Sonic Boom [Bonus Tracks]

Performer: Lee Morgan (Trumpet)
Artist: Cedar Walton; Ron Carter; Billy Higgins; David "Fathead" Newman
Engineer: Rudy VanGelder
Producer: Francis Wolff; Alfred Lion; Michael Cuscuna (Reissue)
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Lee Morgan (trumpet); David "Fathead" Newman, George Coleman (tenor saxophone); Julian Prester (trombone); Cedar Walton, Harold Mabern (piano); Ron Carter, Walter Booker (bass); Billy Higgins, Mickey Roker (drums). Recorded at The Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on April 14 & 28, 1967 and on September 12 and October 10, 1969. Originally released on Blue Note (987) and BNLA (582-2). Includes liner notes by Michael Cuscuna, Bob Blumenthal. Personnel: David "Fathead" Newman (tenor saxophone); Lee Morgan Quintet (trumpet); Julian Priester (trombone); Harold Mabern, Cedar Walton (piano); Mickey Roker, Billy Higgins (drums). Liner Note Authors: Michael Cuscuna; Bob Blumenthal. Recording information: Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NY (01/14/1967-10/10/1969). Photographer: Francis Wolff. Sonic Boom was not released until 1979 and then remained in print only for a brief time before eventually being reissued years later. In addition to the great trumpeter Lee Morgan and a fine rhythm section (pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Billy Higgins), the well-rounded set is a bit special for it allows the often R&B-associated tenor David "Fathead" Newman an opportunity to stretch out in a more challenging setting than usual. Highlights include the funky "Fathead," the complex "Sneaky Pete," Morgan's lyricism on "I'll Never Be the Same," and the infectious rhythms on "Mumbo Jumbo." This is an undeservedly obscure session. ~ Scott Yanow This is indeed a welcome curiosity. The 2003 version of Lee Morgan's Sonic Boom was recorded in 1967, was not released until 1979, and then was quickly deleted. When it was reissued on CD in the 1990s, it was only in print for a short time as well. While one might think the third time is the charm, you'd have to reconsider. Blue Note has made the set available as part of its so-called connoisseur series, meaning it will only be available for a limited time once more. Issued in glorious 24-bit remastered sound, Sonic Boom is here re-released along with a huge bonus, a 1969 session that was originally the latter half of the 1978 double-LP The Procrastinator. The personnel here is completely different: on the earlier set, Morgan was accompanied by Cedar Walton, Ron Carter, Billy Higgins, and David "Fathead" Newman. On the latter, Julian Priester, George Coleman, Harold Mabern, Walter Booker, and Mickey Roker are in the house. Sonic Boom showcases Morgan stretching his hard bop pedigree to the breaking point, such as on tracks like "The Mercenary," with its wide-open, nearly Latin groove. Walton's deep, left-hand chord work offers a fat, open bottom for Morgan's solo to lift off from. And it's directly to the piano that Morgan plays. On the title cut, angular lines and a knotty head offer Higgins an opportunity to dance all around the time. Newman's solo has an edgy urgency not usually associated with him. Walton plays wild, syncopated chords in the middle, to which Higgins reacts by triple-timing the band. On the 1969 session, Morgan's charts are even more expansive. Coleman's "Free Flow" is blues that has mutated into a post-bop cavalcade of sonances and intervals. Mabern's "Mr. Johnson" is a minor-key masterpiece with the front line playing a long, loping melody that enters the harmonic frame of Cuban folk music and son. Coleman's solo is one of the most emotionally wrought in his recorded oeuvre. Conversely, Priester's "The Stroker" is a funky, Latin-tinged swinger with a lovely, physical solo by the trombonist and Morgan plays some gorgeous fills as Roker bottles up the middle eight before splitting the tune wide open in its last two minutes. Despite the great differences in approach, these two sessions complement each other well; Morgan fans would be well advised to snag this one before Blue Note yanks it from the catalog once more. ~ Thom Jurek

Mojo (Publisher) (12/03, p.134) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[T]he disc brims with the strength and sensitivity that made Morgan one of the greatest trumpet players in jazz."

Along with Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan was one of the leading trumpeter/composers of the 1960s hard-bop era. His composition "The Sidewinder" is perhaps THE signature piece of the genre, and is practically the textbook definition of the "boogaloo" groove that became popular in the mid-'60s. Influenced by Clifford Brown, Morgan possessed fleet fingers and a robust tone, and his enormously influential approach utilized blues-based harmony, simple melodic motives, and funky, groove-oriented rhythms. The jazz world was robbed of an innovator when Morgan was shot dead by a jealous girlfriend in 1972.

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