I Called Him Morgan (2016)

[bunniefuu]

[radio announcer]

Thelonious, 1963.

Don't Blame Me,

the Criss-Cross album.

You're listening to

Blue Notes, Blue Nights,

here in New York City.

Going to be a stormy one

tonight, folks.

Nor-easter coming in.

They're saying high winds

and a heavy snowfall.

So take care of yourselves.

Now, a fresh outtake

from a forthcoming blue

note album by Lee Morgan.

He's really flying

high on this one.

[jazz music playing]

-[man] Is that Helen?

-Yeah.

Yeah.

That's Lee.

Boy, they were young then.

I just couldn't believe it.

Didn't know what to think.

Because they were

both together.

They were always

the people we related to.

Both of them.

[man] The fact that he had

totaled the car that night,

came to work,

and still wasn't able to

come through the night,

was not able to get through

the night alive, you know?

I was never able to go

down that street again.

Didn't get back to New York.

I was destroyed, man.

And then, you know,

I was curious about

what happened to Helen.

And then I heard that

the police had arrested her

and taken her to jail.

And you know, I never

saw her again.

[jazz music playing]

[Larry Thomas] This is where

I first met Mrs. Helen Morgan.

At this building.

Wilson High School.

Our classroom was situated

on the first floor here,

closest to the door.

Because whenever

we had a break,

Mrs. Morgan did smoke.

My class was

a Western civilization class.

But I don't begin with

the Greeks and the Romans.

I began with the ancient

African civilizations.

So I wasn't

a "traditional teacher."

As a matter of fact, they

didn't call me Mr. Thomas.

They called me Larry.

Almost all the students

called me Larry.

And they were--most of them

were her age maybe,

or they were some of them--

I would say the youngest ones

were in their 40s.

Mrs. Morgan struck

me as a person

who wasn't that academically

sound, but she was streetwise.

Just the aura or vibe

about her was streetwise.

So as a way of introducing

myself to the class,

I would always hand

out this bio of me,

with my picture and everything,

stating that, you know,

I was a jazz radio announcer,

a little bit of background

information on who I was.

When I gave it to her,

she said, "Oh, I love jazz."

So I said, "Really?"

She said, "Oh, yeah,

by the way, my husband

was a jazz musician."

And her last name was Morgan.

And I said, "Your husband?

What was his name?"

And she said

his name was Lee.

So I said, "Lee Morgan,

the trumpet player?"

And she said,"Yeah."

And she kind of looked

at me kind of funny.

Like, you know, "You know

the story too," you know.

So I said, "Well, I want

to interview you one day."

So she said, "I don't

have to think about it."

So eventually in '96, I guess

about eight years later,

she decided that--

she called me, and said,

"Larry, you still

want the interview?"

And I said, "Yeah, of course."

So I borrowed a tape recorder,

just a regular Sony.

And I got two cassettes,

I just grabbed two cassettes.

I said, "I got to

get this interview."

You know?

And that was in February, 1996.

In March, 1996, she died.

[indistinct tape playing over

loud high pitched noise]

[ambient background

music playing]

[Helen] The country,

I never liked at all.

My mother's biggest aim was

when I was growing up

in the country,

and I had to work

on the farm,

and I had to do all of this,

that when I got big enough,

I was leaving this place.

And I was--

I was young.

And then, see,

I had kids early.

And I had my first child at 13.

Then I had another baby

right behind that.

About 14, right behind.

So that disillusioned me

from whole lot of things.

Because I've never once

said I wanted any children.

I never did that.

But I had them.

I didn't raise them.

My grandparents

raised my children.

Because I left.

I left.

I came to Wilmington.

And then I got married here.

And I only knew him for a week.

And this was that--

the fast life here.

I was 17, he was 39.

And he got drowned.

So his family

lived in New York.

And I left Wilmington,

stayed two weeks in New York.

And I never came back.

[jazz music playing, applause]

[announcer] Lee Morgan,

ladies and gentlemen.

[audience cheering]

[Wayne] The first time

I met Lee Morgan,

I was in the army.

And in the army, we talked

about anything new.

They were talking about

Clifford Brown, the actor.

They were talking about

James Dean, the actor.

And they said,

"Dizzy Gillespie found

a trumpet player,

16 years old.

His name is Lee Morgan

from Philadelphia."

That's when I heard his name.

And one weekend, I went

to New Jersey, home.

And they said,

"Dizzy Gillespie is playing

at Sugar Hill, the club.

And Lee Morgan is there

in that band."

[jazz music playing]

So I went to the Sugar Hill,

and I saw the band.

And Dizzy Gillespie

was soloing,

then he would stop.

Then the next thing

I saw, this young--

the Lee Morgan stand up,

he started playing.

[solo trumpet playing]

It was fun to watch him

almost challenge Dizzy

in the band, musically.

He was extremely confident.

Almost to the point

of being c*ck.

And here was this

bubbly young artist

who knew he was talented.

No question about it.

He knew that he was talented.

[Wayne] The band, they had

the band uniforms.

But Lee Morgan

and Dizzy Gillespie

and the drummer,

which was Charlie Persip,

dressed different.

They were like the stars

of the band.

[Charli] I mean, everybody

was kind of like in shock.

I mean, here's this kid, man,

that's playing like

a seasoned veteran,

and with great ideas.

I mean, it was never

no doubt in anybody's mind

'cause he was

going to be a star.

[Paul] It was common

among musicians

to be one of the best dressers.

[Charli] We talked about

fashion all the time.

What they called Ivy League,

that was like the style then.

And Lee was really

into that, and so was I.

[Paul] You know, have

the best car, prettiest lady,

lots of money,

best shoes.

And all that was

important to us.

[Charli] Yeah, I bought

this Austin-Healey.

And Lee bought a Triumph.

And I used to tease him

about it, I said,

"Man, your car is

not as powerful, it's

not as fast as my car."

He said, "Oh, man, we

have to see about that."

[jazz music playing]

[Albert] And, man, we would

run around in this city.

And we would go in

Central Park at night.

Because in those days,

you could drive around

in Central Park at night.

Just get out the way,

let me go around this turn

as fast as I can.

Could never turn the car over.

[jazz music playing]

The great big festival

with Ahmad Jamal was there.

Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie,

the Jazz Messengers.

Lee Morgan came running

across the racetrack

during an intermission.

And he said to me, you want

to play with the Messengers?

Do you want to play

with the Messengers?

And I said, "Yeah."

And he said, "Come with me."

And I jumped down on

the racetrack with him

and went to the dressing room

where Art Blakey was.

And Art said to me, "Do you

want to play in my band?"

He had that voice.

[imitating] "You want

to play in my band,

with the Messengers?"

I said, "Yeah."

[jazz music playing]

[announcer]

Ladies and gentlemen, we are

now beginning the third set

with the terrific Art Blakey

and his Jazz Messengers

from the jazz corner

of the world.

Lee Morgan on trumpet,

Wayne Shorter on

the tenor saxophone,

Bobby Timmons on the piano,

Jymie Merritt on the bass.

Soul brothers

on this scene now.

Really do a cool one for you.

[jazz music playing]

[Wayne] I was always known

as a lone wolf.

But with Lee,

Lee was the friend.

And he and I would

like to have a debate

about different things,

politics.

He wanted to know everything.

I went to Europe

for the first time with them.

And sometimes when

we were playing,

and Lee would be

playing a solo,

and Art would be yelling

to Lee, "Talk to the people,

talk to the people.

Tell them your story,

tell them your story."

He knew how to

tell a story musically,

you know?

[jazz music playing]

[LOUD HIGH PITCHED BACKGROUND

NOISE]

[Helen] Well, I lived for

most of my part now,

53rd Street.

Not far from Birdland

between 8th and 9th.

Ride around, they all ride

around in the circle there.

I could always fit in

because I was a talker.

And I got a job.

And then I begin to

meet other people.

I started going

uptown to clubs.

That's when you would

really hear music,

the jam sessions, you know?

And I would be invited

to the after-hour joints.

Helen was a hero

in my neighborhood

because she came up

from the south.

And she was a woman

that had to struggle

because she didn't want

to work for anyone.

So she wanted to

be her own person.

When she walked down

the block in the neighborhood,

the men and the women

paid attention.

Especially the men, because

she wore provocative clothes.

She wore are a lot of those

A-line type dresses and suits.

Everything fitted her because

she was built very nice.

And on Friday, she would

change her outfits

and come downstairs

when all the guys

got off from work.

And they'd be sh**ting crap,

you know.

And she'd go across the street,

and she would sh**t with them.

She didn't talk a lot about

her background or home

or anything like that.

She only sort of fit

into conversations

when she felt it was necessary

to correct something.

That something was said

that was not correct,

that she felt

uncomfortable with.

That's the only time she

would really say anything.

[Helen] I will not sit here

and tell you that

I was so nice,

because I was not.

A woman that would cut you.

I was sharp.

Yeah.

I had to be.

Had to be.

I was sharp.

And I looked out for me.

[jazz music playing]

[man] That's him.

Oh, he could be a showman.

He had his little style,

you know. Be stylin'.

He had a nice laugh too.

[Lee] I'm not gonna

stand too close when

we play the ensemble.

I might, you know,

take my solo.

Yeah, well, I'll step back.

I can't be very loud.

[indistinct chatter]

[jazz music playing]

Every time we went to record,

Alfred Lion and Frank Wolff,

the owners of Blue Note,

would bring boxes and boxes

of food and everything.

It was like a party.

And there was always a record

that came out of those six,

seven-hour recording sessions.

With that group, we had a lot

to do with developing

what was called

the "Blue Note sound."

[Jymie] Here was

these two guys

who seemed to be

as involved as the players

themselves, you know.

The guys used to call them

"the animal brothers."

[laughs]

You know,

the lion and the wolf.

And I'll never forget

Frank Wolff,

the whole time,

he would be taking pictures.

He took some

remarkable pictures.

[jazz music playing]

[Wayne] He wrote music that

came from his youth.

In Search for the New Land,

he was actually digging back

into his roots in history.

And what could be

achieved with freedom.

I wish the world

was like this.

I wish--when we did record,

there was always

the thought that

this is going to be forever.

What we choose is

going to be forever.

[Helen] My apartment

was that open house.

Was always beans cooking,

always cooked, from to dinner.

You eat, "go by Helen's house."

My house at 53rd Street

was the place.

[Al] The first time I met

my mother, I was 21.

I went to her house,

to her apartment.

And strange enough,

when I knocked on the door,

she said "Come in."

And the door was

open, not locked,

and I went in.

And there was three women

at the table.

And I immediately

recognized Helen,

first time ever

seeing her, because...

I guess you could say

the family resemblance to her.

And we greeted each other.

And here she is, 35 or

something like that.

And, wow, you know.

"That means that you was 13

when I was born."

It didn't take long for me

to latch on to her,

because she was

quite interesting.

She worked at

an answering service.

And they was pulling and

pushing cords in order

to make connections.

It was a means of

making it in New York.

And being a woman,

being a black woman,

there wasn't a whole

lot of jobs for you.

[Ron] Everyone knew Helen

because she could cook.

And I used to go by

and a lot of the musicians

would be there.

She would always say,

"Listen, if you're ever

in my neighborhood, stop by.

I like to cook."

And they would say, "Okay,

I'm in her neighborhood.

Let's see what

she cooked today."

Helen would say,

"Are you hungry?"

And you said, "Nah,

just, you know, maybe

a little snack or something."

She say, "I'm gonna

fix you somethin'."

She'd be out in the kitchen,

doing a roast pork or a turkey.

And you're like, "Whoa,

this is going to be great!"

And when she put

the food on the table,

she might have a pie

or a cake or something.

This is within an hour or two.

Two this woman was fantastic

when it came to the kitchen.

[jazz music playing]

She always had

some good music playin',

I remember that.

Always good jazz music playing.

I remember once, a party.

I mean, it was a small place,

but people from

all walks of life.

Most of her friends

was g*y or l*sbian or--

"People are people,"

she'd say.

[Ron] I remember this.

Helen was washing up some

dishes from a great meal

that we all had had.

And I had my camera with me.

And I said, "Can I

take your picture?"

She said, "No, I

don't like pictures."

She wouldn't let people

take pictures of her.

But I wanted to get

a picture of her.

So I said something slick.

I don't remember exactly

what I said to her.

But when I said it,

she turned around.

And when she turned

around, I said "Pop!"

And I caught it.

As advertised, we're

going to be introducing,

in just a moment,

one of the top jazz groups

in the world,

on the Blue Note label.

These fellows have been

playing together since 1955.

And now, as I say,

one of the top jazz groups

in the whole world--

they play all around

the world too.

Here we go.

[applause]

[jazz music playing]

[Larry Ridley]

Oh, he's buggin' here.

Stickin' his tongue out.

"Yes!" [laughs]

Oh, yeah, he's really muggin'

there with the young lady.

Oh, yeah, they doin' their

little Philly two-step.

That's what it was all about,

stayin' neat, get a haircut,

show up on the scene.

That was the whole thing.

We want to impress

a young lady, you know.

Come in like, "What it is?"

I think of the good times

that we had back then.

You know, there was

a lot of good times.

[jazz music playing]

[Wayne] In between,

we have a break, we play

and we have a break,

and I'd go right to the bar and

get a cognac, a double cognac,

sometimes a triple.

And then we would eat.

We all had a plan.

We eat so we could

stay sober enough.

You know, but I was--

I thought I was

out of the Army, I'm still

26 years old, 27.

And alcohol, you sweat it out.

And you're never going to

be staggering or swaying

on the bandstand.

You don't stagger.

It's not cool to stagger.

You're supposed to be strong.

I would drink and have

like a thin veil around me,

that's my space.

My little dream space

and everything.

And we would play.

[jazz music playing]

I'm looking at

the back of his head.

There's a bandage.

It's almost like in my face,

"What's gonna happen to him?"

It's like,

"What you doin', man?

Lee, hey, Lee,

what you doin'?"

[jazz music playing]

I was with him in Chicago.

I was with Donnie Washington

and he was with Art Blakey.

And that's when

I first realized

that he had succumbed

to the drug culture.

And it was most unfortunate

because he was

such a rare talent.

And I was very disappointed,

but then I'd ask him

if there's anything

I could do to help him.

And there was nothing

I could do at that time.

And so next thing I know,

I had been talked

about firing him.

And so next time I know, he and

Bobby Timmons were both--

had left the group.

[Wayne] There was

some concern...

what was coming

next in his life

that we had no control over.

"Lee, why don't you do this,

Lee, why don't you do--"

you know.

We knew that, you know.

Because when he left, we

wasn't going to see him.

You know, like...

I mean, we couldn't

go home with him.

Not all musicians

were experimenting

with drugs and everything.

I never did.

We played at Birdland one time.

It's a Monday night,

and Lee came with no shoes.

Because he had on

some bedroom slippers.

And he was trying to make us

all be okay with it, you know.

Like he was like,

you know,"What's wrong

with you guys, man?

Oh, yeah.

I got my slippers on."

But he had sold his shoes

to get some drugs.

Heroin, if you know

about it,

it leaves you really sick

and in a lot of pain

if you don't have it.

And he said he'd rather

do that than play

the trumpet at the time.

Because he could play the

trumpet well, no problem.

It's the drugs that

he couldn't control.

[Lena] I asked him about--

once he was lying down,

I saw that he had the burn

on the side of his head.

I asked him about that.

He told me readily about that.

He'd gotten high

and kind of OD'ed and fell,

and his head hit the radiator.

And he was out, and

smelled burning flesh.

And the radiator had

burned a big hole.

And then if you notice,

in his pictures after 1965,

he combed his hair forward.

And it was only when his head

was in a certain position,

the hair would fall away

and you could see

the scar, the burn on his head.

[jazz music playing]

Lee's sound was in my head

since I was like maybe 18.

I just really

loved his playing.

When I came to New York,

it was a different time.

And I didn't see Lee Morgan.

He wasn't around.

Until one day, oddly enough,

I was on the subway,

and we had come to

maybe 125th street.

And the subway stopped

and I happened to

look out the window.

And I saw this guy.

He had on a long overcoat

because it was the winter time

and he had his head wrapped

in like... it was like

a scarf or something.

And just as the train was

moving out of the station,

I saw his face.

It was Lee Morgan.

But he looked like

a homeless person.

It was a very, very sad time.

You know,

nobody would hire him.

He really went down

as far as you can go.

And then somehow,

he met Helen.

[high pitched noise]

[Larry Thomas] Well, I noticed

you call him Morgan.

[Helen] Yeah.

[Larry Thomas]

Why do you

call him Morgan?

-[Helen] It's his last name.

-[Larry Thomas] Uh-huh.

[Helen] And

I called him Morgan.

Morgan was one

of the people that

came to my house.

And for some kind of reason,

I don't know,

just sittin' there, like,

my heart went out to him.

I saw this little boy,

you know.

I remember it was cold.

And he had on his jacket.

I said, "You ain't

got no coat?"

And I said, "What are you

doing out in that jacket?"

And I said "Child, this is

zero degrees out there."

I said, "Well, child,

you need your coat."

I said, "Where is your coat?"

He said, "I pawned it."

I said, "Well, c'mon, I'm

gonna go get you a coat.

Because it's too cold."

And he just hung on to me.

He had had his teeth

knocked out.

And he had the brace on,

that saved the teeth,

and that had been years,

and he hadn't even

gotten the brace off.

But I said, "You know, are

you not playin' or nothing?"

I said, "You need to

start back to work."

Because see, they

couldn't depend on him.

They said, "Lee Morgan is gonna

play at so and so place.

He might not be there."

He said, "I know."

I said,"Well,

you can't do that.

[Bennie] I thought

Helen was super.

She was like his confidante.

She was his friend, his lover.

She was older.

And she definitely

was unafraid

to be with a person

who was unstable.

I don't know much

about her background,

but whatever it was,

it gave her a strength.

She had a real

quiet strength about her.

And he really trusted her.

[Helen] We got an apartment.

We moved from downtown.

Morgan went to

the hospital in the Bronx.

That hospital,

they were giving him methadone,

a place you had to go

in there and stay in there.

He turned himself in.

He went in.

[Al] Grand Concourse.

About two blocks

from Yankee Stadium

and the Bronx.

Uh, but it was...

I mean, it was

quite a move up,

so to speak,

from what it was.

[Helen] And when he came out,

that's when I was working,

you know, talking to people.

Mm-hmm.

And when he came out,

they started rehearsing.

Because the people--

everybody wanted to--

would play with him now.

[jazz music playing]

Wasn't no thing about

getting you to work.

[Jymie] I was coming from

rehearsal with Joe Henderson

at Chick Corea's house.

I remember that because

of that bakery of his.

His family had

a bakery up there.

And as I came out

of the bakery, I was

standing on the corner,

I looked down and

it was Lee Morgan.

And he was standing.

So we got into conversation.

And I hadn't seen him

in quite a while.

And considering what

he had gone through,

I was amazed that he was

able to hold together at all,

you know.

He informed me he was

starting a new group.

And would I like to be in it?

Sure, we got together at

a place called Slugs'.

[Jerry] He had never come

to a job without her.

We did the contract

with her, you know?

It was like she

was managing him.

I did always work out,

you know, "When is he

coming in?

Well, he can come in

so and so time.

Okay, let's make it this time."

This was always with her.

She carried his trumpet case,

you know?

She did everything for him.

He played a lot, you know?

[Helen] He started dressing,

because he liked to

wear his white shirt.

Shirt, tie, leather jacket,

shoe shine.

Yeah, he liked

to be clean now.

He liked to be clean.

And then when his shirts

aren't ironed, he'd

want me to iron his shirt.

I'd do all that.

[jazz music playing]

He wrote this tune for me

called "Helen's Ritual."

Puttin' lotion and things on.

[laughs] Gettin' ready to

go somewhere, took me

a half hour.

'Cause I've got to go

through that ritual,

that lotion.

Every day when

we were going out,

wherever we were going,

whatever, that lotion...

"Helen's ritual."

[Al] I didn't meet him

until after they had

a relationship goin' good.

And sure, I said sure.

Me and him about the same age.

And I said "Miss Helen."

And I would say they

needed each other

at the time that she met him.

She had someone

to take care of,

and he had someone

to take care of him.

And it seemed to

be a good thing.

[jazz music playing]

[Lee] Good evening,

ladies and gentlemen.

My name is Lee Morgan.

For those of you

who might have just come in,

the reason for all

these microphones

is that we're recording

live for Blue Note Records.

Lee Morgan Quintet live at

Hermosa Beach, The Lighthouse.

Now here's "Absolution."

We were enjoying it.

You know, we really enjoyed it

because it gave us

a chance, first of all,

to be away for

a month from New York.

Because we here by the ocean.

What I remember one thing,

Lee practiced every day.

Yeah.

He would make me feel

like, "Well, maybe

I should practice too."

[laughs]

He was enjoying

not wearing any shoes

and walking on the sand

in his bare feet, you know.

[laughs]

How can you not be relaxed?

This was a great place

to relax.

[jazz music playing]

[Lee] Right now, it's just

me and my wife, solo.

A lot of times, I would say

at least half of the time,

I'd take her with me.

And she serves as wife,

cook, secretary...

everything else, you know?

Besides, it's a nice vacation

for her as well.

I could understand

Helen's position.

I mean, she wanted

to be in that world.

And he was the key.

And traveling up and

down the West Coast

and rubbing elbows

with that crowd.

[Jymie] She always did

all the arrangements

for the traveling.

And she just, big head

come in the door,

and you'd know it was Helen.

[Bennie] That was a good part

of his life, I'm sure.

I mean, they really

cared about each other.

They loved each other.

I see them sometimes,

they were walking,

holding hands, you know.

Laughing about

something, you know.

Lee was always

making her laugh.

And I think that's

one thing she liked

a lot, you know.

[crickets chirping]

[Helen] I met Miles...

nasty.

Nasty, you know?

I met him.

He said hello, I said hello.

He said, "And who are you

supposed to be?"

I said, "I am not

'supposed to be.'"

I am Helen Morgan.

He said, "Oh, you mean

Morgan's woman?"

I said yes.

He said, "Well, I guess

you know who I am."

[laughs]

And I said, "I don't

have to know who you are."

And he laughed, you know.

He said, "I see

you got a quick mouth."

And the words he said

to me like this,

"I don't mess too much

around with b*tches

with quick mouths."

And I said, "Well, I don't

consider myself that."

[Al] She was

the entertainment's wife.

You know, it was her thing.

It seemed to be

working good,

as far as I could see.

More power to her.

[jazz music playing]

[Ron] I saw her one day,

and I said, "Are you

still with Lee?"

She said, "Of course."

She said, "Yeah, I got

him back on his feet,

and we're doing this and this."

Then I saw a different Helen.

It wasn't the Helen

that I grew up with.

It was a woman who cared,

who almost had adopted a child

because Lee and her were

quite different in age.

And I was very proud of her.

I was proud of her when I

knew her as a young man.

But as a man, I became

even more proud of her.

Because she was helping

someone get back on their feet

who had a lot of talent.

[Paul] His life was

restored by Helen.

And it was joy to watch.

He had his own group.

He was playing, was producing.

And he was living.

[Bennie] We would get together

sometimes at his apartment--

at their apartment, actually.

Lee would call me.

He'd say, "Why don't you come

over and we'll have dinner?

So I said, "Okay."

This apartment they had

was beautiful.

It was immaculate.

Helen took care of the house.

You know, she would

fix us a nice dinner.

We would sit down

and have dinner.

And then after dinner,

Lee would, you know,

want to go out.

Because he liked to go out

and hear other musicians.

So we would leave.

Helen would say,"No, I'm

not going with you guys,

because you're going

to be out too late.

I just want to stay here.

It would be good to

get him out of here

so I could be here by myself."

She was like, "Take him away."

[laughs]

That kind of thing.

So he said, "I'll be back."

But it was always fun.

[Paul] And so

during that time, I said

"What Lee needs now

is not only the support

that he gets from

his home, from Helen,

but he needs to be put in

with a group of young people

who are aspiring to be

like him, artistically.

So I brought him in to

Jazzmobile Workshop.

[vocalizing]

[Lee] I would teach

anybody who wants it.

It's mostly designed

for youngsters,

but anybody who wants to come.

It's not really teaching.

We've had, like,

arrangements for big bands,

small bands, whatnot.

And these are donated by,

say, by Thad or Benny Golson,

or Oliver Nelson,

Wayne Shorter.

You know, our top writers.

And they get a chance to play.

Some of the more talented ones

are trying to write themselves.

And we kind of

evaluate their things,

you know.

I notice a lot of times

I'm talking to them,

and I'll say something or

mention something

that might have happened in

the 50s or something,

talking about Clifford Brown...

And he'll be looking at me

with a puzzled look.

And I realize that here,

I'm talking to a kid

that's only 15 years old.

To him, I'm ancient.

You see what I'm trying to say?

[Paul] These young kids,

they loved him.

And they were soaking up

all that he had to offer.

And he wanted to give and

give and give and give.

[jazz music playing]

[Lee] I find that

the essence of creativity

is the newness of things.

And the only way

to keep things new

is to have constant

changes in environment

and surroundings and people.

And that's the thing

that is so exciting about

being a jazz musician.

[jazz music playing]

[Lena] Wow.

[chuckles]

Man, Lee.

That's the fun.

That's what I saw a lot of.

That's the fun stuff.

Fooling around.

Yeah, I like that one.

I met Lee Morgan

in the late 1950s

in Atlantic City, New Jersey

when my family

was working down there

in the different clubs,

in the cabaret clubs,

preceding the casinos.

And Lee Morgan

was at the Cotton Club

with the Cookers,

his own group.

When we hung out,

we'd go to the movies,

we'd get popcorn,

we'd spill it.

He'd laugh just like a kid.

And I liked him because

he was so down-to-earth.

He called himself Howdy Doody.

That was a private joke

we had between us

because he had big ears

like Howdy Doody,

which was a doll clown

years ago.

And so he says,

"I'm Howdy Doody."

And he'd called me

Baby Huey because

I had kind of big butt.

He says,"Let's go up to

the Blue Note and let's

pick out some albums,

and we'd just listen to them."

And at that time in my car,

I had an 8-track in my car.

That's as big as

a VHS now, you know,

this big thing and

you put it in your car.

And we would ride around

listening to music.

Go down by

the West Side Highway,

end up at

the George Washington Bridge,

and listen to music.

Nothing fancy, just hang out.

That's just what we did.

[jazz music playing]

[Helen] He ventured out often,

either at the train

at the Grand Concourse,

and I ain't going back

to New Jersey.

[jazz music playing]

Lee's kind of

seeing this girl.

You know what I mean?

Once he was got himself

straight, I warned him.

And then they were hangin' out.

She was--you know.

He had somebody to--

I started hangin' around.

And I'd go in the bathroom,

and they would be in there,

you know.

[Bennie] I got

a call from Helen.

And Helen was looking for Lee.

And Lee never

stayed out all night.

Never.

Generally, when he was out,

he was out with Helen.

Or he was out with me.

It would be like that.

And so she says, "I'm really

concerned about him

because he didn't

come home last night.

And he didn't call me.

So I don't know what

to think, if he's hurt

or, you know,

what's happening.

Have you seen him?"

And I told her,"No,

I haven't seen him."

So later in the day,

Lee called me.

And I told him that

Helen had called me.

He says, "Yeah, I know.

She was calling everybody."

And he said,

"I met this woman,

and there's a vibe

between this woman and I,

and I went to her house,

and I did not go home."

So I was like, "Wow."

[interviewer]

How old are you now?

[Lee] Thirty three.

[interviewer] Well,

you're still very young, man.

You've been around for years.

[Lee] Right.

Right, I started

with Dizzy at 18.

So that means last 15 years.

[interviewer] Mm-hmm.

That's like a lot to have

learned something from.

[Lee] Mm-hmm.

[Lena] Between Christmas

and New Years, when

the year 1972 came in,

we were hanging out in Jersey,

going to the local bar.

He was sh**ting pool

with my friends.

He just wanted to

be in New Jersey,

go to the diner that

stayed open all day,

East Orange Diner from

East Orange, New Jersey.

Go to the diner, you know.

And on New Year's Eve,

we were at my house.

No hanging out, no giggin',

no partyin', no nothing.

And we just crashed

watching the fish tank.

I had a 100-gallon-long

fish tank from my children.

Fish tank was like the center

of attraction in my house.

Because the fish

were really cool.

And he would sit there

mesmerized watching the fish.

He said, "I'm not

composing anymore."

I never bothered him.

I just wanted him to

search his own soul

and feel good about it.

Because of the addiction

and whatnot,

his sexuality was very, very,

very, very, very, very limited.

Almost non-existent

because of what

he had been through.

It didn't faze me because

we were good friends.

And that New Year's Eve,

he woke me up like 3

or 4 o'clock in the morning,

which was then

1972 had come in.

And he said something drastic

is getting ready to happen.

He said "I can feel it."

[jazz music playing]

[Billy] I heard from Lee

that we were supposed

to do a television recording

on this show called Soul.

This show featured jazz acts,

jazz performances.

And the audience was a lot

of young black listeners

who were really into jazz.

So this was a good one.

This was a good show, a good

event to participate in.

Good evening.

I'm your announcer, Jerry B.

And tonight on Soul,

trumpet star Lee Morgan,

Harold Mabern, Jymie Merritt,

Freddy Waits, Billy Harper.

Yeah, it was a nice set.

And it was good to have

the opportunity to, you know,

be on television at that time.

[applause]

Here is brother Lee Morgan

and the Quintet.

Now, we'd like to

do a brand new one.

This was composed by

our bassist Jymie Merritt,

and is dedicated to

sister Angela Davis.

The title, "Angela."

[Jymie] We recorded

a tune called "Angela,"

which was something

that Lee had asked me

to write for, you know,

write something for him.

And that seemed to be

something that needed

to be addressed at that time.

[Lee] You know,

I don't believe in

labels in music, period.

I don't even like

the word "jazz," really.

I think it's a bad word.

It's not a word

that we made up.

It's a word that we

were told what it was.

Just like we were told

that we are negroes,

or you know...

Same kind of thing.

If you ask me what would I

call our music, you know,

the best that I

could come up with

would probably be

"black classical music."

But then that's even

a broad term, you know?

[jazz music playing]

[Helen] He did

a television show,

and naturally, I was there.

But that didn't mean nothing!

Because when we left,

he was going on to her.

And I was going on to...

you know.

[applause]

"What you doin'?"

I said,

"I'm not one of those women

that you can talk to

wile I'm the main woman and you

got somebody outside that."

I said, "I'm not

built that way.

That's not me.

I never--no, no--

I'm no main woman

if you leavin' me here

every night by myself

and you out there

with somebody.

I'm not--

I also get up, told him

I had some friends in Chicago,

and I was going to visit them.

And I told him, I said,

"I'm going to Chicago.

I don't know

when I'll be back."

I said,"Because I

feel like something bad's

gonna happen out of this."

And that Sunday,

he begged me not to go.

He said, "No, no, don't go."

"Don't go to Chicago," he said.

I said, "Well,

you can't live--

I can't live like this.

I said it's not in me.

And I didn't go to Chicago.

And I told him, I said,

"You know, Morgan,

I'm making the biggest

mistake of my life."

[jazz music playing]

[newsreader] This is the news

in detail on the hour.

National Weather Service

warns the Nor'easter

currently hitting the city

could bring the biggest

snowfall of the winter.

Winds up to 40 miles an hour

and continued snow and sleet

are expected.

Again, high winds,

lows around 32

and a high temperature of 37.

Authorities advice you

to stay off the road

and stay indoors...

[Billy] So that night,

we had the gig at Slugs'.

Well in the first place,

Slugs', this was a real

raw saloon basically, you know.

I mean, when you go in there,

sawdust on the floor.

And then the stage in the back.

That was one of the places

where all the musicians

were playing at the time.

And so it had the reputation

of a place where you can

really hear the real cats.

I remember it was

a most difficult night.

It was a night that

started out, and then it

became something else.

It was a snow--

When we got there,

the snow was two feet high.

I remember because

I had to get out of there

with my instrument.

Then I went back to

Philadelphia the next day.

That was...

that was it.

[Lena] It was February 18th.

I met Lee for dinner.

And he liked the dress

that I had on.

I remember him talking about

my dress. "I like your dress."

And we ate.

And then I said,

"Well, it's going to

be a blizzard,

so I got to go

back to Jersey.

Because I ain't

drivin' in the snow."

He said, "Just take me up to

the Bronx, I'll get my horn,

and drop me off at Slugs'."

And that was the plan.

[Helen] And that Saturday,

I don't know

what possessed me.

I said, "I'm going to Slugs'."

He was working down there

that whole week.

I hadnt been down there

that whole week.

And a fella was stayin'

with me named Ed.

So Ed was g*y.

And Ed knew all

the musicians and

everything, you know.

And I said, "Ed, come on."

He said, "Don't go."

I said,"No, I'm goin'."

He said "I just don't

want you to go."

[Lena] As you may know,

up in the Bronx, a lot

of streets are cobblestone.

And we slid

on the cobblestone

and totaled my car.

So we got the--

we didn't get hurt, though.

We had our fur coats and

we were all bundled up.

It was near

the Grand Concourse.

He went upstairs

and got his horn.

I said, "Well, I got

to get back to Jersey."

My car was totaled.

It was maybe four or five

inches of snow by then.

Going down in the cab, going

down from Grand Concourse

stand to Slugs'.

Now we're talking about

seven, eight inches of snow.

He said,"I can't not go

on the stand because I'm

the leader, it's my group."

And he was flashing back

to when he was strung out,

and lots of times

he didn't show up.

He said,"I can't

let them down."

So I went in.

I sat by the door, because

if I could get a cab,

I was going to

get out of there.

[Jymie] That night was

pay night.

And Lee was late getting there.

And when he came in,

he rushed right

to the bathroom.

He had to throw up.

He had just--his car

had just totaled.

He had totaled his car

on the way to work.

[Helen] I said, "I'm just

going to stop in Slugs'

and say hello."

And then I'd gone over to

the band guy named Freddy.

A guy Cam I met down there.

And I went in Slugs', went in.

[jazz music playing]

[Billy] You know,

while we were playing,

he said,"Don't look now

but Helen just came in."

I didn't know there was

a big problem with them

at the time.

But when I look back,

you know, it was like a movie.

The doors flung open

and there was Helen.

[Lena] It was crowded

for it to be a blizzard.

Um, Helen came to the door.

He was not sitting with me,

I was sitting by the door

so I could see

out the window,

waiting for a cab.

"I'm here for the draw."

That's what Helen said,

"I'm here for the draw."

She said it real loud.

He said, "You want a draw?"

Which would be,

musicians get a draw.

They can draw money

out of their pay.

And whatever, I didn't

even hear the argument.

I knew something was going on.

[Paul] It was snowing outside.

And I and my lady decided

we're going to run down

to Slugs' and catch Lee.

As I walked in,

Helen approached me.

And she says, "Paul,

could you go and talk

to your friend, Lee?

And, because he's got

his little girlfriend here.

And I feel very uncomfortable

with her being here,

and she shouldn't be here."

I said okay.

So I walked over to him.

He was at the bar and

talking to this little lady.

"Lee," I said,"look.

Your wife is here.

And I don't know who

this young lady is.

But I think you ought to take

her outside, put her in a cab,

and send her home."

"All right, okay,

all right, we'll do it."

You know, that was

his attitude at the time.

And so his wife then

came and sat with us.

[Helen] Morgan came

where I was.

We was talking.

The girl walked up.

And she said,

"I thought you wasn't

supposed to be with her

anymore," or something.

"I'm not--

I'm not with this b*tch,

I'm just telling her

to leave me alone."

And about that time,

I hit him.

And when I hit him,

I didn't have on my coat

or nothing but I had my bag.

He threw me out the club.

Winter time.

The g*n fell out the bag.

He's the one who

bought me the g*n.

I couldn't get it myself.

And I got up.

So my lady said to me, "Paul,

Helen is outside in the snow.

Her coat is here.

Why don't you

take her coat to her?"

And she comes in.

[Lena] Lee was getting ready

to go back up there,

play "Angela" for Angela Davis.

And he was getting ready to

go back up and Helen came in.

Helen is walking

and I'm walking,

we're both walking

toward each other,

and Lee is in the middle.

And she once again

taps Lee on his shoulder,

but she has her hand

in her pocketbook.

And taps him, and

Lee turns around.

And bam!

And I said, "What is that?"

You know, we're looking up.

Lee's still standing up,

and I thought maybe--

I don't know what happened.

Maybe somebody shot something

in the air or something.

It was just pop-pop.

Pop--one pop, I don't know.

And, um, and he fell.

[Helen] Yeah,

I lost it, I lost it.

I said,

"I couldn't have did this.

I couldn't have did this.

This must be a dream.

And I'mma wake up."

[sirens wailing]

[Paul] The police

came right away.

But in--I don't know

whether it was because

of the bad weather,

the ambulance took almost

an hour to get to the club.

I think he could

have been saved.

It took such a long time

for the ambulance to come.

[Jymie] E verybody

walked away--

I don't know,

I never walked back.

I never--I don't know...

I was never able to go

down that street again.

Didn't get back to New York.

[jazz music playing]

[Lena] I went with him

to the hospital,

sitting in this

big empty Bellevue,

and ran to see by myself.

After a while, I saw them come

out of the ER with a big bag,

they were dragging it

on the floor.

And there was blood--

there was nobody there but Lee.

And I just walked over,

over to it.

I knew he was gone.

[newsreader] Well-known

trumpet player, Lee Morgan

was fatally shot

during a Saturday morning

in an East Village jazz club.

Police said the 33-year-old

Morgan had quarreled earlier

with his wife, Helen Morgan,

who shot the musician

once in the chest after he

completed the late night set

at Slugs' Jazz Club.

Police have arrested

Mrs. Morgan,

who is due to be arraigned

in Manhattan criminal court.

No further statements

have been issued.

We had a memorial service

over in Philadelphia.

And, uh...

And they buried him

in Philadelphia.

And that was a very sad time.

That was--that was...

the end of a beginning.

[Bennie] I cried most of

the day that day.

And I hadn't cried,

you know, in ages.

I don't remember

crying like that.

And then I was curious about

what happened to Helen.

And then I heard

that, of course,

the police had arrested her,

taken her to jail.

And I never saw her again.

[Helen] And it came down,

you know.

My kids is upset.

They don't know what to think.

They don't know what

to think, you know?

I had to go to court.

And then when we went

to jail, I sat there.

And I was just sitting there.

She was, for a while

there, I mean, she just--

it was almost like

she wished she had

shot herself instead of him.

And then trying to

get her out, trying to

get a lawyer,

all those kind of things--

it was pretty hectic.

The lawyer made

arrangements for her

to plead guilty to

second-degree manslaughter.

And I think within two

or five years' probation.

That's what she

pleaded guilty to.

[serene music playing]

She had to get permission to

leave the state of New York.

We drove down, probably

it was in 1974 or '75,

somewhere along then.

We took her down.

So she wanted to go visit.

And that was

the first time that she had

been back down there.

And she took me

to the house, the country,

I think where I was born.

She really seemed to be

visiting her childhood

when we was there.

Because she was--

you know,

you're able to walk without

shoes on when you're

in the country, you know.

And walking, and--

And she is talking about all of

the things that she remembered.

Because all she could

visit in that place

was her childhood,

because she had no other

connections to it.

And then she wound up

moving back there.

She moved down to Wilmington.

She became active

in the church.

I don't want to use

the word "religious"

because that wasn't her.

But she still had

this thing in her

about the taking of a life.

It's like she

had to help folks

from that point on.

She had to help folks.

And she did a lot of cooking

in a home for people, you know,

for the church and whatever

because they loved her cooking,

and she was traveling

with the bishop.

She moved right into

the church, and became

a celebrity in the church.

And how could I say--

she found her salvation.

[Helen] I was

over there in Rikers.

And I said, "Well,

Helen, you got to

get yourself together.

It's done.

You done put yourself

in it now.

You got to get

your mind--

you got to get yourself

together mentally

to accept what you've done."

And the lawyer came over

and talked to me.

He came to see me.

[child] Sweet grains.

[Helen] Oh, okay.

And he said that

what was going on,

he was waiting for

the right lawyer.

And--

[man] Hey, little guy.

How you doin'?

[high-pitched noise]

[Larry Thomas] And then

her grandson walked in.

So we had to

stop the conversation

at that point.

We had to stop

the conversation.

So at that point, I said,

"Can I come back and finish?"

You know, because we really

weren't finished.

And she said, "Sure."

And that was in February, 1996.

And March, 1996, she died.

[Billy] I just

couldn't believe it.

All the musicians were,

of course,

just befuddled.

Didn't know what to think.

Because they were

both together.

They were always

the people who we

related to, both of them.

[Larry Ridley] I was mad

for a long time.

You know, "How can she

do that to my brother,

Lee Morgan," you know.

"If I ever see her,

I don't know,

I'm gonna give her

a piece of my mind."

You know, I was really angry.

I went through that

for a while.

And I was always wondering,

"What am I going to do

when I finally come

in contact with her?"

And it was interesting because

I was playing at a club

called the Needle's Eye.

And this is after she

finally got out of jail

and she was released.

And she was in the club.

And I was playing there.

And she came there specifically

to see me because she--

you know, we were all

very close, you know.

And I had all this anger

that had been built up.

And when I saw her,

and the expression

on her face ,

and the vibe I got from her,

I couldn't do anything

but open my arms open.

And she came and just started

hugging me and she was crying.

And she said,

"Larry, I'm so sorry.

I'm so sorry.

I didn't mean to do it."

That's what she said to me.

And you know, like,

all of that anger

and everything just went away.

[jazz music playing]

[Paul] I was--

I was very angry.

That was my first response,

anger.

I was angry at her

for having committed this act

on somebody

I consider a friend,

and someone who

contributed so much

in his short life,

to our music.

That was my initial feeling,

one of anger.

And yet...

I had a feeling of compassion.

Because I realized that

this was the woman

who literally picked

this man up out of the gutter.

I mean literally, the gutter.

And made it possible for him

to function again as an artist,

as a human being.

[Wayne] Sometimes I am

talking to people now,

and I would say to them,

"You should have

known Lee Morgan,"

you know.

They'll see a picture of him

and say, "Who's this?"

I'll say,"His name

is Lee Morgan."

[jazz music playing]

[jazz music playing]