Who’s the fan of acclaimed San Diego trumpeter Gilbert Castellanos, jazz giants John Coltrane and Lee Morgan? So big that he estimates he owns at least 50 vinyl albums by each of them. So great that he can name the most obscure recordings that featured Morgan and Coltrane as sidemenRead More →
In 1970 Morgan recorded three shows at the Lighthouse Jazz Club in Hermosa Beach, California. A new box set captures Morgan and his band giving their own spin on Coltrane’s trance rehearsals. TERRY GROSS, HOST: It’s FRESH AIR. In July 1970, jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan recorded for three nights atRead More →
It’s an enigma as old as live popular music itself. A veteran act wants to branch out, move forward and defy expectations, but fans want to hear from old favorites. It was the kind of challenge trumpeter Lee Morgan faced when he and his band played a two-week engagement atRead More →
The High Point Museum will present a new exhibit, “A Love Supreme: The Jazz of John Coltrane through the Eyes of Chuck Stewart,” from September 3 through December 3. 5 at 1859 E. Lexington Ave. at High Point. The exhibition, which is organized by the Grammy Museum, features 20 photographsRead More →
There were plenty of trumpeters in the 1960s, but the Big Four were Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, Donald Byrd and Lee Morgan. Davis was most outwardly obsessed with innovation and constant forward movement: his 1965-68 quintet blew hard bop to smithereens, and while people were still absorbing that group’s ideas,Read More →
Lee Morgan, the incandescent trumpeter, led one of the greatest groups of the early 1970s – a short-lived but multi-faceted quintet, expansive in attitude and approach. With multi-reedist Bennie Maupin, pianist Harold Mabern, bassist Jymie Merritt and drummer Mickey Roker, this ensemble spent a productive weekend in Hermosa Beach, CaliforniaRead More →
The latest album from saxophonist and composer Dan Blake, DaFe, opens with a bizarre piano solo titled “Prologue—A New Normal.” The track is meant to warn of the world ahead of us if we don’t act on climate change. Blake’s warning is just the tip of his activism: Since 2015,Read More →
By JOHN STATON, Wilmington StarNews WILMINGTON, NC (AP) — When it comes to jazz, legendary label Blue Note has long represented the pinnacle of musical form, releasing albums by John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock and many other jazz icons. Earlier this year, Wilmington-based composer and percussionist Joe Chambers –Read More →
Tenor saxophonist Jermaine Lockhart doesn’t just talk to animals. He also plays music for them at the Phoenix-area farm where he resides with his family. When he practices outdoors at home, his audience is made up of sheep, goats, chickens and ducks. “They are definitely curious,” he says Phoenix NewRead More →
Lee Morgan’s life, though short, was filled with tunes that influenced generations of jazz artists to come. A hugely talented jazz trumpeter, Morgan shot to fame as a teenager, recording on John Coltrane’s legendary Blue Train and drummer Art Blakey’s band before embarking on a solo career. But along theRead More →
The jazz collection has an archaeological aspect; it’s one of my favorite aspects of the hobby. More than most other genres, jazz evolved in its early decades, and it did so on record. Each musician was distinctive, changing from session to session, and interacting with other musicians in ways specificRead More →
Despite his somewhat limited output and even shorter life, Lee Morgan is considered one of the greatest trumpeters in jazz history. It’s his story. On a freezing night in New York in 1967, one of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time didn’t own a trumpet. He was in theRead More →
On a freezing night in 1967, trumpeter Lee Morgan didn’t even own a trumpet. He had left his horn and winter coat at the pawnshop, all for the purpose of scoring heroin. He was often seen sleeping on the sidewalk outside of Birdland in New York, sometimes without shoes onRead More →
King joined the UTSA faculty in 1995 and majored in jazz studies and music theory. (June 20, 2018) — Clarence Morgan King, Jr. lecturer in the music department of UTSA, died June 13 at the age of 63. A brilliant and passionate musician, King majored in jazz studies and musicRead More →
The film I called him Morgan chronicles the rise and tragic fall of trumpeter Lee Morgan, who grew up in Philadelphia. WRTI’s Susan Lewis spoke with sax master Odean Pope about her memories of Morgan, who in his short life made a lasting contribution. SL_ADLF_171113_OdeanPopeonLeeMorgan_slTM.mp3 Sax master Odean Pope talksRead More →
Hear Morgan’s trumpet player Eddie Henderson November 3-4 at Lewers Lounge, then watch the Hawaii International Film Festival documentary “I Called Him Morgan” on November 5. Video and photos: Courtesy of the Honolulu International Film Festival ADirectors and directors make regular appearances at film festivals, but it’s rare to hearRead More →
The main challenge in producing a documentary about jazz artists is choosing the best way to frame the story. How should a director talk about an artist’s life and music? Does the artist’s pure biography or mythology take precedence in the story? When it comes to music, a technical approachRead More →
Leave it to a Swedish documentary filmmaker to uncover a nearly forgotten chapter in American jazz history: the brilliant life and ugly death of trumpeter Lee Morgan, shot by his common-law wife, Helen, between sets at Slug’s Saloon in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. in 1972. (Apparently she wasRead More →
FilmRise has acquired worldwide distribution rights to Swedish director Kasper Collin’s Lee Morgan documentary “I Called Him Morgan.” The documentary had its world premiere at the 2016 Venice International Film Festival, then screened at the Toronto, Telluride and New York film festivals. “I Called Him Morgan” will be released theatricallyRead More →
BY MAT MARSHALL February 12, 2010 Log in to view the number of plays Lee Morgan Seek the New Earth Blue Note / Music Matters 2009 (1964) Backed by what may have been his most decidedly modern band, trumpeter Lee Morgan has indeed embarked on an exploratory quest in thisRead More →