Howard McGhee
Art Farmer
Nat Adderley
During 1945-1949, Howard McGhee was one of the finest trumpeters in jazz, an exciting performer with a sound of his own, who among the young bop players, ranked at the top with Dizzy Gillespie and Fats Navarro. The "missing link" between Roy Eldridge and Fats Navarro (Navarro influenced Clifford Brown who influenced most of the post-1955 trumpeters), McGhee originally played clarinet and tenor, not taking up trumpet until he was 17. He worked in territory bands, was with Lionel Hampton in 1941, and then joined Andy Kirk (1941-1942), being featured on "McGhee Special." McGhee participated in the fabled bop sessions at Minton's Playhouse and Monroe's Uptown House, modernizing his style away from Roy Eldridge and towards Dizzy Gillespie. He was with Charlie Barnet (1942-1943), returned to Kirk (where he sat next to Fats Navarro in the trumpet section), and had brief stints with Georgie Auld and Count Basie before traveling to California with Coleman Hawkins in 1945; their concise recordings of swing-to-bop transitional music (including "Stuffy," "Rifftide," and "Hollywood Stampede") are classic. McGhee stayed in California into 1947, playing with Jazz at the Philharmonic, recording and gigging with Charlie Parker (including the ill-fated "Lover Man" date) and having an influence on young players out on the Coast. His Dial sessions were among the most exciting recordings of his career, and back in New York he recorded for Savoy and had a historic meeting on record with Navarro in 1948 on Blue Note. Eventually, drugs began to affect McGhee's career. He traveled on a USO tour during the Korean War, recording in Guam. McGhee also had sessions for Bethlehem (1955-1956) but was inactive during much of the '50s. He recorded some strong dates for Felsted, Bethlehem, Contemporary, and Black Lion during 1960-1961, and on a quartet outing for United Artists (1962), but (with the exception of a Hep big band date in 1966) was largely off records again until 1976. He had a final burst of activity during 1976-1979 for Sonet, SteepleChase, Jazzcraft, Zim, and Storyville, but by then, McGhee was largely forgotten and few knew about his link to Fats Navarro and Clifford Brown. ~ Scott Yanow
Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries
The Skunk (Live)
Just Be There
Sharp Edge [1201 Music]
West Coast 1945-1947
Trumpet at Tempo
Original Jazz Sound: Maggie Savoy Sessions
The Return of Howard McGhee
Cyngende
Demon Chase
Maggie: The Savoy Sessions
Complete Savoy & Dial Masters: Leader Sessions
Howard McGhee/Tal Farlow Quartet
Howard McGhee, Vol. 2/Tal Farlow Quartet
Midnight at Minton's
Up in Dodo's Room
Lover Man
Double Talk, Pts. 1-2
Dimitar
Hoggin'
How High the Moon
Big Will by Howard McGhee Sextet
You're Something Else
Wee Dot
Transpicuous
Blues a la King
One O'Clock Jump
How High the Moon, Pt. 1
Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise
Topside
Arbee
Rockin' Chair
Boperation
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