Frank Morgan disappears

December 15, 2007 5:46 AM

Frank Morgan died yesterday. He was 73. Interview. Some sounds. (another beautiful american saxophone stylist).
posted by nicolin (21 comments total)

Wow, never heard of him til this post, but I haven't exactly kept up with everybody on the jazz scene, that's for sure. I see he spent a lot of years in prison on drug convictions. Damn. And here he was, touring like crazy and real busy in his last years. I reckon he was no slouch, playing with drummer Billy Hart and all. Thanks for the post, nicolin, and thanks for linking to my recent sax players post as well.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:58 AM on December 15, 2007

♪
posted by Smart Dalek at 6:44 AM on December 15, 2007

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posted by Henry C. Mabuse at 6:54 AM on December 15, 2007

You beat me to it. WFCR announced his death and was playing his music yesterday evening (they have a great jazz program) before any of the news media reported it. He's an amazing case of a miraculously resurrected career, and if he hadn't lost all those years to smack, he'd have a much more prominent place in jazz history. Thanks for the post.
posted by languagehat at 7:04 AM on December 15, 2007

My pleasure. BTW, as usual, there will be some posts on dime. There is one right now.
posted by nicolin at 7:08 AM on December 15, 2007

Loved him on M.A.S.H.
posted by Henry C. Mabuse at 7:17 AM on December 15, 2007

Man, he was so good as the Wizard of Oz. At least he'll live forever in reruns.
posted by Mike D at 11:03 AM on December 15, 2007

Loved him on Dragnet.
posted by ZachsMind at 11:03 AM on December 15, 2007

I dunno why, but I thought originally that Frank Morgan was the guy who played Father Jack on the tv show "Father Ted". I was wrong, and a little relieved, which made me feel guilty. I'm a bad person!
posted by newfers at 12:02 PM on December 15, 2007

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posted by doctor_negative at 12:09 PM on December 15, 2007

...Oh. My bad. Sowwy! I was thinking Harry Morgan, who's thankfully still alive, God bless his balding head. I was wrong, and a little relieved, which makes me feel guilty. I'm a bad person!
posted by ZachsMind at 12:18 PM on December 15, 2007

I'm an evil person. I don't feel guilty.
posted by Henry C. Mabuse at 12:42 PM on December 15, 2007

I take it back. I don't feel guilty. As Father Jack would say, "Feck! Feck! Arse! Girls!"
posted by newfers at 1:13 PM on December 15, 2007

Jesus, can you people go find some other thread to play in?

Anyway, the interview is great; his take on why he kept fucking up on drugs is a helluva free lesson for performers:

AAJ: Parker had just passed away, and there was a lot of talk about you being the new Bird. That's a lot of weight to put on a young man's shoulders.

FM: Too much. It scared me to death; I self-destructed. Every time they tried to send me to New York I'd go back to prison. It became my pattern to play as soon as I got out of jail, and then I would start using right away, and then I would stop playing, I was so afraid of New York, and being judged, I guess I was willing to do almost anything to keep it from happening, you know? Finally I just had to say, well, shit, I'm 52, 54 years old, I'm scheduled to open at the Village Vanguard [in 1986]. Leonard Feather had told me just before he passed, “You don't have to be afraid of anything, man. Just show up and do what you do, and the world will open up to you.” And Billy Higgins, who was right there in New York with me, told me, “Keep appearing, and not disappearing.” Billy was holding my hand, guiding me...We were recording live, and I didn't have time to rehearse for the record. I'd be doing interviews up until the time I was due at the club. But it was thrilling. Like a fairytale. It was my first time ever seeing New York.

Whew.
posted by mediareport at 3:50 PM on December 15, 2007

Loved him in Glory.
posted by ZachsMind at 6:10 PM on December 15, 2007

Jesus, can you people go find some other thread to play in?

Nope.
posted by newfers at 6:19 PM on December 15, 2007

I'm listening to "Mood Indigo" right now. It's a beautiful album. That man could play.

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posted by bigbigdog at 6:53 PM on December 15, 2007

If you have never tried it go to Pandora Radio and type in Frank Morgan.
posted by bjgeiger at 7:57 PM on December 15, 2007

I was ignoring the derails and noise, but after newfers' latest asshat comment I flagged them all. Grow up, for chrissake.
posted by languagehat at 6:19 AM on December 16, 2007

I don't even know what they're talking about.
posted by nicolin at 6:21 AM on December 16, 2007

As a resident of Taos, I have had the pleasure over the last few years of hearing Frank play at the Adobe Bar. It was sad though interesting to watch his body deteriorate yet his playing get better. I will miss these opportunities ... a world-class musician, standing 10 feet away from me, funneling his soul through his instrument.
posted by allelopath at 9:54 AM on December 17, 2007