To commemorate International Jazz Day 2023 , I nominated Lee Morgan’s “The Sidewinder” for listing on the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress. Established in 2002 as part of the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, the National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” The registry includes music, spoken word and historic speeches.
Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced the Class of 2024 on April 16, 2024. I scrolled the list with trepidation. When I saw Lee Morgan’s “The Sidewinder,” I jumped up in stunned disbelief.
A record 2,899 nominations were submitted for this year’s class. “The Sidewinder” is among the 25 audio recordings selected for preservation in the Library of Congress’ sound collection.
We will celebrate the listing on International Jazz Day 2024 when Edward Lee Morgan’s historical marker is unveiled.
The dedication ceremony is free and open to the public. To register for the unveiling, please go here.
In an opinion piece published in the Philadelphia Inquirer for African American Music Month 2023, I noted that keyed bugle player, bandleader and composer Francis “Frank” Johnson toured the United States, and was the first Black musician to tour Europe.
I stand corrected. As electric guitarist, music educator and musicologist Tyler Diaz made clear during a recent concert and roundtable discussion at the Museum of the American Revolution, Frank Johnson was the first American to travel to Europe as a working musician.
Sometime during the 1810s, Johnson was introduced to the Keyed Bugle, an immediate predecessor to the trumpet. With the mastery of this new instrument paired with his noted virtuosity on the violin, Johnson began his rise to national acclaim.
[…]
They [Johnson and band members] became the first Americans to travel to Europe as working musicians. The goal was to come back to Philadelphia with new music and increased musicality. After successful concerts in London and a possible trip to Paris, he returned stateside on May 16th, 1838, surpassing the goal he set out in his ad with great reception.
Johnson is sometimes referred to as the forefather of jazz and ragtime. I am struck by the similarities between Frank Johnson and Lee Morgan.
Both musicians were born in Philadelphia and masters of their chosen instrument. The keyed bugle is an early version of the modern trumpet. Johnson and Morgan were “universally respected” and “celebrated personages of Philadelphia.” Frank and Lee oozed confidence and cool.
They will soon have a historical marker in common. Frank Johnson’s historical marker was installed in 1992.
Lee Morgan’s historical marker will be unveiled on April 30, 2024, International Jazz Day. The dedication ceremony is free and open to the public. To register for the unveiling, please go here.
Billie Holiday was born at Philadelphia General Hospital on April 7, 1915. Located in the Black Bottom, the public hospital was the “hospital of choice” for African American women during the Great Migration.
WKCR is hosting a special birthday broadcast in honor of Lady Day. You can listen to the 24-hour broadcast on 89.9 FM or stream it live here.
My appreciation for Billie Holiday is well-documented. I made some noise when I found out that Lady Day was not honored on Philadelphia’s Walk of Fame. I ruffled some feathers but Billie got her plaque.
It’s Lady Day’s heavenly birthday but April 2024 is Lee Morgan Appreciation Month. So I want to note that a little over a year after graduating from Jules E. Mastbaum Area Vocational Technical School, the trumpet virtuoso was performing with the Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival. Lee was on the same stage as Billie Holiday.
Jazz Appreciation Month, also known as JAM, is an annual celebration held in April to honor and promote jazz and its cultural significance. JAM was conceived by the National Museum of American History in 2001.
Women in Jazz Month is celebrated annually in March. It is a time to recognize and honor the contributions of female vocalists, composers, bandleaders, and instrumentalists. Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan are jazz icons who are ensconced in the GRAMMY Hall of Fame.
With a voice that evokes Ella and Sarah, 24-year-old Samara Joy McLendon has already achieved GRAMMY recognition.
Samara Joy won the 2023 GRAMMY awards for Best Jazz Vocal Album and Best New Artist for her second album, “Linger Awhile.”
Samara Joy won the 2024 GRAMMY for Best Jazz Performance for “Tight.”
Samara Joy co-wrote the soulful and defiant “Why I’m Here” featured in the Netflix film “Shirley.”
With a voice that belies her age, listening to Samara Joy is, well, a joy.
Augusta Savage was a sculptor and arts educator, and an important figure in the Harlem Renaissance. She founded the Savage Studio of Arts and Crafts in Harlem, where she mentored and inspired many well-known Harlem Renaissance artists including Ernest Crichlow and Jacob Lawrence.
Like her monumental work, Savage’s story was almost lost to history. “The Harp” was created for the 1939 New York World’s Fair. The design was inspired by James Weldon Johnson’s poem “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” also known as the Black National Anthem. Viewed by more than five million people, Savage’s sculpture was destroyed during the cleanup after the fair ended.
American Masters Shorts‘ documentary, Searching for Augusta Savage, recently premiered on PBS. The filmmakers said they “‘wanted to investigate why evidence of Savage’s accomplishments and her work appear to be erased. We wanted to know how someone so accomplished, so enterprising and so celebrated during her lifetime, could be missing from the annals of American history and the museum landscape.”
Monumental Women has launched a campaign to recreate “The Harp.” For more information, go here.
I want to kick off Women’s History Month with Claudette Colvin who on March 2, 1955 refused to give up her seat to a white woman while riding a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. The school student refused to move to the back of the bus when ordered by the bus driver. Claudette’s defiance led to her arrest. She was charged with violating Montgomery’s segregation ordinance, disturbing the peace and assaulting a police officer.
Claudette was a member of the NAACP Youth Council but the civil rights organization did not want the rebellious teenager to be the face of the bus boycott. Respectability politics forced the 15-year-old to take a back seat to Rosa Parks who nine months later similarly refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus.
Claudette was one of the four plaintiffs in the court case that challenged segregation on Alabama buses. The case, Browder v. Gayle, went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court which on November 13, 1956 ruled Alabama’s segregated bus system violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Montgomery Improvement Association voted to end the 381-day Montgomery bus boycott on December 20, 1956.
Colvin was almost lost to history but she is getting her flowers.
Sixty-six years after her arrest, Colvin’s record was expunged. A Black man, Judge Calvin Williams, signed the order to seal and destroy her juvenile court records.
Lee Morgan’s life was tragically cut short 52 years ago. Lee lingers in our hearts and memories. His game-changing album, “The Sidewinder,” captivated the public and rescued Blue Note Records from the brink of bankruptcy.
The title track was a rare crossover hit on the pop and R&B charts. “The Sidewinder” album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2000.
As we celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month in April, let us honor Lee Morgan’s enduring legacy. Join us on International Jazz Day for the unveiling of his historical marker at the former site of the Aqua Lounge on West Philly’s famed 52nd Street commercial corridor.
Edward Lee Morgan will take his rightful place alongside John Coltrane and Billie Holiday with a historical marker in Philadelphia.
Brother Malcolm X was gunned down at the Audubon Ballroom on February 21, 1965.
The Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center is hosting an evening of prayers, performances and reflections to commemorate the 59th anniversary of the assassination of “our own black shining prince,” El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz.
During a community celebration of Lee Morgan, I felt like a contestant on the TV show “Name That Tune” except that I already knew the name of the tune. I was unexpectedly stumped by a seemingly innocuous question: Why did Lee Morgan name his smash hit “The Sidewinder?”
I had a vague recollection but not a good answer. So after the event, I asked my research assistant, ChatGPT, why the tune is titled “The Sidewinder.” As is their wont, the chatbot hallucinated:
“The Sidewinder” is a well-known jazz composition by trumpeter Lee Morgan, released in 1964. The title of the song is believed to have been inspired by a dance move called “The Sidewinder” that was popular at the time.
The dance move involved a sideways shuffle or sway, often accompanied by a swinging motion of the hips. It was a trendy dance step in the early 1960s, particularly in urban dance clubs and social gatherings.
A Facebook friend said the title “was inspired by a TV show that he used to watch.” And then the light bulb went off. The answer was right in front of me. In the album liner notes,” Lee told Leonard Feather: “The tune kind of put me in mind of the sidewinder – you know, the ‘bad guy’ on television.”
Lee never identified which TV show or bad guy. Popular Westerns in the 1950s and early ‘60s included “Gunsmoke,” “Have Gun, Will Travel,” “Rawhide,” “The Rifleman” and “The Virginian.” Lee’s nephew, Darryl Morgan Cox, told me his uncle liked “Bonanza.”
I asked ChatGPT about the bad guy on “Bonanza.” Their response:
That said, a few notable adversaries or recurring characters who caused trouble for the Cartwrights include:
Outlaws and Criminals: The show featured various episodes involving outlaws, bandits, and criminals who posed threats to the Cartwrights and their community.
Rival Ranchers: At times, the Cartwrights clashed with rival ranchers and landowners over disputes involving territory, water rights, or cattle.
Corrupt Officials: Occasionally, the Cartwrights faced challenges from corrupt lawmen, government officials, or individuals abusing their authority.
Personal Enemies: Some episodes explored conflicts arising from personal vendettas or longstanding feuds between characters.
Overall, while “Bonanza” did not have a central group of recurring “bad guys,” the show’s episodic format allowed for a variety of conflicts and adversaries to be introduced, contributing to its long-lasting popularity and appeal.
I was still curious about the dance move named the “sidewinder” so I prompted my other research assistant, Google Gemini:
It’s possible the “sidewinder” refers to a more specific dance within a particular dance community or cultural context. If you have additional information about where you encountered the term “sidewinder” dance, I might be able to provide more specific information.
It’s possible ChatGPT was tripping. The dance move the chatbot describes sounds like Aretha Franklin’s “Rock Steady.”
All That Philly Jazz 