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‘Search for the New Land’
DJ Pari, producer
Like a lot of jazz fans, I was first drawn to Lee Morgan through his earlier work as a sideman and the sheer force of his hard-bop playing. But “The Sidewinder” made me hear him differently. It was his first Blue Note session built entirely around his own compositions, and “Search for the New Land,” recorded just two months later, takes that next step with even greater assurance.
The title track is the piece I return to most often. It takes its time, and that’s part of what makes it so compelling. Morgan leaves plenty of space, and each solo grows naturally out of the one before it. Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Grant Green, Reggie Workman and Billy Higgins is about as strong a Blue Note lineup as you can assemble. Green’s guitar, in particular, gives the performance a warmth and texture unlike anything else in Morgan’s catalog. I still get goose bumps when the band settles into that opening mood.
After the recording session wrapped in early 1964, this album sat on the shelf for nearly two years after the unexpected commercial success of “The Sidewinder,” as Blue Note understandably wanted more records with that same crossover appeal. Instead, “Search for the New Land” became something more enduring, a patient, lyrical statement from an artist finding his own voice that still sounds remarkably fresh more than 60 years later.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube
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‘Moanin’,’ Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers
Riley Mulherkar, trumpeter and bandleader
You’d be hard-pressed to find a jazz musician who can’t sing along to every note of Lee Morgan’s solo on “Moanin’,” with Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers. From his opening four-note motif to his closing handoff to the saxophonist Benny Golson, Morgan gives a master class of a solo in just two minutes.
I love to imagine what the feeling in the studio must have been at that moment. Lee Morgan was the youngest one in the band (only 20 years old!) and here he is, coming out swingin’ on the very first solo of the tune. Fearless and full of swagger. There’s so much charisma and wit in every phrase he plays — it’s exactly what I think of when I think of Lee Morgan, and it’s exactly what I think of when I think of jazz.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube
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‘The Procrastinator’
Alden Hellmuth, saxophonist and bandleader
I first heard Lee Morgan in high school and really fell in love with his distinct sound on records like “Tom Cat” and “Lee-Way.” A few years later, I discovered “The Procrastinator,” which was compositionally so different from the Lee Morgan records I had heard before. The title track opens the album with a haunting melody that climbs and unfolds into that classic Blue Note swing, laying the foundation for Wayne Shorter, Bobby Hutcherson, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Billy Higgins, one of my favorite Blue Note lineups, to do their thing. I love how this track, and the entire record, has such an effortless and undeniable groove. There are so many subtleties, and every listen reveals something new, but ultimately it just feels so good.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube
