lee morgan and who?

[reg]

i was just having a little think to myself who was best with lee up front. i always liked the stuff lee did with jackie mclean (Tom Cat, Infinity, etc) over his albums with shorter or mobley. but over the last week i've been giving his later recordings with bennie maupin a listen. these are good. Live at the Lighthouse and Taru i like and the bonus tracks from andrew hill - Lift every Voice. so maybe maupin is my favourite sideman for lee, for today anyway

whats other folk think?

[Rooster_Ties]

Damn, what a difficult question to answer. Every time I think of who I'm gonna vote for, I think of two or three others who are just as good. Any day of the week, you could get a different answer out of me: Wayne, Hank, Joe, Jackie, Bennie - any and every one of those 5.

Gonna hafta think about this one a bit, before I vote.

Good subject for a poll!!

Edited April 4, 2003 by Rooster_Ties

[Alexander]

It is a tough choice, but in the end I voted for Wayne Shorter. Lee and Wayne were a classic "hot and cool" pairing, by which I mean that Lee was an extrovert and Wayne is an introvert. They contrasted nicely (as Miles and Trane showed, contrast can show a performer's strengths to best effect). They made for a killer front-line in the Messengers!

[Jazzmoose]

The answer that pops into my head is "Hank, of course!", but I think I'll walk over to the shelves, pull out my favorite Lee and see who's on it...hmmm; says here "Wayne Shorter"--I'll be damned! (Search for the New Land, if you're curious...)

[Son-of-a-Weizen]

Yes Lee & Hank. First time Moose and I have voted for the same ticket

[pryan]

I'm surprised no one's voted for Clarence (C#) Sharpe.

[Big Al]

Search for the New Land and Procrastinator were my reasons for voting for Wayne! And, of course, those albums they did with this drummer guy named Blakey.....

Edited April 5, 2003 by Big Al

[Rooster_Ties]

Hard choice, but in the end - I voted for Hank. This, despite the fact that I normally claim Joe Henderson as my all-time favorite tenor player, with Wayne Shorter as a very close second.

But somehow, when I looked over all of Lee Morgan's discography (including his sideman appearances), I kept thinking about how all my favorite Hank Mobley albums were the one's with Lee Morgan.

Ask me tomorrow, and I'll probably say Wayne Shorter. Day after that - Joe Henderson.

Damn, this really was a tough question to answer!!!

[JohnS]

I guess it's got to be Wayne, but Hank runs him close.

Edited April 5, 2003 by JohnS

[Ed S]

It was a toss up for me, but I went with Hank Mobley. But isn't it nice to have so many excellent choices?

[John Tapscott]

Well, I went with Jackie (glad I'm not alone). I love the trumpet/alto blend. But then again, I love the trumpet/tenor sound, too. Of the tenors I would have to say Hank just edging out Wayne (though this is a really tough call).

[jazzbo]

I put down Lee and Wayne. It's how I like Wayne best.

[Big Wheel]

I voted for Hank, but just to stir the pot, how about John Coltrane?

[Jazzmoose]

I voted for Hank, but just to stir the pot, how about John Coltrane?

Hey, I thought about that at work today; I think Lee really smokes on Blue Train!

[Harold_Z]

Lee always smokes. That's one reason why I didn't (couldn't) make a choice here. I can't say I like Wayne better than Hank or Trane or Joe, and that's with or without Lee. Oh well....for me favorites works better than.

[chris olivarez]

You talk about one too close to call. I gave the nod to Wayne but not by much and that's one where I could change my mind. Here's another vote for Trane too.

In a nutshell Lee was a good partner for all these guys.

[brownie]

Lee and Tina Brooks. They were together on 'Minor Move' and on

Jimmy Smith's 'The Sermon'. They're like a pair of gloves.

[Cali]

Like 'em all, but I'll go with Wayne. That killer front line with The Messengers, Search For The New Land, and just yesterday I was stuck on The Gigolo! BTW, I like the alternate take of The Gigolo even better than the original. Anyone else?

[Jazzmoose]

Like 'em all, but I'll go with Wayne. That killer front line with The Messengers, Search For The New Land, and just yesterday I was stuck on The Gigolo! BTW, I like the alternate take of The Gigolo even better than the original. Anyone else?

Cool! Another "poster from the past"!

[reg]

Lee and Tina Brooks. They were together on 'Minor Move' and on

Jimmy Smith's 'The Sermon'. They're like a pair of gloves.

forgot all about tina brooks. listening to 'minor move' makes me think about whether brook's recording career would have been longer if he had become a jazz messenger ? i think he could have been a great addition.

[bertrand]

Hard to choose, but I went with Wayne just because he KICKED ASS in Bethlehem, PA last night.

What does this poll really prove? How brilliant a musician Lee was. I can't think of a trumpet player who fit in more hand-in-glove with so many incredibly different sax players, including some not even mentioned in the poll. Not even Miles, nor Brownie, nor Freddie could sneak in to the skin of some many great altos and tenors. And even baritones - his pairing with Pepper Adams on The Cooker just floors me every time.

Flame away...

Bertrand.

[Cali]

Flame away...

Bertrand.

Nary a flame, here! Excellent point.

[BeBop]

Hank's not my favorite among the tenor men listed, but I can't break the association with Lee Morgan - Hank and Lee are the front line on one of the first hard bop sessions I ever heard - 'A1'. This slab of vinyl still spends more time on my turntable than just about any other.

[jazzbo]

Hmmm. . . . I won't flame, I agree essentially, but two points: Miles I think DID fit in well with a host of sax players, I think he and Mogie were pretty much equals in this department, and I think that Brownie probably could/would/should have had we had him longer. It's one of the great tragedies of 'fifties jazz that Brownie was just coming into his time of great work and influence and then was taken away. . . .

And there are some others, such as Diz and in his way KD and also Clark Terry that I think were as good as Miles and Lee in this; I think that Lee is right up there in the top rank of trumpeters who can meld so well with front-line partners, and when you get to the top rank it's hard to say one is better than another.

Edited April 7, 2003 by jazzbo

[mikeb]

I agree with the mention of Clark Terry in the previous post. He's fit into SO MANY different types of sessions with different players. The whole "Mumbles" schtick aside (and I mostly get a kick from that, for what it's worth), Clark was incredible, IMHO, and still is for an 80+ year old.

BTW, I had heard late last year that Mr. Terry was not in the best of health. Anyone know how he's doing? I saw him last summer (I think it was last summer) on David Letterman, playing and scatting with Quincy Jones' big band. He looked and sounded pretty good.