BST 84381

Lee Morgan

Released - 1972

Recording and Session Information

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, September 17, 1971
Lee Morgan, trumpet, flugelhorn; Grachan Moncur III, trombone; Bobbi Humphrey, flute; Billy Harper, tenor sax, alto flute; Harold Mabern, piano, electric piano; Reggie Workman, bass, percussion; Jymie Merritt, electric upright bass; Freddie Waits, drums, recorder.

8414 tk.7 In What Direction Are You Headed
8415 tk.11 Angela
8416 tk.13 Croquet Ballet
8417 tk.15 Inner Passions-Out

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, September 18, 1971
Lee Morgan, trumpet, flugelhorn; Grachan Moncur III, trombone; Bobbi Humphrey, flute; Billy Harper, tenor sax, alto flute; Harold Mabern, piano, electric piano; Reggie Workman, bass, percussion; Jymie Merritt, electric upright bass; Freddie Waits, drums, recorder.

8418 tk.20 Capra Black

Track Listing

Side One
Title	Author	Recording Date
Capra Black	Billy Harper	September 18 1971
Side Two
In What Direction Are You Headed?	Harold Mabern	September 17 1971
Side Three
Angela	Jymie Merritt	September 17 1971
Croquet Ballet	Billy Harper	September 17 1971
Side Four
Inner Passions Out	Freddie Waits	September 17 1971

Liner Notes

There are few critics, musicians and serious jazz enthusiasts who will deny the fact that Lee Morgan is one of the most brilliant trumpet men to come on the jazz horizon in the past three decades. His fantastic creative achievements have made him one of our major forces in the reshaping and popularizing of jazz.

A musical prodigy, Lee Morgan of Philadelphia, Pa., studied trumpet at a very early age. He was a professional before the age of fifteen.

Exciting, exotic, experimental - these are among the many adjectives that are bound to be applied to the works of Lee Morgan, one of the most unusual instrumentalists of our day and age. At the age of seventeen, Morgan was employed by Dizzy Gillespie where he played in Gillespie's big band at Newport; a little later with Benny Golson at the Lighthouse with the allstars.

Take the glittering brilliance of a virtuoso trumpeter storming through the upper reaches of his horn with the soaring fury of a mighty eagle - or take this same trumpeter broading passionately in the dark timbres of his instrument. In both cases you've got Lee Morgan.

The strides Lee Morgan has made have been amazing. His sound and style have grown distinctive and could be considered a synthesis of the older elements of jazz...elements that protect the roots, the beginning and emotional undercoating of the idiom.

The scope of jazz today has widened and young men like Lee Morgan are improvising, drawing from many sources, blending and putting into jazz something that was not there before, but never losing the source. The shaping of a mature musical personality is a long, slow process that is often as stormy as growing from adolescence to adulthood. In many cases final crystalization never occurs and the musician is stalled on the brink of something important.

For Lee Morgan, however, the process is just about complete and there is no doubt in my mind that his playing has reached a finality which indicates the culmination of the long trip. Morgan is one the few trumpeters to move with the times. One could easily say that his performances are uniquely intricate, rhythmically, and endowed with a phenomenal beat. Morgan has one of the most incomparable sounds that jazz has produced.

To try and tell you of the music here would be more than I am capable of doing, because it is all the finest jazz that one could listen to. there is a lot of great jazz in this set: the kind that demands your concentration, and after concentrating and listening, you will come away satisfied.

Lee has surrounded himself with the finest in today's young musical talent.

The LP opens with the work of musician, composer and tenor sax man for the date, Billy Harper with a tune called "Capra Black."

Here Harper wishes to pay homage to the many facets of Morgan's enormous musical talents. Capra Black opens with a band statement, followed with a beautiful statement by Morgan, next bassist Jymie Merritt along with pianist Harold Mabern Jr. This is fifteen minutes and forty seconds of pure musical excitement.

"In What Direction Are You Headed?" opens the second side in the most musical melodrama, written by pianist Harold Mabern Jr. It's like a painter liberating a canvas to realms of vivid color, it has the lyric delicacy of wind-whistling grass or, the subtle hesitancy of sunlight piercing clouds.

Bassist James (Jymie) Merritt of Philadelphia, Pa., not only a home towner of Morgan but has worked together for years with Art Blakey and Morgan's own group. Merritt is the writer of a reflective musical statement entitled "Angela"; "Angela" opens with a bassline by composer James Merritt.

Tenor player Billy HArper is down front and center with an excellent tenor on his own composition "Croquet Ballet."

"Croquet Ballet" is also used as a vehicle to introduce Bobbi Humphrey on flute, a very recent addition to the line-up but indeed a powerful force.

The young lady can boast a superb technical knowledge and soulful approach of her craft. A native of Dallas, Texas, she is a graduate of Southern Methodist University. This date is one of her first outings, and no doubt will be one of her finest.

Freddie Waits, a short while ago, was on a recording with Cannonball Adderley which goes to prove he is very much in demand, and is heard on a tune beautifully written by the drummer, called "Inner Passions-Out."

This beyond a doubt is one of the most exciting musical jkazz treats today. Throughout the entire album, I know you will notice a fresh approach, undoubtedly due to the use of much original and different material, young writer young and talented musicians spiced with the creative knowhow of seasoned veterans.

- AL CLARKE