A minute into Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers’ 1959 standard Moanin’, its bluesy piano refrain is blown open by the piercing burst of a single trumpet note. That is Lee Morgan at 20 years old, soloing with a confidence that would come to define the so-called “hard bop” sound of jazz label Blue Note.
At 18, he had already played with legendary composer Dizzy Gillespie and, by 19, he was accompanying John Coltrane. By 33, he was dead – shot by his partner Helen.
