To follow up on his unexpected boogaloo hit “The Sidewinder,” Lee Morgan recorded Andrew Hill’s somewhat similar “The Rumproller” but this time the commercial magic was not there. However the trumpeter, tenor-saxophonist Joe Henderson, pianist Ronnie Mathews, bassist Victor Sproles and drummer Billy Higgins all play quite well on…

Carried by its almost impossibly infectious eponymous opening track, The Sidewinder helped foreshadow the sounds of boogaloo and soul-jazz with its healthy R&B influence and Latin tinge. While the rest of the album retreats to a more conventional hard bop sound, Morgan’s compositions are forward-thinking and universally solid. Only…

Although recorded in 1965, this excellent Lee Morgan Quintet session (which features the trumpeter with altoist Jackie McLean, pianist Larry Willis, bassist Reggie Workman, and drummer Billy Higgins) was not released until 1980 and quickly went out of print until this 1998 CD reissue. It deserved a much better…

Lee Morgan’s final studio recording before he was murdered was initially released as a two-fer LP, and the original recordings without alternate takes are included here on one CD. This was a fertile creative time for Morgan, as rivals Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw were embracing the electrified sounds…

This session headed by trumpeter Lee Morgan was not initially released until this 1998 CD. Morgan is joined by an all-star cast of James Spaulding on flute and alto, tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter, baritonist Pepper Adams, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Mickey Roker, but the music overall is not all that memorable. Most of the selections, although allegedly…

This set (reissued on CD in 1997) was one of trumpeter Lee Morgan’s lesser-known Blue Note recordings but it is quite rewarding. The notable sextet (which also includes altoist Jackie McLean, Hank Mobley on tenor, pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Billy Higgins) performs originals by Morgan,…

Until its 1996 reissue, this was one of the most obscure of all Lee Morgan Blue Note albums. A transitional effort that finds the trumpeter gradually moving beyond hard bop into more modal music, the date starts out with the surprisingly derivative title cut which is very similar to…

This three-CD set from Blue Note expands trumpeter Lee Morgan’s original two-LP set from four selections to 12. Morgan’s music had become much more modal by this time, heavily influenced by John Coltrane, although some of the previously unissued numbers (including a remake of his popular “The Sidewinder”) are…

This LP has material from 1961 that for no real reason went unreleased until 1985. One song, “Three Coins in a Fountain,” is from the same session that resulted in tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley’s famous Workout session with guitarist Grant Green, pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer…

Dippin’ is one of Hank Mobley’s finer moments, even considering that his entire Blue Note catalog is masterful, particularly his 1960s dates that reveal the depth and dimension of his understanding of harmonic invention — all in the name of groove and swing, of course. This date, recorded on…