Music
Howard McGhee
1918–1987 · jazz trumpeter, composer
One of the first bebop trumpeters, born in Tulsa and raised in Detroit, who later recorded with Charlie Parker and inspired Fats Navarro.
- Born
Tulsa, Oklahoma- Died
New York City, New York
aged 69- Also known as
- Maggie
- Detroit years
- 1920s–c. 1940
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Howard McGhee was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and grew up in Detroit, where he came of age in the city's thriving Black music scene of the 1930s. He started on reed instruments before settling on the trumpet and worked in territory and local bands until the swing era's big bands came calling. In the early 1940s he played with Lionel Hampton and Andy Kirk, whose band recorded his feature “McGhee Special”, and later with Count Basie and Charlie Barnet. Fascinated by the new harmonic language of bebop, he became one of its first trumpet voices, alongside Dizzy Gillespie. In 1946 he took a band to Los Angeles, where he worked and recorded with Charlie Parker, and his fast fingering and brilliant high notes influenced younger players, especially Fats Navarro. After years of struggle with addiction, he returned to performing and recording from the 1960s onward.
Highlights
- Among the first bebop trumpeters, with Dizzy Gillespie
- Played with Lionel Hampton, Andy Kirk, Count Basie and Charlie Barnet
- Recorded with Charlie Parker in Los Angeles (1946–1947)
- Major influence on Fats Navarro