Died On This Date (February 19, 1972) Lee Morgan / Jazz Great

Lee Morgan
July 10, 1938 – February 19, 1972

lee-morganLee Morgan was a jazz trumpeter who was one of the key figures of the hard bop style.  He received his first trumpet on his 13th birthday, and within five years, he was playing in Dizzy Gillespie’s band.  In 1956, Morgan was signed by the legendary Blue Note label where he recorded over two dozen albums.  His The Sidewinder of 1963 was his biggest release and is considered one of jazz’s landmark albums.  As a sideman, Morgan played on recordings by over 250 musicians.  His most noteworthy contributions were to John Coltrane’s Blue Train, Art Blakey’s Moanin’, McCoy Tyner’s Tender Moments, and Stanley Turrentine’s Mr. Natural.  On February 19, 1972, Lee Morgan was shot and killed by his girlfriend after the two got in a fight between two of his sets at an engagement.  He was 33 years old.

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The Sidewinder (The Rudy Van Gelder Edition Remastered) - Lee Morgan

Died On This Date (October 16, 1990) Art Blakey / Jazz Great

Art Blakey
October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990

blakeyArt Blakey was a drummer and band leader whose Jazz Messengers, a band he led for an astonishing thirty years, was the onetime home of such future legends as Horace Silver, Lou Donaldson, Donald Byrd, Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard.  His funky hard bop would become a major influence on all idioms of jazz to come.  The artists he worked with outside of the messengers reads like a who’s who of jazz history.  Art Blakey died of natural causes at the age of 71 but not before recording dozens of albums.

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Moanin' (The Rudy Van Gelder Edition Remastered) - Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers