Lee Morgan’s wife saved his jazz career and his life. And then she ended it.
Wikimedia CommonsLee Morgan in 1959 .
Lee Morgan was a brilliant horn mavin and was recognized for his talent by the meter he was a stripling . By 1960 , he had recorded with legendary nothingness musician like John Coltrane , Tina Brooks , Dizzy Gillespie , and Art Blakey .
But the downside to a rising creative person ’s spirit is the drugs and alcoholic drink that are so easy accessible . Lee almost give into them , but a fair sex named Helene Moore saved him .
Wikimedia CommonsLee Morgan in 1959.
Lee Morgan could have blend on to produce many more jazz records . alas , his bourgeoning life history would be tragically cut shortsighted . In 1972 , after vex into an statement , Morgan was germinate by his wife in the middle of a show . Ironically , that adult female who save him would ultimately have his demise .
Lee Morgan Discovers Jazz
tolerate on July 10 , 1938 , in Philadelphia , Lee Morgan turn up loving jazz . He was the untested of four children to Otto Ricardo and Nettie Beatrice , and the family make a motion to New York City after he was comport .
Morgan was interested in many official document including the vibraphone , the alto saxophone , and the cornet . But he took a particular liking to the trumpet and when he turned 13 , he was yield one as a gift from his sister . After taking lessons with influential jazz musicians like Clifford Benjamin Brown , his vogue and talent evolve speedily .
FlickrAlbum cover of Lee Morgan for the Blue Note record label .
FlickrAlbum cover of Lee Morgan for the Blue Note record label.
By age 15 , Morgan was already performing at nightspot on the weekend . He presently propel on to record with well - known band , joining Dizzy Gillespie ’s Big Band when he was just 18 years sometime .
In 1957 , Morgan recorded on John Coltrane’sBlue Train , which promote him to a level of prominence in the jazz existence , a level he remained at until his death .
He wound up recording on 25 albums for theBlue Note , a notable jazz record label . After playing with other ring like Art Blakey ’s Jazz Messengers , Morgan try out his hand as a solo trumpeter and composer .
JP Jazz Archive /Redferns/Getty ImagesLee Morgan (left) playing in Art Blakey’s band with Jymie Merritt and Art Blakey. 1960.
Morgan’s Fast-Paced Life Takes A Turn
Lee Morgan ’s lifestylecame with a side of adventureand risk . The idle words view was loud , firm , and wild . It revolved around the night , which is when the euphony would add up alive .
It ’s also when Morgan and his fellow musicians would race their cars down the city street , drink potent cognac cocktail , and engage in many intimate dangerous undertaking .
JP Jazz Archive /Redferns / Getty ImagesLee Morgan ( left ) playing in Art Blakey ’s band with Jymie Merritt and Art Blakey . 1960 .
Wayne Shorter , a notable saxophonist who hung around and played with Morgan in the 1960s recalled , “ I would toast and have like a think veil around me – that ’s my outer space , my little dream space – and we would work . ”
Drugs were a large part of the fit as well . Blakey introduced Morgan to heroin in the former 1960s and he soon became addicted . The habit had a obtrusive outcome on his performing as not only did he not sound as good , but he became flakey .
One time while he was high , Morgan take off snooze off near a radiator . He wound up cauterise the side of his head , leaving him with a scar and a bald-pated patch for the residuum of his life .
Morgan ’s heroin addiction lasted for years and reached the point where he ’d say he ’d rather do drugs than play music .
Lee Morgan Meets Helen Moore
Then , in 1967 , after hardly playing any longer and having pawned his horn , Lee Morganmet Helen Moore .
Moore was pop in jazz round and was given the nickname “ the small articulatio coxae straightforward . ” Known as “ Helen ’s Place , ” her apartment served as a refuge for all the player after the clubs closed down . It was also where struggling musicians and addicts would go to get course and keep ardent .
So on a cold night in 1967 , Lee Morgan came falter in . In the biography , The Lady Who Shot Lee Morgan , he ’s described as “ raggedy and sad ” when he come in . But for some understanding , Moore said , “ my tenderness just give out out to him . ” She made him her task .
“ She was a sucker for citizenry who were suckers , ” pronounce Larry Reni Thomas , the generator ofThe Lady Who Shot Lee Morgan .
Moore got Morgan ’s trumpet back for him and helped him get clean . Though they were never legally hook up with , Moore became his vulgar - police force married woman and took his name . She got his career back on caterpillar track too , book him gigs as he worked to turn into the expectant musician he was capable of being .
When he set about playing again , the shows were some of his most daring and experimental . He became a must - see at gild around New York City .
It would seem like a happy close . Except that Lee Morgan began seeing another woman , Judith Johnson .
The Shot Heard ‘Round The Jazz World
On Feb. 19 , 1972 , on a inhuman , snow-white Tuesday dark , Lee Morganwas playinga show at the democratic wind nightclub Slugs ’ Saloon in the East Village of Manhattan .
Though the specific details of the nighttime have n’t been definitively confirmed , it ’s alleged that Johnson was there that Nox , watching Morgan execute .
alas , so was Helen . feel betrayed after everything she had done for him , the two get into an argument between set . She depart the club and came back with a gunslinger . In a envious furor , while Morgan was on stage during the second human action , she shot him in the chest .
Due to the snow , the ambulance was slow to get and by the sentence they got there , the 33 - class - old trumpet player had bled to end .
The execution scandalise the jazz residential district and all those close with the Morgans .
Helen Morgan was arrested and release on parole after serve just a short time . She moved back to her hometown of Wilmington , North Carolina in 1978 and break down in 1996 follow nerve problems .
As for Lee Morgan , he pass a inadequate life that was fill with drama and struggle . But it was also filled with music that would influence propagation of jazz artist to follow . Even today , he ’s consider one of the peachy trump players of the 20th century .
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