I Remember Clifford

Description

Lee Morgan was a jazz prodigy. He was born in Philadelphia on 10th July 1938 and died in New York City on 19th of February 1972. He studied trumpet and alto horn at Mastbaum High School in his home town and in his teens became familiar with the dynamic jazz scene there - one which spawned such jazz icons as the Heath Bros, Benny Golson, Jimmy Smith, Shirley Scott, Philly Joe Jones and many others-including one John Coltrane. This very hot edition of the Messengers rarely recorded commercially and it is gratifying that this moment of jazz history was captured so well in the Dutch North Sea resort of Scheveningen. It leaned heavily on the Benny Golson library (three of his compositions are performed here) and featured the incisive, leaping trumpet of Lee Morgan at the height of his powers. One of Golson's pieces, the classic I remember Clifford (written as a tribute to the late great Clifford Brown- former Messenger and jazz giant) is played here by Lee with fitting panache and humility as Clifford was Lee's mentor since their early contacts at the Music City club in Philly.