On a snowy evening in 1972, trumpeter Lee Morgan was shot
dead between sets in the New York club, Slug’s, where he was playing. Morgan
was 33.
Kasper Collin’s recent documentary looks at the life, and
especially death, of one the stars of the Blue Note stable. It’s established
from the opening scenes that Lee’s wife, Helen Morgan, fired the shots which
killed him, the film then retraces the route to that point using interviews
with friends, fellow musicians and, crucially, Helen herself, who finally gave
an interview in 1996 to Larry Reni Thomas - a jazz fan, radio announcer and
fellow high school teacher – years after he first requested it and only a month
before she died. This revealing taped conversation is central to the film.
Those wanting a blow by blow account of Lee Morgan’s
music career will perhaps be disappointed. This isn’t one of those type of
films. Yes, we hear how he was a confident star in Dizzy Gillespie’s band at a
young age and how he played with Art Blakey but there’s precious little else. There
are snatches of music of course (all untitled on screen) but viewers wishing a
full insight into his musicianship, recording sessions, legacy and landmark
recordings will need to look elsewhere. His classic, The Sidewinder, one of the most recognisable jazz numbers of the
60s, which unexpectedly dented the pop charts, and a “gateway” track for many (one
of the first proper jazz records I liked: bluesy, soulful, with an understated
finger-snapping funk; and by “proper” I mean without a Hammond organ, that
always felt like cheating) isn’t even get mentioned. In fact, almost no
individual tracks are mentioned and only a few covers of the dozens of albums
he made briefly appear on screen.
I Called Him Morgan
is instead a portrait of two people: Lee and Helen, who both lived fascinating
lives and conscious of its focus, it’s simply told. There’s no voice over narration
or, like so many music documentaries these days, gimmicky animation to flesh
out the lack of artist footage (not that there’s much of that here either) nor
mercifully, unlike recent movies based on fellow trumpeters Miles Davis and
Chet Baker, will you cringe at hammy acting or clunky dialogue. This sensitive study
examines what led to the tragedy in Slug’s and gently tries to make sense of it
through the reminiscing of uniformly engaging interviewees. It’s almost like a
murder mystery except there’s no mystery over whodunnit and, without spoiling
it, the New York cops hardly needed to give Columbo a call to discover the
motive.
I Called Him Morgan
draws attention to Lee Morgan once again. We know what happened in the end, the
fun part now for new listeners is discovering all the music he left behind (there's a lot). Oh
Lee, just one more thing, where did you get that amazing coat?
I Called Him Morgan
is now available on Netflix.
