Along Came Betty

The Jazz Messengers: Benny Golson (tenor sax), Lee Morgan (trumpet), Bobby Timmons (piano), Jymie Merritt (bass) and Art Blakey (drums). From the album Moanin’ (1959).

Lee Morgan was an American jazz trumpeter. He is known as one of the most important hard bop musicians of the 1960s. His main influence was Clifford Brown. He became famous when he was very young recording on John Coltrane’s Blue Train album and with the Art Blakey group, with whom he stayed until 1961.

He had a virtuous technique and his playing was always full of emotion no matter what the subject matter. Surprisingly, his theme “The Sidewinder” was a hit on the pop and rhythm and blues charts, and he started playing other styles of music. He worked extensively with Hank Mobley and Wayne Shorter, but died in 1972 at the age of 33, shot dead by his love partner.

The theme is played by the saxophone and trumpet in unison, and imitates the steps of a woman. After a drumroll, Morgan starts his solo in a sensual way, but as he moves along, he encourages it with quick phrases and a powerful tone. Golson follows with phrases that cover the entire musical spectrum with notes perfectly executed at high speed. Next comes Timmons with slower melodic lines and imaginative ideas, and finally the group re-exposes the theme.