Howard McGhee

Howard McGhee (March 6, 1918, Tulsa, Oklahoma – July 17, 1987, New York City) was one of the very first bebop jazz trumpeters, 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 trumpeters, together with Navarro.

Biography

Howard McGhee was raised in,. 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 Charlie Parker play BeBop jazz, and was one of the early adopters of the new style, a fact that was disapproved by older jazz musicians like Kid Ory.

In 1946-47, some record sessions for the new label Dial were organized in Hollywood with Charlie Parker and the Howard McGhee Combo. The first was held on July 29, 1946. The musicians were Parker ([[Alto Saxophone), Howard McGhee (Trumpet), Jimmy Bunn (p), Bob Kesterson (Bass), Roy Porter (Drums). 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 hospital an hour north of Los Angeles, where he spent six months. After this, Charlie Parker returned to recording and a new session was organized on February 26, 1947, also for the label. Howard McGhee continued to work as a sideman for Parker after he got out of Camarillo. 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 in LA in March of the same year. His stay in California was cut short because of racial prejudice, which became particularly vicious towards McGhee who was part of a mixed race couple.[citation needed]

In 1948 he appeared on his own album, "Howard McGhee 1948," fronting a band with Fats Navarro, Billy Eckstine, Jimmy Heath, Hank Jones and Ray Brown.

Drug problems sidelined McGhee for much of the 1950s, although in 1955 he fronted an album called "The Bop Master" with Pepper Adams, Duke Jordan, Tommy Flanagan, Sahib Shihab, Ron Carter, Percy Heath

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 released in the mid '70's did.

He taught music through the 1970s, both in classrooms and at his apartment in midtown Manhattan. He instructed musicians like Charlie Rouse in music theory. He was as much an accomplished composer/arranger as he was a performer.

Videos
Video:Howard McGhee´s Just Jazz Sextet Grooving High|Howard McGhee´s Just Jazz Sextet Grooving High

Compositions
For Charlie Parker:

"Cheers" "Carvin the Bird" "Stupendous"

Discography
See his complete Discography