JazzArts Charlotte celebrates the 82nd birthday of one of the most iconic figures in jazz, trumpeter Lee Morgan. Join us for an interactive Netflix Watch Party featuring the award winning documentary “I Called Him Morgan”. ”

This movie viewing will be followed by a live Zoom Q & A session with Larry Reni Thomas, Chapel Hill educator and jazz host who conducted the original interview with Helen Morgan before she passed away in 1996.

“I Called Him Morgan”: In this 2018 documentary film, decades after serving a prison sentence for killing jazz musician Lee Morgan, his common-law wife, Helen, reflects on their lives and his legacy.” ~Netflix

Once registered, you will receive directions on how to join us for both the movie viewing and the Q&A.

Note: to watch via Netflix Watch Party, you will need your own Netflix subscription. If you don’t have or want Netflix, watch at your leisure across the holiday weekend and join us at 8pm for the follow-up Q&A. You will find this movie on Amazon Prime and other sources.

Lee Morgan, born July 10 1938, was a trumpet prodigy recognized for his talents in his teens by Dizzy Gillespie. By 1960, he had recorded with legendary jazz musicians like John Coltrane, Tina Brooks, Dizzy Gillespie, and Art Blakey. One of the key hard bop musicians of the 1960s, Morgan came to prominence recording on John Coltrane’s Blue Train (1957) and joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in 1958. His song The Sidewinder cracked the pop charts in 1964, creating a crossover of jazz and R&B, and served as the background theme for Chrysler television commercials during the World Series. A recognized brilliant trumpeter, he recorded over 20 albums and leader and many more as sideman. Unfortunately, his fast-paced lifestyle led to a heroin addiction and ultimately an untimely death at age 33.  Biography  Listen to Sidewinder.

Larry Reni Thomas, a native of North Carolina, is a writer/ radio announcer/ lecturer based in Chapel Hill, who has worked at seven radio stations and whose journalistic work has appeared in downbeat magazine and The New York Times Magazine. Among many other publications, he wrote “The Lady Who Shot Lee Morgan,” an article that included an exclusive interview with North Carolina native, Helen Morgan, who killed the 33-year-old jazz trumpet legend in 1972. Later, Larry published a book called The Lady Who Shot Lee Morgan (KHA Books, 2014). He was named Jazz Hero in 2014 by The Jazz Journalists Association; received the Fifth Annual Donald Meade Legacy Jazz Griot Award at The Jazz Education Network (JEN) conference in 2016, and has been a participant in the downbeat magazine jazz critic poll since 2012. Thomas is also the host of “Sunday Night Jazz” on WCOM-FM, Chapel Hill-Carrboro, North Carolina. Interview of Larry.