Lee Morgan was a fluid burner. His trumpet could be fleshy and warm on ballads and sharp and darting on up-tempo songs. His staccato-like lines grabbed your attention, but he resisted making the instrument sizzle by pouring too much heat into his notes. His edge was an ingredient, not a means to and end.
Here's Lee Morgan playing Bobby Timmons' Moanin’ on Canadian TV in July 1959...
Here's Lee Morgan and Horace Silver in the early 1970s. Apologies for the poor quality of the video. It's worth listening to at the very least...
Here's Lee Morgan with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers on the BBC's Jazz 625 in 1965...
And here's Lee Morgan with the Jazz Messengers in Belgium in 1958 (dig Benny Golson on tenor saxophone and Jymie Merritt on bass not to mention Art Blakey!)...
Here's Lee Morgan playing Bobby Timmons' Moanin’ on Canadian TV in July 1959...
Here's Lee Morgan and Horace Silver in the early 1970s. Apologies for the poor quality of the video. It's worth listening to at the very least...
Here's Lee Morgan with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers on the BBC's Jazz 625 in 1965...
And here's Lee Morgan with the Jazz Messengers in Belgium in 1958 (dig Benny Golson on tenor saxophone and Jymie Merritt on bass not to mention Art Blakey!)...
This story appears courtesy of JazzWax by Marc Myers.
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