Lee Morgan, Trumpet, 1938, Philadelphia, Pa.
Lee began playing professionally, at the age of fifteen with local bands, and in 1956 he joined Dizzy Gillespie in New York, with whom he remained until 1958. For the next four years he was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messenger's. In the mid '60s, after working with various other musicians, he again worked with Blakey, and then became a freelance musician in New York. In the early '70s Morgan was very active in the Jazz and People's Movement. In early 1972 Lee Morgan's life was ended when he was shot by his mistress. Lee gained his music education in Philadelphia, and his early playing was mainly influenced by his hero, Clifford Brown, but as he matured he took on a dynamic style of his own. Morgan made many wonderf recordings with bands of his own and with Hank Mobley, with whom he became closely associated. Lee and Hank seemed to improvise on an extremely close perception of what improvisation was all about . Morgan was one of the most individual stylist's of his time.
Milt Buckner, Piano, St. Louis, Mo
Milt grew up in Detroit, and while in his teens he gained much experience by working with local groups. In 1932 Milt joined the big band of drummer Don Cox and began to experiment with what became known as patterned parallel chords. Buckner was probably the first pianist to employ this technique, and that later became known as the "locked hands" style. He worked in and around the Detroit area until the early '40s, when he was invited to join Lionel Hampton as pianist and arranger. He remained with Hampton for most of the decade, before leaving to form a short-lived band of his own, and then returned to Hampton around 1950. During this period Buckner began playing the organ which would remain his primary instrument for the rest of his performing career. After Hampton, Milt formed several groups of his own, touring in this country and in Europe. From the late '60s, much of Buckner's work was in Europe, with american musicians touring and living there. Buckner's originality was probably most evident on the piano, but as an organist he was able to add a strong drive and make a group really swing. His work as an arranger was highly regarded. Milt Buckner died in 1977.
Cootie Williams, Trumpet, 1911, Mobile, AL
Cootie taught himself to play the trumpet, and while in his early teens began touring with the Young Family band (which included the great Lester Young). In 1928 he went to New York where he made his first recordings with James P. Johnson's band. Cootie played for a short time with Chick Webb and Fletcher Henderson before joining Duke Ellington, where he replaced Bubber Miley in 1929. His association with Duke lasted a long time, and made him famous with jazz lovers all over the world. During the first ten years or so with the band, Duke began to depend on him more and more, and he became an indispensable part of the band's sound, and Duke wrote many solos for him into hundreds of compositions. Cootie also managed to work with other wonderful small-groups, recording with Teddy Wilson, Billie Holiday, Lionel Hampton, Charlie Christian, and other leading jazz musicians of the swing era. After leaving Ellington in 1940, Cootie worked for Benny Goodman for about a year, then put together his own successful big band. The band included some very important aspiring young bop musicians, such as Charlie Parker and Bud Powell. Around this time Cootie's popularity began to fade, and he was forced to reduce the size of his band, and finally disband altogether in 1948. In the 1950s he made a quiet come-back and became active as a rhythm-and-blues musician, and later led his own small groups, again playing jazz.jazz. In 1962 Cootie rejoined Ellington, where he remained for about twenty yeaars. Williams was really great at swing-style jazz trumpet playing, achieving a big tone and wide range that was unsurpassed in his day. He mastered the growl and plunger technique that Bubber Miley had made famous, and he extended these effects in a variety of moods and timbres. Cootie was very adept on the open trumpet, especially as an accompanist to jazz singers and as an interpreter of the blues. His trumpet playing inspired Duke to compose one of his greatest masterpieces, the "Concerto for Cootie (1940), where Williams may be heard using various mutes and the open trumpet. Duke wrote "New Concerto For Cootie" in 1963 , to celebrate his return to the band. Cootie Williams died in 1985.
