the vibraphone, as well as the alto saxophone, but there’s was just something about the trumpet that pulled him to it. Morgan did not touch his first trumpet until his sister gave him one on his thirteenth birthday and he fell in love with it instantly. His first big gig was with the Dizzy Gillespie big band at age 18. His talent was immediately recognized and shortly after he began his recording career. He was featured on many albums including John Coltrane’s Blue Trane and Art Blakey and the Jazz Messenger’s Moanin’. He continued recording with others until he returned to New York in 1963. His soloistic sound, interesting melodies, and solid feels led to some interesting charts and some good albums for him from there on out. He wrote “The Sidewinder,” which was possibly his greatest success and I believe is the only Lee Morgan chart the jazz band has played thus far since I’ve been here. He also recorded numerous other singles including: The Cooker, The Procrastinator, and Lee-Way. Morgan continued playing and recording all the way up until the day he died. He was killed February 19, 1972 in the morning at age 33 while his band was done performing at the Slug’s Saloon; a jazz club. There was an issue between him and his “common-law” wife, and she l...

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...d with in his lifetime, from Dizzy Gillespie to Art Blakey to John Coltrane. He played with everybody who was anybody! Another thing I found to be interesting was the way he died. He was shot by his common-law wife in the middle of a performance. This means that she was not officially, under any law binding terms, his wife, but for all intensive purposes, they were married. Then, one day she went crazy and shot his straight on stage shortly after an altercation had just occurred. She then ran to him and screamed that she didn’t mean to do it, and later was admitted to an insane asylum. That’s not the best way to die!
Lee Morgan was an excellent jazz musician in the hard bop era, and played with the best of the best. His superior tone and stanky solos led to his fame success. After a great, but short 33 years of life, he suffered a strange and awful death.

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