Lee Morgan on herb

[jazzdre]

thanks for your warm welcome,everybody!(particularly you captain bacardi!) anyway,while reading the thread on miles' opinion of herb,i couldn't help but remember a few years ago,downbeat reprinted an interview with lee morgan before he left us(or really brutally taken from us)where he mentioned herb!he(or the interviewer)was talking about his career,when suddenly he mentioned"here i am,beeen doin' this for all these years,then suddenly this guy(herb)comes out of nowhere,with his little pop group,and makes a million dollars!"but then he said "well,i don't begrudge him,anybody who can make money with his talent deserves some respect". the interview was conducted in 1972,so this was when herb was going thru his cooling off period.i don't lee wanted to say really anything bad about herb,because in my opinion,he maybe thought if herb read the artcle,herb may have gotten offended,and he may have thoght he coluld use herb in the future,what with herb having his own record comPANY

 

[Captain Bacardi]

If you go to the Down Beat site (www.downbeat.com) and do a search on Herb, you'll find that interview.

I remember Al Hirt saying something similar about Herb, especially after he won the Playboy Music Poll for best trumpeter and best small combo jazz band, probably around 1967 or so. He said something along the lines that Herb's a business man, and there's nothing wrong with that. But he ain't no jazz player, and that Hirt played a hell of a lot more jazz than Herb did. He seemed more disappointed in the fans who voted rather than Herb himself.

Funny thing is that what passes for jazz today - the smooooooooth jazz genre in particular - doesn't swing nearly as much as a lot of the old TJB tunes. Who'd a thunk it?


Capt. Bacardi