Lee Morgan – Biography, Discography & Instruments

Biography

Lee Morgan was a jazz musician who played trumpet. Lee Morgan was born on 10 July 1938 in Philadelphia and died on 19 February 1972 in New York City. The music is usually filed under jazz. Record labels: Blue Note. The discography here lists 36 albums, from “Candy” (1957) to “The Last Bop, Lee Morgan Archives” (2025).

Edward Lee Morgan (July 10, 1938 – February 19, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter and composer. One of the key hard bop musicians of the 1960s and a cornerstone of the Blue Note label, Morgan came to prominence in his late teens, recording with bandleaders like John Coltrane, Curtis Fuller, Dizzy Gillespie, Hank Mobley, and Wayne Shorter, and playing in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Morgan stayed with Blakey until 1961 and started to record as leader in the late '60s. Morgan's solo recordings often alternated between conventional hard bop sessions and more adventurous post-bop and avant-garde experiments, many of which did not see release during his lifetime. His composition "The Sidewinder", on the album of the same name, became a surprise crossover hit on the pop and R&B charts in 1964. After a second stint in Blakey's band, Morgan continued to work prolifically as both a leader and a sideman until his death in 1972.

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Discography

Studio and live albums

Candy 1957 · Blue Note City Lights 1957 · Blue Note Dizzy Atmosphere 1957 · Efor, S.L Indeed! 1957 · Blue Note Introducing Lee Morgan 1957 · Savoy Records Vol. 3 1957 · Blue Note Volume 2, Sextet 1957 · Blue Note The Cooker 1958 · Blue Note Expoobident 1960 · Vee-Jay Records Here's Lee Morgan 1960 · Vee-Jay Records Leeway 1960 · Blue Note Search for the New Land 1964 · Blue Note The Sidewinder 1964 · Blue Note Cornbread 1965 · Blue Note The Rumproller 1965 · Blue Note Delightfulee 1966 · Blue Note The Gigolo 1966 · Blue Note The Rajah 1966 · Blue Note Standards 1967 · Blue Note !Caramba! 1968 · Blue Note Charisma 1969 · Blue Note The Sixth Sense 1969 · Blue Note Live at the Lighthouse 1971 · Live · Blue Note Lee Morgan 1972 · Blue Note The Last Session 1972 · Blue Note The Procrastinator 1978 · Blue Note Sonic Boom 1979 · Blue Note See Autumn 1980 Taru 1980 · Blue Note Tom Cat 1980 · Blue Note Classic Infinity 1981 · Blue Note Out There 1981 · Live · Phoenix 10 Hank's Shout 1989 · Savoy Jazz Complete Introducing Sessions 2004 · Lone Hill Jazz I Remember Clifford 2011 · Live · Candid The Last Bop, Lee Morgan Archives 2025 · Pipe Dublin

Also plays on

Albums where Lee Morgan is credited as a sideman

1956	With Donald Byrd and Lee Morgan — Hank Mobley	trumpet
1957	Dizzy in Greece — Dizzy Gillespie	trumpet
1957	A Blowin' Session — Johnny Griffin	trumpet
1957	Jazz Message #2 — Hank Mobley	trumpet
1957	Cliff Jordan — Clifford Jordan	trumpet
1958	Blue Train — John Coltrane	trumpet
1958	House Party — Jimmy Smith	trumpet
1958	Peckin’ Time — Hank Mobley—Lee Morgan	trumpet
1958	Monday Night at Birdland — Hank Mobley, Bill Root, Curtis Fuller, Lee Morgan	trumpet
1959	The Great Wide World of Quincy Jones — Quincy Jones	trumpet
1959	Brass Shout — Art Farmer	trumpet
1959	The Sermon! — Jimmy Smith	trumpet
1959	The Curtis Fuller Jazztet — Curtis Fuller Jazztet with Benny Golson	trumpet
1960	Introducing Wayne Shorter — Wayne Shorter	trumpet
1960	Images of Curtis Fuller — Curtis Fuller	trumpet
1961	Paris Jam Session — Art Blakey	trumpet
1963	Golden Boy — Art Blakey	trumpet
1963	No Room for Squares — Hank Mobley	trumpet
1964	Night Dreamer — Wayne Shorter	trumpet
1965	The Night of the Cookers: Live at Club La Marchal, Volume 1 — Freddie Hubbard	trumpet
1965	Dippin’ — Hank Mobley	trumpet
1966	Mode for Joe — Joe Henderson	trumpet
1966	The Night of the Cookers: Live at Club La Marchal, Volume 2 — Freddie Hubbard	trumpet
1966	A Caddy for Daddy — Hank Mobley	trumpet
1968	Tender Moments — McCoy Tyner	trumpet
1968	Grass Roots — Andrew Hill	trumpet
1968	Think! — Dr. Lonnie Smith	trumpet
1969	Turning Point — Lonnie Smith	trumpet
1975	Jacknife — Jackie McLean	trumpet
1979	Confirmation — Jimmy Smith	trumpet

Standards written by Lee Morgan

Title	Key	Form	Groove
Sidewinder	E♭ major	A · 23	Funk
Hocus-Pocus	F major	AABA · 32	Medium-up swing
Ceora	A♭ major	ABAC · 32	Bossa nova
The Joker	E♭ major	AABA · 32	Medium swing
Gary's Notebook	C minor	A · 24	Jazz waltz
Morgan The Pirate	E♭ major	AABAA · 48	Medium swing