Lee Morgan: Master of the Trumpet Gone Too Soon

Matthew J. Bellisario 2023

As the snow fell heavily on an early winter morning in New York City, Lee Morgan was bleeding out from a gunshot wound he suffered by the hands of his wife Helen. After playing a set at the then famous Slug’s Saloon a dispute led to the shooting which he may have survived if wasn’t for the road conditions which drastically slowed the arrival of the ambulance. On February 19, 1972 during that Nor’easter we lost of one of the greatest Jazz trumpet players of modern time Lee Morgan at the young age of 33.

Morgan was born in Philadelphia in 1938 and became interested in music at an early age. He obtained his first trumpet as birthday present when he was thirteen and also learned how to play the tenor saxophone. Some of his greatest influences were Clifford Brown and Dizzy Gillespie. While Morgan was able to record with Gillespie, Clifford Brown died at the young age of 25 on June 26, 1956 due to injuries of a car crash just as Lee was beginning his recording career at Blue Note. Brown however was a personal mentor to Morgan who took a special interest in him. It could be said that Brown whose recording career would only last three years, 1953 to 1956, passed the torch on to Morgan. In a sense, Brown and Morgan come to us a pair. Brown’s last recording would be ‘Clifford Brown and 'Max Roach at Basin Street’ in 1956. ‘Lee Morgan Indeed!’ would be recorded on November 4, 1956 shortly after Brown’s unexpected death.

Lee would pack a lot of musical ventures into his 16-year career becoming one of the most requested sidemen in the industry. He had 25 of his own releases on the legendary Blue Note label. Aside from his famous records as a band leader such as ‘The Sidewinder’ ‘The Cooker’, ‘Expoobident’, ‘Search for the New Land’ and others, he recorded and played with many famous musicians. He did several sessions with Art Blakey and Jazz Messengers playing trumpet on some of their most famous records such as ‘At the Jazz Corner of the World’, ‘Moanin’, ‘Just Coolin’, ‘A Night in Tunisia’ and others. Others loved having him as a sideman and Wayne Shorter had him on ‘Night Dreamer’; Stanley Turrentine brought him in on his album ‘Mr. Natural’; and the famous trumpet player Freddie Hubbard had him alongside at the notorious live session recorded at Club La Marchal in 1965 now known as ‘The Night of the Cookers.’ He also branded his trumpet on albums with legends such as Dizzy Gillespie, Jackie McLean, Hank Mobley, Joe Henderson, Lonnie Smith, Elvin Jones, Andrew Hill, Harold Mabern, Clifford Jordan, John Coltrane and many others.

Morgan is known for his unique playing style to which his blazing, fiery tone can be felt across his recording output. He could effortlessly gallop up and down the scales with a phrasing that was inspired by Brown yet was all his own. Like Dizzy, Morgan was also proficient playing piano and he often composed his own compositions on the piano. Although Lee had a successful career, he also was plagued like many other famous Jazz artists by addiction to drugs. Unable to use and function as a musician like others, his drug habit forced him to quit playing music for two years. In 1963 he checked into a rehab hospital but he still struggled after and in 1967 he was broke having misspent his money from some of his most profitable recordings like his all time best selling ‘The Sidewinder’ and ‘Rumproller’. It was this time that he met the love of his who also ironically took his life, Helen More.

Helen More inspired Morgan to reassess his life and got him back into rehab. She took over as his manager taking care of his finances and bookings. It is said that after this point his career began to recover. He never missed gigs or showed up late to recording sessions any longer. 1967’ to 71’ would be a fruitful period and he would lay down 8 more albums for Blue Note as a band leader and at least 7 as a sideman for Blue Note, among others. Lee would also play live consistently throughout this period. As he would say in an interview, "If you are not being seen you are disappearing." He would play live with Clifford Jordan and others one session which can be heard on the 'Live in Baltimore' album recorded in 1968.

One of his most famous live recordings would take place in California at The Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach which would take place between July 10-12, 1970. Initially released as one record ‘Live at the Lighthouse’, it has been rereleased. Recently Blue Note has pressed ‘The Complete Live at the Lighthouse’ box set, available in both CD and vinyl. Blue Note boasts, “a limited-edition 12-LP all-analog 180g vinyl set that encompasses 33 performances including more than 4 hours of previously unreleased music…”. Some of Morgan’s most innovative experimental improvisation can be heard on these recordings that occurred less than two years before his death. This set is something that should be at home in any Jazz music collection. In addition Lee also loved working with the youth, helping them to be better musicians and helped out the youth program at Jazzmobile in NYC.

Sadly, Morgan’s last recording session would be on organist Charles Earland’s album ‘Intensity’ which was recorded in 1972 and released on the popular Prestige label. The session took place on February 17, 1972 giving us Morgan’s last recorded notes. It would be only two days later that the final notes would come forth from his trumpet at Slug’s being shot down by a jealous wife who had confronted Morgan of his cheating on her at the club. Ironically he was killed by the gun he bought for her. Helen went to prison for a short time and was always extremely regretful for her action that night. Morgan’s legacy continues to inspire musicians of all types who are also aspiring to greatness. To learn more about his life I highly recommend watching the documentary 'I Called Him Morgan'.