Lee Morgan made his first records at 18 and was still recording for Blue Note when he died at 33. These are 10 Lee Morgan songs, from “Are You Real” with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in 1958 to “Helen’s Ritual” in 1968, with the story behind each one and a recording to start with.
The best known of them reached a far bigger audience than he expected. In October 1965 he switched on the World Series and heard “The Sidewinder” behind a Chrysler advert nobody had asked him or Blue Note about. He threatened to sue, and Chrysler pulled the ad and settled, as Tom Perchard tells it in his biography of Morgan.
From Philadelphia to the Jazz Messengers
A doyen of the hard bop style of jazz in the 1960s, trumpeter Lee Morgan was never able to distance himself from the genre or fully break through into something new. There were indications that he was looking for a new direction, but it was not to be as he was another jazz musician to die young. Not from narcotics or alcohol but shot dead by his common law wife, Helen Moore, on 19th February 1972.
Edward Lee Morgan was born on 10th July 1938 in Philadelphia. At the age of thirteen, Morgan was given his first trumpet. A natural musician, he had already learned to play vibraphone and alto saxophone, but it was the trumpet that the young Morgan felt was the instrument for him, and he took his cue from the playing of Clifford Brown.
Morgan’s progress was rapid, and he made his first recordings at the age of eighteen. By this time, he was also playing in the band led by Dizzy Gillespie with whom he stayed for 18 months until Gillespie disbanded. It was Dizzy who gave him a bent trumpet with the bell pointing upwards at a 45-degree angle similar to his own, that Lee Morgan would play on the session with John Coltrane that produced the classic Blue Train album in 1957.
The following year, Morgan joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers with whom he would record many classic albums, including Moanin’, and it was Morgan who recommended saxophonist Wayne Shorter to the drummer, with Shorter bringing a new compositional style to the Messengers.
The trumpeter was much sought after as bandleader and sideman and recorded prolifically from 1956 right up until his death. The selection below comes from the trumpeter’s extensive discography as leader with the exception of Moanin’ recorded under Blakey’s leadership, but some sources credit the chosen composition from the album to Morgan and Benny Golson together. All the others except “Eclipso”, a Tommy Flanagan tune, are Lee Morgan originals.
Are You Real – From the album Moanin’ by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers (Blue Note, 1958)
From the famous Jazz Messengers album that featured the title track by Bobby Timmons. The other compositions were by saxophonist Benny Golson, apart from the standard “Come Rain or Come Shine” and this one, which some sources credit to Golson and Morgan together. A 32-bar tune with a brisk tempo, this features a warm and lively solo from the trumpeter.
Start with: Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers on Moanin’ (1958). Listen for the two-part writing for Golson and Morgan in the theme.
The Sidewinder – From the album The Sidewinder (Blue Note, 1964)
As a leader, this is the breakthrough album, and this is the tune that he is forever to be associated with. Not, as often thought, named after the snake but the “bad guy” on television, as Lee would later report. The composition has a memorable theme over a funky backbeat and would be such a smash hit that Blue Note looked to repeat the trick of having one such track on an album thereafter. What makes the track stand out are the inspired solos of Morgan and saxophonist Joe Henderson.
Start with: Lee Morgan on The Sidewinder (1964). Listen for the surprise turn to a minor chord in bars 17 and 18 of the 24-bar theme.
Hocus Pocus – From the album The Sidewinder (Blue Note, 1964)
With the title track practically hijacking the album, the other tracks never really got the attention they deserved. Listening again to the album, the other compositions are all very worthy, but two stand out as real gems. One is the lengthy “Totem Pole” and the other is “Hocus Pocus”. Both show considerable originality in both the writing and the solos and should not be overlooked or indeed overshadowed by “The Sidewinder”.
Start with: Roberto Magris Quintet on Morgan Rewind: A Tribute to Lee Morgan, Vol. 1 (2011). A tribute band with Brandon Lee on trumpet and the veteran Albert “Tootie” Heath on drums.
Eclipso – From the album The Rumproller (Blue Note, 1966)
By being so prolific in the studio it is inevitable not every album is going to be a classic or boast a “Sidewinder” among the compositions, but as a rule of thumb, most of Morgan’s output for Blue Note is worth hearing. Still with a frontline of Morgan and Joe Henderson, this calypso-style composition by the trumpeter is an interesting departure from his usual hard bop themes.
Start with: Lee Morgan on The Rumproller (1966). Listen for the bossa nova opening that slides into the calypso theme.
The Joker – From the album Search for the New Land (Blue Note, 1966)
A sextet with guitarist Grant Green also in the rhythm section, it is also notable for having both Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock in the group. Like many of Lee’s output for the label, there was a delay between recording and release, in this case two and a half years. The presence of Shorter and Hancock gives the group a very different vibe, and one that Morgan finds most agreeable. “The Joker” has a fine theme, but it is how the rhythm section and soloists develop from there that makes this something special, and the album as a whole a forgotten masterpiece.
Start with: Lee Morgan on Search for the New Land (1966). Grant Green’s guitar gives the band a sound unlike Morgan’s usual quintets.
Mr Kenyatta – From the album Search for the New Land (Blue Note, 1966)
Such a masterpiece that this cracking composition had to be included in this selection too. A more complex and developed piece, Hancock provides an interesting and lively accompaniment to Lee’s trumpet solo that is built on short phrases that hang together coherently, inspiring Shorter to match him in an equally absorbing solo.
Start with: Gerald Beckett on Traveling West (recorded 2003–05). The tune opens the album, led on flute rather than trumpet.
Ceora – From the album Cornbread (Blue Note, 1967)
This is a lovely tune by Morgan that has attained status as a standard. Over a gentle beat, the horns play the theme with precision and warmth. Bringing the tempo down a little, both the detail in the writing and Morgan’s full and lyrical trumpet sound are heard.
Start with: Lee Morgan on Cornbread (1967). Herbie Hancock’s delicate introduction sets the mood before the horns come in.
Speedball – From the album The Gigolo (Blue Note, 1968)
A sprightly theme that Morgan would feature in his live sets until his death, this piece (and album) benefits from the crisp drumming of Billy Higgins and once again Wayne Shorter, who proves to be an excellent foil for the trumpeter. Shorter’s rugged approach to his solos contrasts nicely with Lee’s fluent upper-register solo, and pianist Harold Mabern keeps the pace with his own neatly constructed solo.
Start with: Lee Morgan on The Gigolo (1968). Shorter solos first, then Morgan trades short breaks with Higgins.
Anti Climax – From the album The Sixth Sense (Blue Note, 1970)
Anything but an anti-climax, this is a fine set that, whilst recorded in 1967, was not released until July 1970. Why is a mystery, as Morgan fronts a fine band with Jackie McLean on alto who takes an excellent solo here, and the under-rated and practically forgotten Frank Mitchell who was also murdered at the age of just 27. Great stuff from the latter part of Morgan’s output for Blue Note.
Start with: Lee Morgan on The Sixth Sense (1970). Three horns up front: Morgan, McLean and Mitchell on tenor.
Helen’s Ritual – From the album Caramba! (Blue Note, 1968)
Ironically sharing its name with the woman who would be responsible for his death a few short years later, this features Bennie Maupin on tenor saxophone. Maupin was to remain with Morgan’s band for several years and is perhaps the most under-rated of the trumpeter’s regular tenorists. In the shadow of both Joe Henderson and Wayne Shorter, who made many albums with Lee, Maupin brings a new sensibility and style in his solos, perhaps even indicating to the trumpeter a way forward in his music. This contrast in styles in the frontline horns was always an important aspect of Morgan’s music, and this is another fine example.
Start with: Lee Morgan on Caramba! (1968). The horns play the first eight bars of this minor blues in unison and split into harmony only for the last four.
A sound cut short at Slugs’
While initially influenced by Clifford Brown (who also tragically died young), Lee Morgan looked to move the music on from the vocabulary established by Brownie and if he didn’t have quite the same flair and melodic imagination, he was a vital force in the development of hard bop throughout the decade.
His death in February 1972 was a shock to the jazz world when he was shot between sets at the New York jazz club, Slugs’ Saloon. His death was attributed not to the gunshot wound itself but to the time taken by the ambulance to reach the injured musician.
How his music may have developed will never be known, but his recorded legacy is rich and alive with the exuberance and bravura of his warm, round trumpet sound.
Those are 10 Lee Morgan songs, from “Are You Real” with the Jazz Messengers in 1958 to “Helen’s Ritual” ten years later. If you’re new to him, start with The Sidewinder, then go straight to Search for the New Land.
Harold Mabern was at the piano on the bandstand at Slugs’ that night. What he remembered of it is in our article Shot at Slugs’ Saloon: The Night Lee Morgan Was Killed.
For more on the man himself, start with our guide to Lee Morgan’s life and best albums, then The Procrastinator, his last session with Wayne Shorter, and our page on Clifford Brown, the trumpeter he took his cue from.
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Is “Hocus Pocus” really the equal of “The Sidewinder”, or did the title track earn all the attention? Tell us in the comments.