Lee Morgan Here's Lee Morgan (1960)

• 1. Terrible "T"
• 2. Mogie
• 3. I'm A Fool To Want You
• 4. Running Brook
• 5. Off Spring
• 6. Bess

At just 21, Lee Morgan was already a seasoned presence in jazz when he cut Here's Lee Morgan for Vee-Jay Records in early 1960. Joined by an impeccable quintet - tenor saxophonist Clifford Jordan, Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, Art Blakey on drums - the session shutters a fiery sonic snapshot of hard bop at its finest; and though the personnel lineup reads like a one-off, the interplay mirrors the energy and cohesion of a classic Jazz Messengers date. Morgan, fresh off stints with Blakey and Dizzy Gillespie, channels the melodic clarity of Clifford Brown while pushing toward his own more assertive voice. The album stands as a sharp document of a young artist already in command of his instrument, and of a group who, even outside their usual configurations, deliver a set swinging with power, raunch and finesse.