# A legendary stand by the Lee Morgan Quintet finally sees full release, as ‘The Complete Live at the Lighthouse’: Video, Photos

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2021/06/04/legendary-stand-by-the-lee-morgan-quintet-finally-sees-full-release-as-the-complete-live-at-the-lighthouse-video-photos/
- Published: 2021-06-04T14:56:35+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**Lee Morgan as selected by our listeners — was a trumpeter who led his share of
combustible bands. When his _Live At The Lighthouse_ was first reissued in the U.
S. in 1996, many listeners had their first encounter with his working group of 1970,
featuring reedist Bennie Maupin and the piano-bass-drums rhythm team of Harold Mabern,
Jymie Merritt and Mickey Roker.**

That collection expanded the original double-LP release from four extended tunes(
each occupying one side of vinyl) to 13 tracks across three CDs. Morgan’s band was
a dynamically hard swinging quintet. They made their listeners feel every note as
they explored a unique songbook of original compositions based in blues, bop, modal,
odd meter and even a slight tinge of the avant-garde.

The liner notes for the 3-CD set contained a full chronological rundown of every
night’s set list. Ultimately, there were 12 sets recorded, and nearly four hours
of the Lighthouse material still remained unissued. Would fans of the group ever
get the chance to hear all of that material, as they had heard Miles Davis’ _The
Complete Plugged Nickel Sessions_ or Bill Evans’ _Turn Out The Stars: The Final 
Village Vanguard Recordings_?

The answer, finally, is yes. The Complete Live at the Lighthouse — a mammoth 12-
LP or 8-CD set containing every note the group played over three nights of recording—
will arrive July 30 on Blue Note Records. The label announced its release this morning,
and released one track from the set: a previously unreleased version of “The Beehive.”

Mabern wrote this song in dedication to a Chicago jazz landmark of the mid-1950s
that featured performances by the likes of Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown and Max
Roach. As Morgan’s band captures the spirit and lineage of those icons and one of
the many stages they soared from, the song is a showcase for their distinct group
language.

From the first beat of Mickey Roker’s take-no-prisoners drum intro through the tune’s
concluding fermata, all five musicians burn with a vengeance on “Beehive.” Whereas
the master version may have a firmer grasp on the melodic cues that trigger the 
chord changes during the solos, this “new” Beehive performance pushes a tad more
aggressively with the rhythm, sizzling with an even rawer energy.

There is certainly a jubilation in the swing of Mabern, Merritt and Roker — but 
there’s also a tension that carries through the entire performance. Performing in
California was often cited by musicians at the time as a respite from the intensity
of The Big Apple, but the playing on this track contains a New York pulse all the
way. Maupin, on tenor saxophone, is relentless. His muscular sound and knack for
combining rhythmic and exploratory sonic figures with the language of bebop distinguishes
him alongside contemporaries like Pharoah Sanders, Joe Henderson and Wayne Shorter.

![The 12-LP boxed set 'Live at the Lighthouse'](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/
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2Fleemorgan-thecompleteliveatthelighthouse-vinyl-product-shot.jpg)

After Maupin comes Morgan. Straight out of the gate, he starts his solo journey 
with the same rhythmic figure that Roker used to end his drum break. Next, the trumpeter
issues a dazzling combination of melodic fragments from the main melody that he 
recasts, pulls apart, and uses as launching pads for new ideas. Morgan was on the
tail end of recovering his embouchure after an incident a year or so earlier, but
he sounds firm and confident here. Most technically impressive are a few unbroken
lines that echo the wizardry of Clifford Brown.

Perhaps the most incredible peak of this performance contains an occurrence just
beneath the surface. When Morgan plays the cue that should announce the chord change,
he plays it in the original key instead of the new one. At this tempo and energy
level, Morgan’s move may have caused a bobble (or an all out wreck) with lesser 
players, but he’s in the best hands with this group. Mabern and Merritt stay with
Morgan in the original key and he pours out even more ideas until he slightly disguises
and recasts the cue again in the new key, and everyone moves seamlessly forward 
together. Morgan, Maupin, Mabern, Merritt and Roker are conducting the best possible
clinic here, and their covert chops and listening are just as strong as their overt
mastery.

![Lee Morgan in Hermosa Beach, 1970](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/
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2Fleemorgan-hermosabeach-byjoelfranklin.jpg)

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