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Lee Morgan

How a jazz legend's resting place was lost and found, 50 years after his tragic death

Lee Morgan was killed in 1972, tragedy cutting short the life and career of the prolific and celebrated jazz musician. Nearly 50 years later, one fan discovered that Morgan's resting place seemed to have vanished. Joel Franklin/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Joel Franklin/Courtesy of the artist

Black History Month 2022

How a jazz legend's resting place was lost and found, 50 years after his tragic death

WBGO

Though the trumpeter Lee Morgan was killed in 1972, his legacy was well maintained. At least it seemed so, until one fan discovered last year that Morgan's gravesite seemed to have vanished.

How a jazz legend's resting place was lost and found, 50 years after his tragic death

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The Best Music Of August: NPR Staff Picks

Top left, clockwise: PinkPantheress, Lucas Debargue, Lee Morgan, James Blake, Injury Reserve, Foxing. Courtesy of the artists hide caption

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Courtesy of the artists

All Songs Considered

The Best Music Of August: NPR Staff Picks

Every month, we ask the NPR Music staff: What's the one song you couldn't escape? What's the one album to which you'll return all year? In August, we got vulnerable with James Blake, leveled up with Foxing, cooed with PinkPantheress, discovered an obscure Polish composer via pianist Lucas Debargue, memorialized a member of Injury Reserve and went back in time to Lee Morgan's weekend residency at the Lighthouse.

The Best Music Of August: NPR Staff Picks

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'I Called Him Morgan' Is A Tale Of Marriage, Murder And Jazz, Told From Two Sides

Lee Morgan (left) and Helen Morgan in 1970, subjects of the documentary I Called Him Morgan, directed by Kasper Collin. Courtesy of the Afro-American Newspaper Archives and Research Center hide caption

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Courtesy of the Afro-American Newspaper Archives and Research Center

Jazz Night In America

'I Called Him Morgan' Is A Tale Of Marriage, Murder And Jazz, Told From Two Sides

WBGO

The brilliant trumpeter Lee Morgan, whose shocking and untimely death at the age of 33 is at the center of I Called Him Morgan, doesn't star in this documentary so much as haunt it.

Jazz On Film And The Problem Of The Mad Creative Genius

Trumpeter Lee Morgan and wife Helen in 1970. The couple's tragic story is the subject of the documentary I Called Him Morgan, directed by Kasper Collin. Kasper Collin Produktion AB/Courtesy of the Afro-American Newspaper Archives and Research Center hide caption

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Kasper Collin Produktion AB/Courtesy of the Afro-American Newspaper Archives and Research Center

Jazz Night In America

Jazz On Film And The Problem Of The Mad Creative Genius

Jazz Night in America host Christian McBride reflects on how movies about his art form — including La La Land and a new Lee Morgan documentary — tend to paint the working jazz musician.

Jazz On Film And The Problem Of The Mad Creative Genius

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LeeBop: Lee Morgan Tribute On JazzSet

Dominick Farinacci leads a trumpet trio at the Detroit Jazz Festival in a tribute to the one-of-a-kind Lee Morgan. Ben Johnson/CTM Photography hide caption

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Ben Johnson/CTM Photography

Concerts

LeeBop: Lee Morgan Tribute On JazzSet

WBGO

When trumpeter Dominick Farinacci pitched a Lee Morgan tribute to the programmers of the 29th Detroit Jazz Festival, they loved the idea. Outdoors in the sun, three top young horn men nail Morgan's going-too-fast-and-making-the-corners style, sometimes in harmony.

LeeBop: Lee Morgan Tribute On JazzSet

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Basic Jazz Record Library

Lee Morgan: 'The Sidewinder'

Lee Morgan may have single-handedly saved Blue Note Records from bankruptcy. In 1963, he recorded The Sidewinder for the struggling label, producing a lucrative pop chart hit with the funky title track. By the 1970s, the album was a jazz phenomenon.

Lee Morgan: 'The Sidewinder'

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Review

Basic Jazz Record Library

John Coltrane: 'Blue Train'

Of all of his albums, John Coltrane selected one as his favorite: Blue Train. Released in 1957, the record is frequently cited as one of the most important in the history of jazz. The 1997 reissue has several bonus tracks, as well as video and interview clips.

John Coltrane: 'Blue Train'

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Review

Basic Jazz Record Library

John Coltrane: 'Blue Train'

Of all of his albums, John Coltrane selected one as his favorite: Blue Train. Released in 1957, the record is frequently cited as one of the most important in the history of jazz. The 1997 reissue has several bonus tracks, as well as video and interview clips.

John Coltrane: 'Blue Train'

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