8-23213-2

Lee Morgan - Standards

Released - 1998

Recording and Session Information

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, January 13, 1967
Lee Morgan, trumpet; James Spaulding, alto sax, flute; Wayne Shorter, tenor sax; Pepper Adams, baritone sax; Herbie Hancock, piano; Ron Carter, bass; Mickey Roker, drums; Duke Pearson, arranger.

tk.2 Blue Gardenia (alternate take)
1816 tk.6 Blue Gardenia
1817 tk.20 God Bless The Child
1818 tk.24 Somewhere
1819 tk.39 If I Were A Carpenter
1820 tk.41 A Lot Of Livin' To Do
1821 tk.46 This Is The Life

Track Listing

Title	Author	Recording Date
This Is The Life	C. Strouse-L. Adams	January 13 1967
God Bless The Child	A. Herzog Jr.-B. Holiday	January 13 1967
Blue Gardenia	B. Russell-L. Lee	January 13 1967
A Lot Of Livin' To Do	C. Strouse-L. Adams	January 13 1967
Somewhere	L. Bernstein-S. Sondheim	January 13 1967
If I Were A Carpenter	Tim Hardin	January 13 1967
Blue Gardenia (Alternate Take)	B. Russell-L. Lee	January 13 1967

Liner Notes

I GUESS the question most of you have while you are holding this CD in your hand is, what took so long for this album to see the light of day? There are many reasons, but it is mostly because of Blue Note's recording policies in the sixties. Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff were very supportive of their artists, and they were well aware of the financial difficulties most jazz musicians face. The more they brought their artists into the studio, the more the artists were paid and were able to keep afloat. Lion and Wolff also recognized when artists were at a creative peak and wisely recorded them as often as possible during that time. Lee was one of Blue Note's most creative and popular artists. As a result, he was in the studio quite often during the period when he recorded this album. He recorded four albums as a leader in 1965, three in 1966, and four (including this one) in 1967. Since Blue Note released about one album a year for each artist, you can see how there would be a bit of a backlog. Fortunately this meant that there were a number of fine albums in the can at the time of Lee's untimely death. Many have been released sporadically over the years, and now / finally, you have this one.

This album was the brainchild of pianist/arranger and Blue Note A&R director Duke Pearson. I guess it was conceived as a way to bring a kinder, gentler Lee Morgan to the masses. The tunes that were picked were mostly popular tunes from the day; either from Broadway hits or pop hits. The tasty, swinging arrangements are by Duke Pearson. They feature a four-horn front line with three saxophonists backing Lee. Pearson Uses his little saxophone section to great effect, creating the perfect atmosphere for Lee's melody statements on each tune. On the ballads, he voices the saxes in lush three-part harmony, creating a broad palette for Lee to play over. On the swing tunes, he has the saxes playing rhythmic figures to set up Lee's entrances, and when Lee states the melody, the saxes effectively fill the holes by answering all of Lee's phrases with tasty fills of their own. The result is a relaxed, swinging session, the saxophone accompaniment never getting in Lee's way or cluttering up the music.

The musicians on this session were all recording regularly for Blue Note at the time of this recording. Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock were both Blue Note recording artists at the time. Wayne would record his classic album Schizophrenia two months later (using many of the same musicians from this session). James Spaulding recorded with the label frequently as a sideman, most prominently with Freddie Hubbard and Wayne Shorter. Pepper Adams was the baritone saxophonist of choice on nearly every large ensemble Blue Note recording. Ron Carter was one of Blue Note's house bass players, appearing on well over 30 albums for the label. Mickey Roker was one of Duke Pearson's favorite drummers, appearing on most of Pearson's projects for Blue Note, as well as recording with Stanley Turrentine, Donald Byrd, and Horace Silver for the label. This was his first recording with Lee, but he would soon become the regular drummer in Lee's working band and appeared on Lee's Live at the Lighthouse recording, which captured this exceptional working band at its best.

"This is the Life" is taken from the popular Broadway show Golden Boy. Lee recorded this tune once before, with Art Blakey on his Golden Boy album. The tune is taken here at a bouncy, medium tempo and has a jubilant, swinging quality to it. After a brief bluesy introduction, Lee takes the melody. He is alone at first but is soon joined by the saxes, who respond to each of his phrases with a short phrase of their own. Wayne takes a solo that is somehow both melodic and slightly off-kilter at the same time. Lee follows with a fiery, melodic solo. Both Lee and Wayne refer to the melody quite often during their solos, something that was not prevalent in their solo styles during this period. Perhaps they were being respectful of the commercial aspirations of the date, but what ever the reason, it works to great effect here.

"God Bless the Child" was written and made famous by Billie Holiday. The tune is a perfect vehicle for Lee' expressive, bluesy style. Taken here at a slow ballad tempo, the saxes are used to basically add color, holding long tones underneath Lee's melody statement. Herbie solos first and shows why he is so perfect for this album. Besides being a brilliant accompanist, he is a master at creating a certain mood for his solos with his beautiful chord voicings and use of space. This is enhanced by Ron Carter's accompaniment. Ron and Herbie had been playing with Miles Davis for three years at the time of this recording, and the telepathy between them is clearly evident. Lee follows with a beautiful solo, once again showing off what a great ballad player he was.

"Blue Gardenia" was made famous by Nat King Cole and was also performed often by Dinah Washington. It is taken here at a medium tempo with the saxes supporting Lee with a full, lush harmony that gives the tune an almost romantic quality, like an old movie score, except this version really swings. Lee's solo again shows off his melodic side, but still retains the brash, fiery style he's known for. Wayne follows, and again sticks close to the melody in his lyrical solo. At this period in his career, Wayne's playing was at a particularly adventurous stage, yet here he is able for the most part to put that aside and play beautiful/ melodic solos, a testament to what a complete musician he is.

"A Lot of Livin' to Do" is from the Broadway hit Bye Bye Birdie. The introduction used here by Pearson is very similar to one he used on his arrangement of a Hank Mobley tune called "A Slice of the Top," from the album of the same name. The intro has the horns playing a rhythmic vamp figure with the rhythm section that continues after Lee begins the melody. The A sections are divided between the vamp figure and the swing sections, and the bridge swings throughout. The contrast between the two sections is used to great effect here; the vamp section builds in intensity that is released in the swing section. This is the only up-tempo tune on the album, and it spurs the soloists into some of their most adventurous playing. Wayne's solo is still quite melodic in spots, but there is also a frequent use of altered pentatonic lines throughout. Lee starts slowly, choosing to build his solo, instead of coming in blazing, but soon enough he is swaggering through his solo with the cocky exuberance he's known for.

"Somewhere" is from Leonard Bernstein's classic musical West Side Story. The tune is a waltz, taken here at a fairly slow tempo. Lee starts the melody alone with the rhythm section playing sparsely behind him. The horns enter in the second A section and play a countermelody led by Spaulding on flute. Wayne takes the melody on the last A section. Lee again starts with his solo slowly, tossing out a few short melodic phrases that soon turn into longer phrases that begin to build in intensity as the solo progresses. The rhythm section is right with him here. They too start sparsely and build with Lee. The time feel remains loose throughout Lee's solo, and they don't play strictly in time until Wayne enters with his solo. Wayne's solo here is brief and once again he sticks close to the melody. But here he is more playful, first toying with a few key notes of the melody and then creating arpeggiated runs off the melody.

Because of the huge success of The Sidewinder, Lee was obligated to include a funky tune on all his subsequent albums. This album was no exception. "If I Were a Carpenter," composed by Tim Hardin but made famous by Bobby Darin, was a big hit at the time of this recording. Here it gets the obligatory funk treatment the baritone sax doubling the bass line in key spots for emphasis. The key to the tune's success, however, is Herbie Hancock's funky piano fills. Lee is no stranger to this type of groove, and contributes a soulful, funky solo.

As a bonus, we'•ve added an alternate take of "Blue Gardenia." This is an earlier take than the master take, and its strong performances warrant its inclusion here.

What a treat it is to have, 25 years after his death, a new Lee Morgan album and to be reminded what an important voice he was in this music. It's also a reminder of what a vital, creative period this music was recorded in. This album holds up with any jazz album being released today, a fairly easy task considering most of today's young jazz stars are in retro mode. Lee Morgan came up emulating Clifford Brown, but grew into one of the finest, most influential jazz trumpet players ever. There are many young trumpet players out there now emulating Lee Morgan. Will we be celebrating the discovery of an unreleased session by one of these musicians 30 years from now? For the sake of the music, I hope so.

—DAVID WEISS

LT-1091

Lee Morgan - Infinity

Released - 1981

Recording and Session Information

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, November 16, 1965
Lee Morgan, trumpet; Jackie McLean, alto sax; Larry Willis, piano; Reggie Workman, bass; Billy Higgins, drums.

1682 tk.1 Infinity
1683 tk.5 Growing Pains
1684 tk.17 Miss Nettie B.
1685 tk.25 Portrait Of Doll (aka My Lady)
1686 tk.26 Zip Code

Session Photos

Photos: © Francis Wolff/Mosaic Images 
https://www.mosaicrecordsimages.com/

Track Listing

Side One
Title	Author	Recording Date
Infinity	November 16 1965	November 16 1965
Miss Nettie B.	November 16 1965	November 16 1965
Side Two
Growing Pains	Lee Morgan	November 16 1965
Portrait Of Doll	Jackie McLean	November 16 1965
Zip Code	Lee Morgan	November 16 1965

Liner Notes

LEE MORGAN

The jazz trumpet has suffered far more than its share of tragedies. Consider the untimely deaths of Clifford Brown, Fats Navarro, Kenny Dorham, Booker Little, Don Ellis, and Lee Morgan; the stylistic commercialization of Freddie Hubbard, Donald Byrd, and Maynard Ferguson; and the retirement of Miles Davis (rumors are that he's given up the trumpet for the electric organ anyway). Despite the impressive crop of young talent, it's no wonder that there is no undisputable, authoritative voice on trumpet now — someone who can both summarize the achievements of its illustrious past and suggest its vast untapped potential. Dizzy Gillespie probably comes closest by dint of his longevity, prodigious technique, and irrepressible personality.

Gillespie's career, among many others, has benefitted enormously from the recent renewed interest in be-bop (1980 was proclaimed "Year of the Bird"). And it's especially sad that Lee Morgan did not live to enjoy it too, having been senselessly murdered in 1972. For Morgan was clearly one of the preeminent exponents of bop and hard bop from his years with Dizzy Gillespie's orchestra (1956-58) and Art Blakey (1958-61) on.

It's interesting to recall the mystifying critical reception to hard bop in the late 1950's ("the funky-hard bop regression" was the description of one leading detractor). True, hard bop could be self-conscious, monotonous, and contrived, but so can any style of music in untalented hands. One can only imagine what so many found "shocking" about hard bop's return to the roots of gospel and spiritual music. Perhaps it was that hard bop was the first intentional "fusion" music in jazz, which showed fresh economy, heartfelt emotional simplicity, and sinewy rhythmic propulsion.

In fact, hard bop provided the essential link between be-bop and the far-reaching developments of the 1960's: John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Charles Mingus, and many other innovators all found expressive freedom in hard bop early in their careers. Like the blues, hard bop freed the soloist and rhythm section from the fearsom melodic saturation and often maze-like harmonic complexity epitomized by Charlie Parker and Bud Powell. What else could jazz do after the baroque splendor of mature be-bop except simplify, sit back, and reappraise its long-forgotten roots? And few had the technique to compete with the be-bop masters, in any case.

Lee Morgan was at the center of hard bop, and as his recordings demonstrate, he made some of the most distinguished contributions to the style—even throughout the 1960's, when hard bop was superseded by a baser, commercialistic fusion with rock music. Much of Morgan's best work, like this date from late 1965, was done with saxist Jackie McLean (Consequence, Blue Note LT-994, also features the two and was recorded just two weeks after).

To effect the stylistic changes noted above, hard bop needed a new repertoire — the bop classics based on swing tune changes and popular songs would hardly do. While one cannot say that Lee Morgan's compositions are especially notable (jazz's truly great composers can be counted on the fingers of one hand), they did provide the springboard for his impeccable improvisations. And they are airy, intensely swinging, and "easy listening" in the best popular sense of that much-maligned phrase (rather like Horace Silver's works).

The most ambitious piece on the record is "Growing Pains," basically a standard 32-bar AABA form, but with two measures tacked on to each of the A phrases. The theme features unusually angular and dissonant interplay between Morgan and McLean, a strong suggestion of whole-tone scales (the normal scale without the chromatic half-steps, as in the opening of Ellington's "Chelsea Bridge"), and repeated modal-sounding chords reminiscent of what McCoy Tyner was doing with John Coltrane at the time. Morgan never showed much sympathy for the sixties avant-garde, unlike many of his contemporaries, and this is about as close as the composer of "The Sidewinder," "Cooker," "Cornbread," "Gigolo," "Rumproller," and other popular hits ever came to it.

"Growing Pains" also elicits the finest solos from both horns. McLean, first up, launches precipitous charges with his characteristic burin-edged tone, and ends his phrases with Coltrane-like flourishes. Morgan, beginning on McLean's last note, builds the momentum masterfully through a series of ever-rising peaks. Here one can see how superlative Morgan and McLean are at sustaining long lines in the best original bop style, even though their themes are often short, tightly-phrased figures.

"Infinity" also features hypnotically repeated modal chords behind an exotic-tinged theme. The form is an interesting variation of the 32-bar AABA: the A phrases in this case are 14 bars long, subdivided into phrases of 6 plus 8 bars. Without a doubt, this piece and "Growing Pains" represent Morgan's greatest development as a composer, unfortunately cut short by his death and diverted by his more popular works, Morgan's solo is acutely balanced in tone, range, and gesture—with unpredictable jumps, marvelous half-valved notes (note Morgan's "Miss Nettie B." solo for more), and rebounding off the dynamic rhythm section. Pianist Larry Willis' solos are particularly strong throughout, drawing the most relentless drive out of the repeated chords, but never letting that overwhelm his always inventive right-hand work. At this time, he was working regularly with McLean, and appeared on three of his Blue Note dates. What a loss jazz suffered when he drifted over into various commerical musics like rock! Fortunately, in 1979 and 1980 he joined trumpeter Woody Shaw's quintet. McLean has also leaned in the direction of commercialism recently.

Anyone who fears that hard bop is all hell-fire and brimstone should go right to the lyrical, laid-back "Miss Nettie B." Although the theme is perhaps a little too pat with its mellifluous thirds in the horns, listen to the swagger and sass of Morgan's solo, the wit and grace with which he seems to be talking to her. The finesse of his phrasing and slurs recalls some of Miles Davis' best solos. (Perhaps it is no coincidence that the tempo, bass line, and chords closely resemble 'All Blues"). McLean and Willis apparently also enjoy talking to Miss Nettie B.; more relaxed, funky work from either of them would be hard to find.

"Portrait of Doll" is McLean's contribution: a lovely, wistful ballad, yet with a sudden unexpected departure in the theme. The horn writing is among the most interesting on the record. Good as Morgan's and Willis' solos are, they are nevertheless overshadowed by a transcendent, heartbreaking utterance by McLean, who begins as if he had been waiting a long time to bare his innermost feelings about someone dear to him. It is as close to a perfect McLean solo as I can remember (perhaps excepting his wonderful rendition of "My Old Flame"). Note the one double-time passage near the end of his solo, which stands out brilliantly among the surrounding reflections. And the pearly upward runs beginning many of his phrases. But I could go on and on about this gem. Savor it. As if to ease the almost unbearable tension, the album ends with an uptempo blues, "Zip Code." A fine romp is had by all, but particularly notable is the abundant high-note work by Morgan. Many trumpeters lose all tone and accuracy in the high ranges, but no so with Morgan. Listen to his stunning exchanges with Higgins, and you'll realize what a major voice we've lost. But he will surely remain a living presence and standard to all trumpeters through recordings like this one.

—Roy Chernus

LT-1058

Lee Morgan - Tom Cat

Released - 1980

Recording and Session Information

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, August 11, 1964
Lee Morgan, trumpet; Curtis Fuller, trombone; Jackie McLean, alto sax; McCoy Tyner, piano; Bob Cranshaw, bass; Art Blakey, drums.

tk.7 Exotique
tk.8 Tom Cat
tk.14 Twice Around
tk.29 Rigormortis (aka Riggormortes)
tk.35 Twilight Mist

Session Photos

Photos: Francis Wolff

Track Listing

Side One
Title	Author	Recording Date
Tom Cat	Morgan	August 11 1964
Exotique	Morgan	August 11 1964
Side Two
Twice Around	Morgan	August 11 1964
Twilight Mist	Tyner	August 11 1964
Riggarmortes	Morgan	August 11 1964

Liner Notes

LEE MORGAN

At the age of 18, Lee Morgan was playing in Dizzy Gillespie's big band and making his first album as a leader for Blue Note. In the summer of 1961, having just turned 23 and with 7 albums on Blue Note and 2 on Vee Jay to his credit and after a fruitful three and one half year stint with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, this renowned trumpet star slipped quietly from the limelight to his hometown Philadelphia to sort out his personal problems, the most significant of which was heroin addiction.

At the end of 1963, Lee was ready to re-enter the scene and pick up where he had left off. In November, he appeared on Grachan Moncur's Evolution and Hank Mobley's No Room For Squares. In December, he recorded a new album for Blue Note (The Sidewinder) and again in February, 1964 a second session (Search For The New Land). While he was waiting for these albums to be issued, he sat idly in a resident hotel in New York. In April and May, the Messengers recorded one of their finest albums Indestructable with Lee back in the band. 1964 was a year of many personnel changes for the Blakey organization; Lee and Curtis Fuller remained the only constants.

On August 11, Lee went back into the studio to record this session Tom Cat, issued here for the first time. Blakey, who had stopped doing sideman recording dates in early 1962, was willing to do this one for Lee.

Meanwhile, The Sidewinder was released. As the story goes, neither Lee nor Alfred Lion of Blue Note plotted musically for a smash. In fact, the company issued only about 4000 copies upon release. Needless to say, they ran out of stock in three or four days. And The Sidewinder became a runaway smash, making the pop 100 charts. It was heard on juke boxes, AM stations, as a theme for television shows and even on a Chrysler automobile ad on TV. Jazz had its first crossover hit.

The result was a considerable amount of rethinking by Blue Note and a certain amount of pressure applied to them from their distributors to come up with more of the same. Search For The New Land and Tom Cat were shelved temporarily, while Morgan returned to the studio to try for a follow-up, which was Andrew Hill's The Rumproller. Search was eventually issued a few years later, but Tom Cat was somehow forgotten.

Yet this is one of Lee's finest sessions with a superb cast and some of the man's best writing. From his earliest to his last days, the trumpeter preferred to record with sextets of varying instrumentation rather than the standard quintet setting of trumpet, tenor sax, piano, bass and drums. And in several cases, such as Tom Cat, Search For The New Land, Cornbread and The Procrastinator, it brought out the best in his compositional talents.

The assembled cast for this album is not only spectacular, but they are all people with whom Lee had played and with whom he shared history and empathy.

Curtis Fuller, of course, had worked with and was at the time working along side Lee in the Jazz Messengers. But during the mid and late fifties, their collaborations were spread throughout the Blue Note vaults and included Clifford Jordan's first album, John Coltrane's Blue Train, Jimmy Smith's The Sermon, House Party and Confirmation, Lee's City Lights and Fuller's Sliding Easy.

Jackie McLean, prior to this date, had appeared on Lee's 1960 album Leeway, and they worked together on Grachan Moncur's Evolution. But from this date on, they would record together with increasing frequency. Under McLean's leader ship came Consequence and Jacknife, both of which remained unissued until the late seventies. And under Lee's name came Cornbread, Charisma, The Sixth Sense and the soon to be released Infinity. As Larry Kart wrote in his notes for Consequence, "Also worth mentioning is the way Lee and Jackie play the heads together. Such ensemble niceties weren't granted too much attention at the time because the music was felt to be essentially soloistic, but I can think of few things in jazz more fascinating than the way McLean and Morgan perfectly blend their sounds (each so totally individual) to create a third sound that has the emotional richness of both and something more besides."

Bassist Bob Cranshaw, who would later become a Blue Note regular and appear on many dates with Morgan, was present on Moncur's Evolution and The Sidewinder. At that time, Lee told Leonard Feather, "Bob's one of the best all-around bass players on the scene today. He's got a great sound, and no matter what kind of music you bring in, he can see what's happening and read it. And he can walk, and he can solo."

McCoy Tyner, a fellow Philadelphian and only six months younger than Lee, did not enter the professional jazz ranks until late 1959 when he became a member of the Benny Golson-Art Farmer Jazztet, which also included Curtis Fuller. In fact, it was on one of Fuller's Savoy dates that McCoy made his recording debut. His first recorded encounter with Lee took place four months prior to this date on Wayne Shorter's Night Dreamer.

As for Art Blakey, it is hard to think of one musician without thinking of the other. To this day, Lee Morgan is still the one that remains closest to Blakey's heart. The drummer said recently, "I always loved him. And over the years, conversations would get back to me where Lee had stuck up for me. You couldn't say anything bad about me around Lee. During that year (1964), he was really getting himself back together. It was beautiful to watch. On our Japanese tour, he only spent one week's salary. All that money coming in from The Sidewinder...we held that for him." Undoubtedly, the love between these two men, especially at this time, translated itself to the music.

With the exception of Tyner's lovely, triple meter ballad Twilight Mist, which showcases McCoy and Lee, all of the compositions are by Lee. And each is strikingly unique in flavor and musical construction. Throughout, these six men play off each other beautifully.

Around 1960, Lee Morgan told Nat Hentoff, "I don't think I have a completely original style, though I have an identity. An identity is when someone who knows jazz can say 'that's Lee Morgan playing', but my basic style is composed of a strong Fats Navarro/Clifford Brown influence, and Miles and Dizzy, and then again a Bud and Bird thing. I think a definite style comes with living and experience and travelling until you play what you are...you play yourself through the horn."

In both his writing and his playing, Morgan's identity did become a definite style, His cockiness and, most of all, his spontaneity and soulfulness came resounding through everything that he produced. In the February 19, 1970 issue of Downbeat magazine, he was quoted as saying, "The first rock and roll group I was in — me and Archie Shepp and Reggie Workman for a while too — was Carl Holmes and the Jolly Rompers...Music is coming so close together...I've been through all that, besides jazz and rock and roll...I don't like labels. If you can play, you can play with everybody. Look at Coleman Hawkins, Joe Henderson. Whatever you prefer, you'll find sufficient quantities of talented musicians who prefer the same. But you should never limit your mind. With the new thing coming in, I'm one of those who prefer to swing a lot. But I've experimented with free forms, like on Grachan Moncur's Evolution and Andrew Hill's Grass Roots — playing without the rhythm, against the rhythm, disregarding it — the whole freedom thing. The avant garde organist who plays with Tony Williams, Larry Young: I made an album with him (Mother Ship). And the next week one with Lonnie Smith (Think), a whole different thing... There are no natural barriers. It's all music. It's either hip or it ain't."

—Michael Cuscuna

RVG CD Reissue Liner Notes

A NEW LOOK AT TOM CAT

Like many of Blue Note's artists in the 1950s and '60s, Lee Morgan produced the majority of his albums at the helm of bands that had no existence beyond the confines of Rudy Van Gelder's studio. They rarely contained total strangers, as the active recording scene of the period and the criss-crossing bandstand affiliations these musicians enjoyed in clubs guaranteed more than a modicum of familiarity. Still, the specific musicians recruited for this and many other albums had not developed a history as a unit, which does count for something in music where the input of each band member can alter the spontaneous balance. Tom Cat is an example of an album on which success flowed from the way the players related specifically to two of the participants. Michael Cuscuna's original liner notes stress the empathy each sideman had developed over time with the date's leader, Lee Morgan, but their varying relationship to drummer Art Blakey is equally pivotal.

The three horn players are all Jazz Messenger alumni, with tenures covering an almost unbroken stretch of Messengers history from late-1956, when McLean came on board, through the early part of 1965, when Morgan made his final exit from the band. As important as the comfort that Morgan, McLean, and Curtis Fuller feel with each other is to the success of the music, their common ability to luxuriate in Blakey's deep rhythmic pocket, and his complementary knowledge of which buttons to push as each man steps forward to solo, all help lift the music to the realm of the exceptional.

Blakey's history with his rhythm section mates was hardly as extensive, as neither Bob Cranshaw nor McCoy Tyner had put in any time as Messengers to this point. (Tyner would serve briefly in the years after he left John Coltrane's quartet, though no documentation of his tenure has appeared to-date.) Tom Cat is actually only the second of two Blakey/Tyner encounters on record. The drummer and pianist first met a year before the present session on Blakey's quartet album, A Jazz Message (Impulse!). They did not mesh with any kind of consistency on that effort, the result perhaps of music that never really settled between the poles of the straight-up bebop that the session's horn soloist Sonny Stitt preferred and the more expansive and contemporary flow of the music Tyner and session bassist Art Davis had made when the pair worked together in John Coltrane's group. When the present music was made, there was no such need to search for a comfort zone. Blakey and Morgan were already locked into the same swinging wavelength, while Tyner was more than familiar with Morgan's approach from their teenage years as prodigies in Philadelphia. Everyone seems to have fit together immediately and effectively, with Cranshaw's big, steady beat no doubt also deserving some of the credit for the impeccable comfort level throughout.

Sextet projects were the occasions for much of Morgan's best writing, as Cuscuna notes, and his three contributions here only confirm the point while employing ideas that were among Morgan's favorites. The use of two distinct feelings on the title track's solo choruses, for one instance, was reprised in more incendiary fashion a year later when Morgan cut "Our Man Higgins" on his Cornbread album, and the way "Twice Around" employs different tempos to create distinct moods on the same melodic material anticipates "The Procrastinator" by three years. A similar effect is obtained when the meditative opening of "Exotique" shifts to a hypnotic 6/8 tempo, recalling "Search for the New Land" from earlier in 1964. Morgan is not simply recycling effects, but rather applying then in conjunction with fresh melodic and harmonic material that both inspires the soloists and sustains the listeners' interest.

Recording more sessions than could practically be released at the time was part of Alfred Lion's overall approach at Blue Note. Still, it is rather shocking that a collection as strong as Tom Cat took 16 years to surface, especially when it contained something as obviously funky and listener-friendly as the title track. The lack of a cut with both soul and the danceable groove of "The Sidewinder" is the only imaginable explanation for why such winning music was shelved. Its belated appearance provided one more bit of evidence that the resurgent Lee Morgan of the mid-sixties was about much more than simply making hits.

— Bob Blumenthal, 2005

Notes for the 2012 CD Edition

"Tom Cat" and "The Procrastinator" remain my favorites among the many Lee Morgan sessions that I was able to release years later. This is just an absolutely terrific band. The unusual instrumentation of the front line (trumpet, trombone, alto sax) give these wonderful compositions an extra punch. This was Art Blakey's final recording session as a sideman (undoubtedly a favor for Lee who was making his comeback in Blakey's band at the time). It's a shame that Blakey and McCoy Tyner didn't get to record together very often. They fit together beautifully.  

The reason "Tom Cat" was shelved and "Search For The New Land" (4169), also recorded in 1964, was delayed a few years was because "The Sidewinder" (4157) had become such a surprise hit. Blue Note brought Lee back into the studio to record "The Rumproller" (4199) which was a follow-up to "The  Sidewinder" in the same style.  
- Michael Cuscuna 

LT-1031

Lee Morgan - Taru

Released - 1980

Recording and Session Information

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, February 15, 1968
Lee Morgan, trumpet; Bennie Maupin, tenor sax; John Hicks, piano; George Benson, guitar; Reggie Workman, bass; Billy Higgins, drums.

2043 tk.6 Haeschen
2044 tk.11 Avotcja One
2045 tk.22 Durem
2046 tk.24 Dee Lawd
2047 tk.28 Taru, What's Wrong With You (aka What's Wrong)
2048 tk.29 Get Yourself Together

Session Photos

Photos: © Francis Wolff/Mosaic Images 

Track Listing

Side One
Title	Author	Recording Date
Avotcja One	John Hicks	February 15 1968
Haeschen	Lee Morgan	February 15 1968
Dee Lawd	Lee Morgan	February 15 1968
Side Two
Get Yourself Together	Lee Morgan	February 15 1968
Taru, What's Wrong With You?	Calvin Massey	February 15 1968
Durem	Lee Morgan	February 15 1968

Liner Notes

LEE MORGAN

Today, when jazz writers tell us about Lee Morgan, they stress how misperceived critically he was during his lifetime. And, the musical evidence of every new Morgan package supports their revisionism completely. TARU, six previously unreleased tunes recorded in 1968, is no exception. On its two beautiful ballads, two modal swingers, and two "son-of-Sidewinder" funk tunes, Lee Morgan is no mere belter, but everything a trumpeter in his idiom can be: brash but sensitive, swinging and inventive, soaring while quirky, sarcastic yet reverent. And within that range of options, a man always choosing, with a perception and discipline marked in only the greatest artists.

But then, Lee Morgan was thirty years old when he recorded these sides: grown a long way from his free-wheeling early style, begun at 18 (sympathetically, Nat Hentoff once described it as "machine-gunning quantities of notes for the pleasures of virtuosity alone") and perhaps the only trumpeter on the scene to combine the fire of Clifford Brown with an undiluting personal approach. And, this maturity sounds written all over TARU. You can hear it in the choice of compositions: four ("Avotcja One," "Taru," "What's Wrong With You," "Haeschen" and "Get Yourself Together") anticipate the more complex structural and harmonic turns the trumpeter's music took in the early 70s. You can hear it in the focus on the music, not the players: time for solos here is evenly and (especially where Morgan is concerned) unostentatiously split. In fact, George Benson (who also appeared on Blue Note albums by Hank Mobley and Larry Young during this period) is almost more a comping, coloring background player—along with label regulars Workman and Higgins—than he is a soloist, save for brief "Cookbook" runs on "Dee Lawd" and "Durem."

But most of all, you can hear it in Lee Morgan's soloing. "Avotcja One," by pianist John Hicks (currently with Betty Carter, and Lee's bandmate with Art Blakey in 1964) opens with a flurry of tense, then lyrical structure, and Benson's spare, cooking solo over a somewhat modal line. Next, Morgan takes his turn, slowly and masterfully expanding a wry series of little bursts into a bed of plaints, flurries and final, all-out swing, establishing a flow for lusty work by Maupin (then Lee's regular saxophonist) and Hicks. Then, on " Haeschen," a gentle ballad, the trumpeter at least equals his gorgeous work on the classic "Ceora" (from the CORNBREAD LP) and "Flamingo" (from Jimmy Smith's THE SERMON). Charmingly, the tune's A section mirrors the two-syllable title, and Morgan's highly controlled use of space and dynamics in his brief solo perfectly reflects this kind of delicacy. More significantly, though, it's as full, venturesome, and complete a statement as a player could make in the time allotted.

On "Get Yourself Together" (a complex melody oddly echoing "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise"), Maupin takes the fiery opening ride. His style is classic late 60s Blue Note tenor (e.g., Joe Henderson, Junior Cook), full of driving, hard-blowing soul, but here and there you can hear the near-droning peaks of intensity he would later trademark in work with Herbie Hancock. But, in contrast, Morgan's following solo goes a step further; robust and idea-ridden, it stretches the changes every which way but loose, and stands as a good example of what Lee's mind could do in the most conventional blowing situation.

"Taru, What's Wrong With You" is by the late and extraordinary composer Cal Massey, especially noted for his work for three other Philadelphians; John Coltrane (in the Fifties and Sixties), Morgan (in the Sixties) and Archie Shepp (in the Sixties and Seventies). Its unusual structure — typical for Massey — almost seems to tell a story in the way of a show score (especially considering the inquisitive title); the bluk of the head has a reverent, "I Remember Clifford" feeling, but is broken midway by a playful, vaguely Latin section. In his solo, Morgan seizes the main, lyrical line and matches his work on "Haeschen" in an exquisite display of phrasing, with a late-night chordal edge; he molds run after run in effortless style, never leaving a certain emotional level, and yet exhausting all its possibilities.

Rounding out TARU are "Dee Lawd" and "Durem',' a pair of boogaloos. As Michael Cuscuna explains in his notes to Morgan's recent newly released collection SONIC BOOM (LT-987): "Blue Note always liked to have that leadoff funk tune to sell the album. The extraordinary, unexpected success of Morgan's 'The Sidewinder' and Horace Silver's 'Song For My Father' put even more pressure on the company and its artists to match that success...the more closed-minded journalists never got past the heads on the title tunes, and Lee Morgan was pigeon-holed unfairly in the hackneyed funk idiom." And true enough, once you do get past the admittedly derivative heads on both tracks, Lee Morgan the player emerges once again: selecting ideas from a million options within a familiar idiom, infusing each note with his special soul and turning a conceivably ho-hum space into a special one.

The co-producer of the TARU sessions was pianist, arranger, composer and Blue Note executive Duke Pearson, a friend of Lee Morgan's since the trumpeter's teenaged debut. Six years later, it was his bittersweet task to write the notes for the LEE MORGAN MEMORIAL ALBUM (BN-LA 224-G), the label's first posthumous Morgan LP "In essence," Pearson said, "Lee Morgan was a dedicated man to his listeners. I have seen Lee record after a swimming accident when his teeth were in braces and the blood would be gushing from his mouth from playing. Why? It was his attempt to reach perfection."

On TARU, recorded four years before his death, there's a strong suggestion that Lee Morgan's playing was already very close.

—Michael Rozek