Howard McGhee (b March 6, 1918 Tulsa, OK - d July 17, 1987 NYC) Bebob jazz trumpeter known for lightening fast fingers and very high notes. McGhee was raised in Detroit. McGhee was briefly in bands for Lionel Hampton, Andy Kirk, Count Basie and Charlie Barnet. Drug problems sidelined McGhee for much of fifties but resurfaced in the sixties appearing in many George Wein productions. His career sputtered again in the mid sixties and didn't record again until 1976. A few of his recordings are still available. Lionel Hampton (April 20, 1908 - August 31, 2002), was a bandleader, jazz percussionist and vibraphone virtuoso. ... Andy Kirk (May 28, 1898 - 1992) was a jazz bass saxophonist. ... William Count Basie (August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was a jazz pianist, organist, and bandleader. ... Charles Daly Barnet (October 26, 1913 – September 4, American jazz saxophonist and bandleader. ...
During 1945-49 HowardMcGhee was one of the finest trumpeters in jazz, an exciting performer with a sound of his own who among the young bop players ranked at the top with Dizzy Gillespie and Fats Navarro.
He was with Charlie Barnet (1942-43), returned to Kirk (where he sat next to Fats Navarro in the trumpet section) and had brief stints with Georgie Auld and Count Basie before traveling to California with Coleman Hawkins in 1945; their concise recordings of swing-to-bop transitional music (including "Stuffy," "Rifftide" and "Hollywood Stampede") are classic.
McGhee stayed in California into 1947, playing with Jazz at the Philharmonic, recording and gigging with Charlie Parker (including the ill-fated "Lover Man" date) and having an influence on young players out on the Coast.
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