Lee Morgan - On Vee-Jay: Lee Morgan '2023

Tracks list

Tracklist:

01. Expoobident
02. Running Brook
03. Easy Living
04. Terrible "T"
05. Fire
06. Just In Time
07. Fat Lady
08. Off Spring
09. I'm A Fool To Want You
10. Mogie
11. Seeds Of Sin
12. Bess
13. The Hearing
14. That's Right
15. Lost And Found


 moreEdward 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 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,
Lee-Way, 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 into 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 between 1966 and 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 reissued in 2021 as
The Complete Live at the Lighthouse.

Morgan led what turned out to be the last session of his life in September 1971.
On February 19, 1972, he was performing at the New York club Slug's when he was
shot and killed by his common-law wife, Helen More (aka Helen Morgan). 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. The events of the night and More's
relationship with Morgan were later the subject of Kasper Collin's acclaimed
2016 documentary film I Called Him Morgan. Despite his extensive recorded
legacy, Morgan was only 33 years old. While The Last Session arrived
posthumously in 1972, many of the trumpeter's unreleased Blue Note sessions
began to appear in the early '80s, and his critical standing has hardly
diminished a whit. © Steve Huey



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