Lee
Morgan
Sonic Boom
Lee Morgan, Trumpet
David "Fathead" Newman, Tenor Sax
George Coleman, Tenor Sax
Julian Priester, Trombone
Cedar Walton, Piano
Harold Mabern, Piano
Ron Carter, Bass
Walter Booker, Bass
Billy Higgins, Drums
Mickey Roker, Drums
Produced by 
Recorded at
Van Gelder Studio
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
Rudy Van Gelder, Engineer
Recorded April 14 and 28, 1967 and September 12 and October 10, 1969
Catalog Number:
7243 5 90414 2 1
Format: CD
Label: Blue Note Records |
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Click on tracks
 to hear sound samples.
1. Sneaky Pete (5:44)
2. The Mercenary (7:08)
3. Sonic Boom (6:15)
4. Fathead (5:25)
5. I'll Never be the Same (7:13)
6. Mumbo Jumbo (5:25)
7. Free Flow (4:48)
8. Stormy Weather (5:41)
9. Mr. Johnson (6:06)
10. The Stroker (5:44)
11. Uncle Rough (5:31)
12. Claw-Til-Da (3:03)
13. Untitled Boogaloo (5:35)
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Review
This is indeed a welcome curiosity. The 2003 version of Lee Morgan's Sonic
Boom was recorded in 1967, was not released until 1979, and then was quickly
deleted. When it was reissued on CD in the 1990s, it was only in print for
a short time as well. While one might think the third time is the charm,
you'd have to reconsider. Blue Note has made the set available as part of
its so-called connoisseur series, meaning it will only be available for
a limited time once more. Issued in glorious 24-bit remastered sound, Sonic
Boom is here re-released along with a huge bonus, a 1969 session that was
originally the latter half of the 1978 double-LP The Procrastinator. The
personnel here is completely different: on the earlier set, Morgan was accompanied
by Cedar Walton, Ron Carter, Billy Higgins, and David "Fathead"
Newman. On the latter, Julian Priester, George Coleman, Harold Mabern, Walter
Booker, and Mickey Roker are in the house. Sonic Boom showcases Morgan stretching
his hard bop pedigree to the breaking point, such as on tracks like "The
Mercenary," with its wide-open, nearly Latin groove. Walton's deep,
left-hand chord work offers a fat, open bottom for Morgan's solo to lift
off from. And it's directly to the piano that Morgan plays. On the title
cut, angular lines and a knotty head offer Higgins an opportunity to dance
all around the time. Newman's solo has an edgy urgency not usually associated
with him. Walton plays wild, syncopated chords in the middle, to which Higgins
reacts by triple-timing the band. On the 1969 session, Morgan's charts are
even more expansive. Coleman's "Free Flow" is blues that has mutated
into a post-bop cavalcade of sonances and intervals. Mabern's "Mr.
Johnson" is a minor-key masterpiece with the front line playing a long,
loping melody that enters the harmonic frame of Cuban folk music and son.
Coleman's solo is one of the most emotionally wrought in his recorded oeuvre.
Conversely, Priester's "The Stroker" is a funky, Latin-tinged
swinger with a lovely, physical solo by the trombonist and Morgan plays
some gorgeous fills as Roker bottles up the middle eight before splitting
the tune wide open in its last two minutes. Despite the great differences
in approach, these two sessions complement each other well; Morgan fans
would be well advised to snag this one before Blue Note yanks it from the
catalog once more.
–
Thom Jurek
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Cedar
FATHEAD
Lee
Morgan
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