Lee Morgan Would Have Turned 75 Today

[Justin V]

I always seem to think that he'd be older, but I suppose that's because he was so young when he hit the scene. I had a chance to see Harold Mabern play a couple of weeks ago and talked to him for a minute afterward; I've been kicking myself since for not asking him about Lee Morgan. Despite having died over 41 years ago (at the age of 33), Morgan's music still is fresh and exciting. I wish that he were still around today.

[Milestones]

One of the greats for sure.

I think many of us wonder what else he would have done, given that 33 is indeed a young age. But he sure recorded at a young age, and his body of recordings is massive.

[Hardbopjazz]

Yes, it was a major loss the world of jazz and music. As everyone was moving towards, free jazz, fusion and funk, he still was playing straight ahead jazz to the end. His last recording for Blue Note, the last track, "Inner Passions Out" was probably the one tune that seems to move away from straight ahead jazz.

[Big Beat Steve]

A question re- a bit of Lee Morgan trivia:

While browsing through a 1956 copy of the French jazz mag "JAZZ HOT" the other day, I noticed a news item on a tour by the Dizzy Gillespie orchestra, and in the line-up one of the members of the trumpet section was listed as

Lee "Howdy Doody" Morgan

Was this a nickname commonly tagged on him in his younger days?

[Larry Kart]

A question re- a bit of Lee Morgan trivia:

While browsing through a 1956 copy of the French jazz mag "JAZZ HOT" the other day, I noticed a news item on a tour by the Dizzy Gillespie orchestra, and in the line-up one of the members of the trumpet section was listed as

Lee "Howdy Doody" Morgan

Was this a nickname commonly tagged on him in his younger days?

Probably. Given the shape of his head and his protruding ears, the young Lee looked a good deal like Howdy Doody.