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User
Soundoffs 6
Album Ratings 90
Objectivity 57%
Last Active 08-07-11 10:26 am
Joined 07-31-11
Review Comments 9
| My Top 10 Lee Morgan Albums
Lee Morgan was one of the finest trumpeters to ever come into the jazz
world. Inspired by and tutored by the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Clifford
Brown and Miles Davis, Morgan matured into a truly great talent who
left behind seminal music. However, his story is a true tragedy - his
career was frequently plagued by drug use and at the age of just 33, he
was shot and killed by his wife on a jazz club stage. | | 1 |  | Lee Morgan
The Gigolo
On a previous list I have done, I rated this as my 2nd favourite Blue Note album
behind a Dexter Gordon one, so it is only fitting that it ranks 1st on my Lee
Morgan top 10 list. This is a perfect album and melds three styles of jazz that
Morgan perfected: funky boogaloo in ?Yes I Can, No You Can?t? and ?The Gigolo?,
hard bop on ?Trapped? and ?Speedball?, and ballad with ?You Go To My Head?.
Morgan?s supporting personnel here is first class, filled with Blue Note regulars of
the 1960?s: Wayne Shorter on tenor sax, Harold Mabern on piano, Bob Cranshaw
on bass (whose opening bass line on ?Yes I Can, No You Can?t? is just as catchy
and memorable as the one he provides on ?The Sidewinder?), and Billy Higgins on
drums. Many jazz fans will point to The Sidewinder as Morgan?s greatest success,
and perhaps it was due to what it did for his career. But for me, purely in a
musical sense, The Gigolo remains his finest achievement. | | 2 |  | Lee Morgan
The Last Session
This album also made my previous Blue Note list I wrote and so it slots in at
number 2 here. A double-LP upon release, it represents the last material recorded
by Lee Morgan as leader before his unfortunate and untimely death. Morgan had
always said that Miles Davis was one of his inspirations, and the jazz-fusion that
Davis had piloted had clearly influenced Morgan here. Using a larger-than-normal
ensemble, Morgan makes his way through five compositions that show exactly
which direction his music was heading in the 1970?s. Check out his solo on ?In
What Direction Are You Headed?? - for me, one of the finest Morgan solos on
record. | | 3 |  | Lee Morgan
Tom Cat
Blue Note has done so much for jazz that it is impossible to be grateful enough.
However, one drawback against the label is the holding back of this album until
almost 10 years after Morgan?s death. A master of his craft, Morgan was able to
attract top names to play with him, and a look at the personnel suggests that, with
the main attraction being Art Blakey making a rare sideman appearance at this
point in his career. The title track is a nice funky tune in the tradition of ?The
Sidewinder? and ?Yes I Can, No You Can?t?, which I once saw described as Pink
Panther?s funky little brother...I could not agree more. The true highlight though is
McCoy Tyner?s ballad ?Twilight Mist?, a stunning track that highlights the immense
ability of Morgan when it comes to playing a ballad. Very much a classic album in
the Morgan discography. | | 4 |  | Lee Morgan
Cornbread
Much like The Gigolo, this album melds funky boogaloo, complex hard bop, and a
ballad. And it is also typical of many of Morgan?s albums post-Sidewinder: funky
start, mixture of ballads and hard bop throughout the rest of the album. Arguably
Morgan?s finest composition, ?Ceora?, is found on this album, and like other
ballads it shows how Morgan was able to translate his loud, brassy sound into
sensitive and beautiful ballad play. The title track is a funky, foot-tapping, head-
nodding tune, well supported by the great Herbie Hancock on piano, and Jackie
McLean?s alto sax is at its wonderful screeching best. I found some of this album
tough going when I first started listening to jazz, but as my tastes and interests
have widened I have grown to love this album more with every listen. Note to
anyone who cares: Morgan?s solo on the title track finally inspired me to take up
trumpet. | | 5 |  | Lee Morgan
Search For The New Land
If this album, recorded just two months after The Sidewinder, had seen release
before that seminal album, Morgan?s career might have taken a very different
path. More explorative than anything Morgan had attempted prior, Morgan teams
up with a star-studded line-up that includes the great Grant Green on guitar, the
only time in their careers that they were paired together. A few months prior to
this album, Morgan had been a sideman on Grachan Moncur III?s avant-garde
masterpiece Evolution, and it is clear that Morgan?s involvement on that date has
inspired this album (Morgan had felt that his playing on Evolution was the most
advanced sound he had ever got from his horn). The title track, at 15-minutes,
almost feels like a suite of solos. A simple yet catchy melody, underlined by
Green?s guitar, then breaks into solos by Wayne Shorter, Morgan, Green and
Herbie Hancock, who all allude to the main melody when their solos come to an
end. The rest of the album follows slightly more conventional patterns, but it is
still very advanced music from Morgan. Fans who are not so big on Morgan?s funky
side might rank this one has his best album. | | 6 |  | Lee Morgan
Live At The Lighthouse
The only official live Morgan album (there are bootleg releases out there), this
mammoth 3-disc album provides over 3 hours of fine music from the latter part of
Morgan?s career. Morgan was in the process of changing his style here, partly
through necessity (an alteration with drug dealers resulted in a busted jaw and
consequently a changed embouchure) and partly through choice, with longer solos
and music reflective of the times. Supported by a band of familiar names, no song
here is less than 11 minutes, and a mixture of new and old get a run out. In
particular, ?I Remember Britt? sticks out as a personal favourite, as does a re-
running of ?Speedball? from The Gigolo sessions. It is a live album like this that
makes one damn the fact that they were not around at the time to watch it, but
thankfully the music is out there to be enjoyed to (albeit quite expensive). It is a
shame Morgan and Blue Note did not produce more live albums, so enjoy this even
more. A great album. | | 7 |  | Lee Morgan
The Cooker
The first album on this list that was recorded prior to Morgan?s drug-related hiatus.
Very much playing in the styles of Clifford Brown, Fats Navarro and Dizzy
Gillespie, Morgan proves to the jazz world how much of a talented young protege
he is. His performances of ?A Night In Tunisia? live for Diz?s big band wowed
audiences and he does not disappoint on the studio performance here. His searing,
blistering solo is incredible, and betters the version he recorded for Art Blakey and
the Jazz Messengers a few years later. Pepper Adams was a great baritone
saxophonist (incidentally, this album is the only time Morgan led a session with
one) and supports the young Morgan ably. The composition ?New-Ma? is the first
time a Morgan composition makes it to record and is an example of the direction
Morgan would go post-drug hiatus. A fine early album. | | 8 |  | Lee Morgan
Taru
One of Morgan?s last albums that did not see release until after his death, it finds
Morgan partnered with, among others, the omnipresent George Benson on guitar.
The sextet makes its way through a good variety of hard bop and slower ballads.
It is another album that makes one wonder why it was not released at the time,
but perhaps Blue Note could not keep up with the material Morgan was producing.
?Dee Lawd? sticks out as being quite reminiscent of the gospel-y tune ?The
Preacher? from Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers debut album. The tune
?Haeschen? is the best tune here and is probably some of the most sensitive
playing Morgan ever achieved. | | 9 |  | Lee Morgan
Candy
This album is the only time you will ever see Morgan as the sole horn in a quartet
setting, so it can certainly be treasured as a piece of jazz history. With no other
horns around him Morgan has ample opportunity to showboat his brilliant young
talent, and he steps up to the mark with a solid rhythm unit backing him
(especially with Sonny Clark on piano). Of particular note is his fine playing on the
hard bop standard ?C.T.A.? and his command of keeping control on the ballads.
Early Lee Morgan was a fiery, brassy player who was clearly under the influence
of his hero Clifford Brown, and this album is a fine example of his ample talent.
The only pity is that Morgan did not record me quartet albums. | | 10 |  | Lee Morgan
The Sidewinder
Some Lee Morgan fans might be wondering why on earth this album is so low
down on the list. Surely the album that made Morgan?s name should have higher
billing? Well, perhaps. But honestly, if it were not for the fact that this was the
album that solidified Morgan?s stature in the jazz world, and helped the Blue Note
label as a whole, I would not have put it on this list. Yes the album is good and
makes for an enjoyable listen, but when I compare it to other Lee Morgan albums I
do not rate it as highly. The title track which set the boogaloo ball rolling for the
label has a catchy tune and we get early glimpses of the new Lee Morgan, post-
hiatus. With less reliance on fast and fiery notes and more space within the solo
(clearly influenced by Miles Davis? playing), we see Morgan already maturing at
his young age. A great album in terms of influence but only good in terms of
music. | |
AliW1993
02.06.14 | I know next-to-nothing about jazz, but I love your lists. | Robsss
10.14.14 | Nice list. Most of my favorites are on here, although I'd order them a bit differently. There is one album though that you didn't mention that would be in my top five, and that's Take Twelve. It's not on Blue Note so maybe for that reason it's less well known than some of his others, but Lee Morgan and Clifford Jordan sound incredible together on it. They're accompanied by an impeccable rhythm section of Barry Harris, Louis Hayes and Bob Cranshaw. It's also really well recorded. Just a great album to go along with the ten you mentioned for anyone wanting to explore Lee Morgan's music.
I'm interested to check out some of your other lists. Thanks! | AMilesLover
08.20.15 | This is a great list, and thanks. On your recommendation, I purchased Tom Cat on CD, and was not disappointed. I rather like the Live at the Lighthouse album (which I have listened to several times on Tidal). I might have placed it higher, just because it is a truly remarkable snapshot of a jazz titan at the top of his powers - live -- at one of the great jazz venues in the U.S., not just in L.A. Also, as of this posting date, The Gigolo is not available on CD (or vinyl, I think). At least not on Amazon... |
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