I Called Him Morgan

Having never heard of Lee Morgan this was an interesting story, but the construction was very by- the-numbers. A standard talking head movie that relied on a tape made in the 90's that sadly didn't illuminate enough to really get a sense of the complete tale. Had this been made when more people involved were alive, it might have been stronger, but they made do with what they had and I can't fault them for that. An interesting TV documentary show episode and about at that level technically. Jazz fans check it out.

I agree with the positive reviews of this movie, and simply want to add my appreciation for how human-centered it is. It is not simply a collection of names, dates, and music samples, like many other Jazz documentaries. The latter, too, are essential, however this documentary is largely about people who were simultaneously creating jazz culture and being shaped by both it and their fellow denizens of that world. Prior to watching this movie I had known only that Morgan's wife shot and killed him, and was very surprised to see her treated with compassion by the documentarian, as well as by various people who were there at the time and were friends with her and Morgan.

There is a lot to be learned about jazz from watching this film, but it's ultimately its poignancy which make it so compelling.

This was very good. It really set the mood for time periods of the 50s, 60s, and 70s, and of course it was very informative on the music and personal life of Lee Morgan, a great jazz trumpet player. Great interviews with his fellow band members and wife also.

I recently started listening to Lee Morgan's wonderful music but didn't know anything about him. This documentary is a great look into his career, his storied relationship with his wife, and the events surrounding his death. Unfortunately, the documentary doesn't have an abundance of photos or clips to work with. They do a pretty good job working with what they have, but it does make me wonder if the length should have been cut given the gap of artifacts to use. I also wonder why they didn't dive more into Morgan's childhood.

If you love and understand real jazz--and especially if you love the long-ago New York City that gave birth to bebop and hard bop--there is nothing out there like this film. It is also fitting that a non-American made it, given that the United States has so turned its back on its greatest artistic creation and the musicians who created it. (Just compare this film with the shameful recent American documentary about Trane--with its pandering casting of Denzel Washington as narrator and utterly stupid and irrelevant choices of people to interview (Bill Clinton? Carlos Santana? Common? Cornell West? John Densmore?). From the late-night Larry Thomas jazz radio program and New York City snowfall and that opens I Called Him Morgan(and hey, whatever happened to that snow? It seems to have disappeared along with the jazz scene),the interviews with jazz musicians of Lee Morgan's time (one of whom who objects to the term "jazz," aptly preferring "black classical music"), and with it's beautifully paced rendering of acompelling American story of love and pain...for someone like me, who lived through all of that, it just could not have been better.