This is the first biography of the jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan (1938-72). He was a prodigy: recruited to Dizzy Gillespie's big band while still a teenager, joining Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers not much after, by his early-20s Morgan had played on four continents and dozens of albums. The trumpeter would go on to cultivate a personal and highly influential style, and to make records - most notably The Sidewinder - which would sell amounts almost unheard of in jazz. While what should have been Morgan's most successful years were hampered by a heroin addiction, the ascendant black liberation movement of the late-60s gave the musician a new, political impulse, and he returned to the jazz scene to become a vociferous campaigner for black musicians' rights and representation. But Morgan's personal life remained troubled, and during a fight with his girlfriend at a New York club, he was shot and killed at age 33. Although Lee Morgan lived and died in sensational style, the story told in this book doesn't just stumble between stages, studios, bars and needles; such a narrative couldn't do justice to the richness of the trumpeter's music, nor to the culture from which it came. Here, then, the events of Morgan's life are presented not just as items of biography, but also as points of departure for wider historical investigations that aim to situate the musician and his contemporaries in changing aesthetic, social and economic contexts. The work draws on many original interviews with Morgan's colleagues and friends, as well as extensive archival research and critical engagement with the music itself.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
'Perchard's descriptions of Morgan's playing are both technically astute and accessible, but the real strength of this book lies in its awareness of contexts. He has spoken to an impressive number of people who knew Morgan or shared his background. The whole trajectory [of Morgan's life] ... is handled with impressive confidence. It's cliched praise, but my first act on finishing the book was to dig out a slew of old Blue Notes.'Brian Morton, The Wire'Through a wealth of research and incisive anecdote from his band members and close associates, Morgan emerges as an intriguing, multi-layered figure. [A] very accomplished biography...'Kevin Le Gendre, The Independent on Sunday'...an excellent musical biography' Mike Hobart, FT Magazine'The publication that best filled a gap this year'Sholto Byrnes, Independent on Sunday
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
About the Author
Tom Perchard was born in 1976. He received his doctorate from the University of London, and he teaches at Goldsmiths College and the University of Westminster. He is a regular contributor to The Wire magazine. This is his first book.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Prodigious Amount of Research,
By
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This review is from: Lee Morgan: His Life, Music And Culture (Popular Music History) (Hardcover)
This to me, is a rather troubling book. I had very much looked forward to reading this since Lee Morgan was one of my favorite trumpet players. Particularly during his exciting days as a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. The author, a 30 year old college professor from England and contributor to The Wire magazine has obviously put a tremendous amount of effort into the project. He meticulously has footnoted every chapter. He conducted close to 40 personal interviews with people who knew the subject. He further cites a bibliography of sources that amounts to more than eleven pages. It is no secret that Lee Morgan was a Black African American. He was born in Philadelphia in 1938 and was shot to death at Slug's jazz club in NYC during February 1972. So his life history was probably not unique from other's of his race during that time frame. Except, of course, for his genius as a jazz star. My sense is that the author mentions Black or African American on virtually every page of the book. Frequently, multiple times. The book is every bit as much about the authors historical and sociological interpretations of race relations in the U.S. as it is about Lee Morgan's jazz career. Really, it seems to me to be very much an outsiders view that was much influenced by some of his material sources. While it's true that towards the end of his career Lee Morgan became involved with what could be called Black Nationalism. That certainly was not the central focus of his entire life. My purpose in buying this book was to learn more about Lee Morgan's musical life. Not to be bombarded page after page by the authors perceived political insights.It is my sense that most readers came to this book because of Lee Morgan's contributions to jazz. If readers are interested in Black politics there are multitudes of books on that topic. I am not upset that the author mentioned politics in this book. Because, as stated previously in this review, during the latter part of his career the subject did in fact become a political activist. The problem here is that the author emphasized the political content far out of real life proportion thruout the entire book. So, reluctantly,and in spite of much innovative research, it is my view that Lee Morgan deserved a biography more concentrated on his musical achievements than this work.
21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
DenseLee,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Lee Morgan: His Life, Music And Culture (Popular Music History) (Hardcover)
This book left me a bit disturbed. There is very little of the Lee Morgan I got to know. I appreciated Tom Perchard's research in his attempt to find out what it was in Lee's background that made him the musician he was to become. However, his time would have been better spent trying to find out what was in the water they were drinking in Philadelphia that produced all those great musicians, Clifford Brown, Trane, Tyner, Timmons, the Heath brothers, Ray Bryant, Charlie Persip and Dizzy, or he could have attributed his talent to the famous "Jess Grew".The Lee Morgan I got to know was a fun loving young musician. When I saw him with Dizzy's big band(late 50s) at Sparrows beach in Md. That band had Quincy Jones, Wynton Kelly, Charlie Persip and Joe Gordon. When I arrived at the beach the first thing I saw was Lee and Persip running out of the water with inner tubes trying to get on the bandstand before Dizzy started to play. Several years later I was in a bar next to Birdland (60s) and Philly Joe Jones was telling Art Taylor that he had just saw Lee sitting on the curb without any shoes on so he went back in the house got his bedroom slippers and gave them to Lee. My next vivid experience with Lee(late 60s-until he died) came when as business manager for the Left Bank Jazz Society, we presented Lee in concert on Howard's campus. At that concert before a sold out auditorium Lee received a standing ovation before a single note was played. That concert was reviewed by the late Ralph Matthews in the Washington Afro-American and contains some the quotes about Lee that Perchard uses in his book. Booking Lee Morgan kept the LBJS afloat for about 3 years. His concerts always sold out thus providing us with seed money to book other artists. I once offered to increase his fee for future shows but he said, "everything is cool as is, just keep the other bands coming". As a trumpeter player Lee had a lot of fire, and was a crowd pleaser. He was also a very good band leader who took care of the business side of things, was always on time for the shows made sure he got deposits before the gig and always had first class musicians performing with him. The tragedy of his death, like so many others of his era, was that he had gained all this life experience,good and bad, and musical knowledge at a very young age, had given a lot back to the music, and still had so much to share.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
perchard on morgan's life and music,
By
This review is from: Lee Morgan: His Life, Music And Culture (Popular Music History) (Hardcover)
Perchard gives a detailed account of Lee Morgan's life and music in the context of the jazz scene in general from the fifties to seventies. Lee Morgan afficianodos will enjoy the descriptions of many of Lee's recordings although they may not always agree with the musical evaluation by Perchard. For example, not everyone would agree with the description of Morgan in "The Big Beat" of 1960 as raw, agressive, with an unkind sense of humour; it is not clear why this is discussed by Perchard as a development towards greater rawness AFTER the description of "Roots and Herbs", recorded in 1961, as a peak in accomplishments of the same five Jazz Messengers: Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Bobby Timmons, Jimmiy Merritt, and Art Blakey. Be that as it may, someone who admires this type of jazz will be captivated by this book and go back listening to recordings to compare own notes with those of Perchard.
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