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Honoring and recognizing Edward “Lee” Morgan, whose soulful melodies and blazing improvisations continue to inspire musicians and bring joy to his legions of fans worldwide.
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WHEREAS, Lee Morgan was born on July 10, 1938, grew up in Tioga, and began playing the trumpet at the age of 14. His musical development was nurtured by the Philadelphia jazz community, and his early interaction with professional musicians at the Heritage House Jazz Workshop and Music City Swing Club; and
WHEREAS, Lee Morgan joined the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band and signed with Blue Note Records after graduating from Jules E. Mastbaum Area Vocation Technical High School on June 15, 1956. He began his career as a bandleader with his debut album, Lee Morgan, Indeed!, and was a sideman on John Coltrane’s Blue Train and Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers’ Moanin’; and
WHEREAS, Lee Morgan’s The Sidewinder was one of Blue Note Records’ best-selling albums and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2000; and
WHEREAS, Lee Morgan was an advocate for social justice as an organizer of Jazz and the People’s Movement, a cultural group that agitated for greater representation of Black jazz musicians on broadcast television; and
WHEREAS, Lee Morgan gave his final hometown performance in October 1971 at the Aqua Lounge which was located on West Philadelphia’s historic 52nd Street Commercial Corridor; and
WHEREAS, In 2024, Lee Morgan’s “The Sidewinder” was inducted into the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress; and
WHEREAS, On April 30, 2024, International Jazz Day, Lee Morgan will be memorialized with a historical marker; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, THAT THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, Hereby recognizes Edward “Lee” Morgan, whose soulful melodies and blazing improvisations continue to inspire musicians and bring joy to his legions of fans worldwide.
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