Howard McGhee
Encyclopedia
Howard McGhee was one of the very first bebop
jazz
trumpet
ers, together with Dizzy Gillespie
, Fats Navarro
and Idrees Sulieman
. He was known for lightning-fast fingers and very high notes. What is generally not known is the influence that he had on younger hard bop
trumpet
ers, together with Fats Navarro
.
, Michigan
. During his career, he played in bands led by Lionel Hampton
, Andy Kirk
, Count Basie
and Charlie Barnet
. He was in a club listening to the radio when he first heard Parker and was one of the early adopters of the new style, a fact that was disapproved by older musicians like Kid Ory
.
In 1946-47, some record sessions for the new label Dial
were organized at Hollywood with Charlie Parker
and the Howard McGhee combo. The first was held on July 29, 1946. The musicians were Charlie Parker (as), Howard McGhee (tp), Jimmy Bunn (p), Bob Kesterson (b), Roy Porter (d), and William "Bill" Jones (v). The titles played were "Max is Making Wax", "Lover Man", "The Gypsy" and "Be-bop".
However, Charlie Parker was sick and fainted at the end of "Be-bop". Some hours after this session, Parker was admitted to Camarillo
, a psychiatric clinic at the north of LA, where he spent six months. After this, Charlie Parker returned to music making and a new recording session was organized on February 26, 1947, also for the Dial label. Howard McGhee continued to work as a sideman
for Charlie Parker. He played on titles like "Relaxin at Camarillo", "Cheers", "Carvin the Bird" and "Stupendous". The last three of these tracks were composed by Howard McGhee. McGhee played live with Parker in a club at LA in March of the same year. His stay in California was cut short because of racial prejudice, particularly vicious towards McGhee as half of a mixed race couple.
Drug problems sidelined McGhee for much of the 1950s, but he resurfaced in the 1960s, appearing in many George Wein
productions. His career sputtered again in the mid-'60s and he did not record again until 1976. He led one of three big jazz bands trying to succeed in New York in the late 60's, perhaps one more than New York could accommodate at the time. While the band did not survive, a recording was released in the mid '70's.
He taught music through the 1970s, both in classrooms and at his apartment in midtown Manhattan and instructed musicians like Charlie Rouse
in music theory. He was as much an accomplished composer/arranger as he was a performer.
Bebop
Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
ers, together with Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
, Fats Navarro
Fats Navarro
Theodore "Fats" Navarro was an American jazz trumpet player. He was a pioneer of the bebop style of jazz improvisation in the 1940s. He had a strong stylistic influence on many other players, most notably Clifford Brown.-Life:Navarro was born in Key West, Florida, to Cuban-Black-Chinese parentage...
and Idrees Sulieman
Idrees Sulieman
Idrees Sulieman was a bop and hard bop trumpeter. He studied at Boston Conservatory, and gained early experience playing with the Carolina Cotton Pickers and the wartime Earl Hines Orchestra...
. He was known for lightning-fast fingers and very high notes. What is generally not known is the influence that he had on younger hard bop
Hard bop
Hard bop is a style of jazz that is an extension of bebop music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz which incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in the saxophone and piano...
trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
ers, together with Fats Navarro
Fats Navarro
Theodore "Fats" Navarro was an American jazz trumpet player. He was a pioneer of the bebop style of jazz improvisation in the 1940s. He had a strong stylistic influence on many other players, most notably Clifford Brown.-Life:Navarro was born in Key West, Florida, to Cuban-Black-Chinese parentage...
.
Biography
Howard McGhee was raised in DetroitDetroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. During his career, he played in bands led by Lionel Hampton
Lionel Hampton
Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...
, Andy Kirk
Andy Kirk
Andrew Dewey Kirk was a jazz saxophonist and tubist best known as a bandleader of the "Twelve Clouds of Joy," popular during the swing era....
, Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
and Charlie Barnet
Charlie Barnet
Charles Daly Barnet was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader.His major recordings were "Skyliner", "Cherokee", "The Wrong Idea", "Scotch and Soda", "In a Mizz", and "Southland Shuffle".-Early life:...
. He was in a club listening to the radio when he first heard Parker and was one of the early adopters of the new style, a fact that was disapproved by older musicians like Kid Ory
Kid Ory
Edward "Kid" Ory was a jazz trombonist and bandleader. He was born in Woodland Plantation near LaPlace, Louisiana.-Biography:...
.
In 1946-47, some record sessions for the new label Dial
Dial Records (1946)
Dial Records was a United States based record label specializing in bebop jazz. Dial was founded by Ross Russell in 1946, who operated the label for about a decade. Notable artists who recorded for Dial included Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Max Roach, and Milt Jackson...
were organized at Hollywood with Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
and the Howard McGhee combo. The first was held on July 29, 1946. The musicians were Charlie Parker (as), Howard McGhee (tp), Jimmy Bunn (p), Bob Kesterson (b), Roy Porter (d), and William "Bill" Jones (v). The titles played were "Max is Making Wax", "Lover Man", "The Gypsy" and "Be-bop".
However, Charlie Parker was sick and fainted at the end of "Be-bop". Some hours after this session, Parker was admitted to Camarillo
Camarillo State Mental Hospital
Camarillo State Mental Hospital, also known as Camarillo State Hospital, was a psychiatric hospital for both developmentally disabled and mentally ill patients in Camarillo, California. The hospital closed in 1997. The site has been redeveloped as the California State University, Channel Islands...
, a psychiatric clinic at the north of LA, where he spent six months. After this, Charlie Parker returned to music making and a new recording session was organized on February 26, 1947, also for the Dial label. Howard McGhee continued to work as a sideman
Sideman
A sideman is a professional musician who is hired to perform or record with a group of which he or she is not a regular member. They often tour with solo acts as well as bands and jazz ensembles. Sidemen are generally required to be adaptable to many different styles of music, and so able to fit...
for Charlie Parker. He played on titles like "Relaxin at Camarillo", "Cheers", "Carvin the Bird" and "Stupendous". The last three of these tracks were composed by Howard McGhee. McGhee played live with Parker in a club at LA in March of the same year. His stay in California was cut short because of racial prejudice, particularly vicious towards McGhee as half of a mixed race couple.
Drug problems sidelined McGhee for much of the 1950s, but he resurfaced in the 1960s, appearing in many George Wein
George Wein
George Wein is an American jazz promoter and producer who has been called "the most famous jazz impresario" and "the most important non-player... in jazz history"...
productions. His career sputtered again in the mid-'60s and he did not record again until 1976. He led one of three big jazz bands trying to succeed in New York in the late 60's, perhaps one more than New York could accommodate at the time. While the band did not survive, a recording was released in the mid '70's.
He taught music through the 1970s, both in classrooms and at his apartment in midtown Manhattan and instructed musicians like Charlie Rouse
Charlie Rouse
Charlie Rouse was an American hard bop tenor saxophonist and flautist. His career is marked by the collaboration for more than ten years with Thelonious Monk.- Biography :...
in music theory. He was as much an accomplished composer/arranger as he was a performer.
Discography
As leader/co-leader
- 1945: Howard Mc Ghee on Dial - The Complete Sessions (Spotlite SPJ 131) with James MoodyJames Moody (saxophonist)James Moody was an American jazz saxophone and flute player. He was best known for his hit "Moody's Mood for Love," an improvisation based on "I'm in the Mood for Love"; in performance, he often improvised vocals for the tune.-Biography:James Moody was born in Savannah, Georgia...
, Dodo MarmarosaDodo MarmarosaMichael "Dodo" Marmarosa was an American bebop pianist.-Biography:Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a child prodigy, Marmarosa was a trained classical pianist, but familiarised himself with jazz in parallel and practised with school mate Erroll Garner, another pianist from Pittsburgh...
, Hank JonesHank JonesHenry "Hank" Jones was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer. Critics and musicians described Jones as eloquent, lyrical, and impeccable. In 1989, The National Endowment for the Arts honored him with the NEA Jazz Masters Award...
, Milt JacksonMilt JacksonMilton "Bags" Jackson was an American jazz vibraphonist, usually thought of as a bebop player, although he performed in several jazz idioms...
, Ray BrownRay Brown (musician)Raymond Matthews Brown was an American jazz double bassist.-Biography:Ray Brown was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and had piano lessons from the age of eight. After noticing how many pianists attended his high school, he thought of taking up the trombone, but was unable to afford one...
, J. C. HeardJ. C. HeardJ. C. Heard a.k.a. James Charles Heard was a United States swing, bop, and blues drummer.... - 1948: Howard McGhee 1948 (Classics 1058) with Fats NavarroFats NavarroTheodore "Fats" Navarro was an American jazz trumpet player. He was a pioneer of the bebop style of jazz improvisation in the 1940s. He had a strong stylistic influence on many other players, most notably Clifford Brown.-Life:Navarro was born in Key West, Florida, to Cuban-Black-Chinese parentage...
, Billy EckstineBilly EckstineWilliam Clarence Eckstine was an American singer of ballads and a bandleader of the swing era. Eckstine's smooth baritone and distinctive vibrato broke down barriers throughout the 1940s, first as leader of the original bop big-band, then as the first romantic black male in popular...
, Jimmy HeathJimmy HeathJames Edward Heath , nicknamed Little Bird, is an American jazz saxophonist, composer and arranger. He is the brother of bassist Percy Heath and drummer Albert Heath.-Biography:...
, Hank JonesHank JonesHenry "Hank" Jones was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer. Critics and musicians described Jones as eloquent, lyrical, and impeccable. In 1989, The National Endowment for the Arts honored him with the NEA Jazz Masters Award...
, Ray BrownRay Brown (musician)Raymond Matthews Brown was an American jazz double bassist.-Biography:Ray Brown was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and had piano lessons from the age of eight. After noticing how many pianists attended his high school, he thought of taking up the trombone, but was unable to afford one... - 1948: Howard McGhee & Milt JacksonMilt JacksonMilton "Bags" Jackson was an American jazz vibraphonist, usually thought of as a bebop player, although he performed in several jazz idioms...
(Savoy SV 1067) - 1955: The Bop Master (Affinity AFF 765) with Pepper AdamsPepper AdamsPark Frederick "Pepper" Adams III was a jazz baritone saxophonist and composer. He composed 43 pieces, was the leader on twenty albums, and participated in 600 sessions as a sideman.-Biography:...
, Duke JordanDuke JordanIrving Sidney "Duke" Jordan was an American jazz pianist.-Biography:An imaginative and gifted pianist, Jordan was a regular member of Charlie Parker's so-called "classic quintet" , featuring Miles Davis...
, Tommy FlanaganTommy FlanaganThomas Lee Flanagan was an American jazz pianist born in Detroit, Michigan, particularly remembered for his work with Ella Fitzgerald...
, Sahib ShihabSahib ShihabSahib Shihab was an American jazz saxophonist and flautist.-Biography:...
, Ron CarterRon CarterRon Carter is an American jazz double-bassist. His appearances on over 2,500 albums make him one of the most-recorded bassists in jazz history, along with Milt Hinton, Ray Brown and Leroy Vinnegar. Carter is also an acclaimed cellist who has recorded numerous times on that...
, Percy HeathPercy HeathPercy Heath was an American jazz bassist, brother to tenor saxophonist Jimmy Heath and drummer Albert Heath, with whom he formed the Heath Brothers in 1975... - 1961: Maggie's Back in Town (OJC 693) with Phineas NewbornPhineas NewbornPhineas Newborn, Jr. was an American jazz pianist, whose principal influences were Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson and Bud Powell. Newborn came from a musical family with his father, Phineas Newborn, Sr., being a blues musician and his younger brother, Calvin, a jazz guitarist...
, Leroy VinnegarLeroy VinnegarLeroy Vinnegar was an American jazz bassist.Born in Indianapolis, the self-taught Vinnegar established his reputation in Los Angeles during the 1950s and 1960s. His trademark was the rhythmic "walking" bass line, a steady series of ascending or descending notes, and it brought him the nickname...
, Shelly ManneShelly ManneShelly Manne , born Sheldon Manne in New York City, was an American jazz drummer. Most frequently associated with West Coast jazz, he was known for his versatility and also played in a number of other styles, including Dixieland, swing, bebop, avant-garde jazz and fusion, as well as contributing... - 1961: Sharp Edge (Black Lion) with George ColemanGeorge ColemanGeorge Edward Coleman is an American hard bop saxophonist, bandleader, and composer, known chiefly for his work with Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock in the 1960s.-Biography:...
, Junior ManceJunior ManceJulian Clifford Mance, Jr. is an American jazz pianist and composer.-Biography:...
, Jimmy CobbJimmy Cobb-External links:* - includes full discography* * * * * * *... - 1961: Howard McGhee/Teddy Edwards - Together Again! - Teddy EdwardsTeddy EdwardsTheodore Marcus "Teddy" Edwards was an American jazz tenor saxophonist based on the West Coast of the US. Some consider him to be one of the most influential jazz saxophonists.-Biography:...
- Howard McGhee Quintet with Phineas Newborn, Jr. (p) Ray BrownRay Brown (musician)Raymond Matthews Brown was an American jazz double bassist.-Biography:Ray Brown was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and had piano lessons from the age of eight. After noticing how many pianists attended his high school, he thought of taking up the trombone, but was unable to afford one...
(b) Ed ThigpenEd ThigpenEdmund Leonard "Ed" Thigpen was an American jazz drummer, best-known for his work with the Oscar Peterson trio from 1959 to 1965...
(d) - (Contemporary M 3588, S 7588; Fantasy OJC 424, OJCCD 424-2) - 1976: Just Be There (Steeplechase SC 31204) with Horace ParlanHorace ParlanHorace Parlan is an American hard bop and post-bop piano player.He is noted for his contributions to the classic Charles Mingus recordings Mingus Ah Um and Blues & Roots....
, Kenny ClarkeKenny ClarkeKenny Clarke , born Kenneth Spearman Clarke, nicknamed "Klook" and later known as Liaqat Ali Salaam, was a jazz drummer and an early innovator of the bebop style of drumming... - 1978: Home Run (Storyville STCD 8273)
- 1979: Wise in Time (Storyville STCD 8272)
External links
- [ Allmusic Discography]