Forty years after his death, an Uptown tribute to ‘60s jazz trumpet great Lee Morgan
Monday, February 13, 2012
Lee Morgan blazed through the 60’s jazz world like musical wildfire.
Mentored by Clifford Brown, Morgan was 18 years old when he joined Dizzy Gillespie’s big band in 1956. A top trumpet player, Morgan worked and recorded with the jazz elite; Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Stanley Turrentine, Freddie Hubbard, Hank Mobley, Jackie McLean, Joe Henderson, McCoy Tyner, Lonnie Liston Smith, Elvin Jones, and Clifford Jordan to name just a few.
Morgan’s 1963 hit, “The Sidewinder” crossed over into the pop charts the following year, and his “Search for the New Land” album, recorded in 1964 and released two years later, proved another commercial success.
Eight prolific years later Morgan was gone, shot to death by his girlfriend on Feb. 19, 1972 during intermission of a set he was playing at Slugs, an East Village jazz spot.
Morgan was 33 years old.
On Sunday, Feb. 19, Morgan’s friends, family and admirers will gather at Harlem’s Shrine of the Masters Jazz Gallery for an afternoon of music in his honor.
SOM Gallery is the home of a permanent collection devoted to Morgan’s life and career.
The invitation-only event will also include a tribute to jazz promoter and Jazzmobile music contractor Jim Harrison, whose clients over the years have included the late Art Blakey and Betty Carter.
“I’m very grateful to them (SOM) for doing this,” said Harrison, who said he promoted his first concert, a 1961 gig at Judson Hall, simply to hear saxophonist Jackie McLean play. “It’s a blessing. My family is going to be there. It’s one of my grandchildren’s birthday.”
Lena Sherrod, former finance and careers editor for Essence Magazine, founded SOM in 2006 and created the Lee Morgan exhibit, which includes 125 of the albums Morgan either recorded or played on as well as numerous pictures of his career.
Read the full story at NY Daily News
Mentored by Clifford Brown, Morgan was 18 years old when he joined Dizzy Gillespie’s big band in 1956. A top trumpet player, Morgan worked and recorded with the jazz elite; Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Stanley Turrentine, Freddie Hubbard, Hank Mobley, Jackie McLean, Joe Henderson, McCoy Tyner, Lonnie Liston Smith, Elvin Jones, and Clifford Jordan to name just a few.
Morgan’s 1963 hit, “The Sidewinder” crossed over into the pop charts the following year, and his “Search for the New Land” album, recorded in 1964 and released two years later, proved another commercial success.
Eight prolific years later Morgan was gone, shot to death by his girlfriend on Feb. 19, 1972 during intermission of a set he was playing at Slugs, an East Village jazz spot.
Morgan was 33 years old.
On Sunday, Feb. 19, Morgan’s friends, family and admirers will gather at Harlem’s Shrine of the Masters Jazz Gallery for an afternoon of music in his honor.
SOM Gallery is the home of a permanent collection devoted to Morgan’s life and career.
The invitation-only event will also include a tribute to jazz promoter and Jazzmobile music contractor Jim Harrison, whose clients over the years have included the late Art Blakey and Betty Carter.
“I’m very grateful to them (SOM) for doing this,” said Harrison, who said he promoted his first concert, a 1961 gig at Judson Hall, simply to hear saxophonist Jackie McLean play. “It’s a blessing. My family is going to be there. It’s one of my grandchildren’s birthday.”
Lena Sherrod, former finance and careers editor for Essence Magazine, founded SOM in 2006 and created the Lee Morgan exhibit, which includes 125 of the albums Morgan either recorded or played on as well as numerous pictures of his career.
Read the full story at NY Daily News
