THE SLAPPING CAREER OF BASSIST AL MORGAN 3

PART 3: In Boston with Sabby Lewis

Daily News, February 4, 1942

Sabby Lewis’s first stint (1942-1944)

Al Morgan evokes his first meeting with Sabby Lewis, in March 1942:

“Right after I closed at Jimmy Ryan’s, this fellow Sabby Lewis, from Boston, had a very fine little eight-piece swinging band. They were all fine musicians: they played a lot of modern, good swing music, see. So I met him—it was my closing week. We was one block apart: he was at Kelly’s Stable [since February], and I was down to Ryan’s. So I passed by, and I heard a little band swinging, so I walked in. I stood up there a long time, and the guys were all looking at me and laughing.

Sabby jumped on the occasion and immediately proposed that Al Morgan join his band and come to Boston because his own bassist was drafted by the US Navy.

Lewis says, “We’re having a rehearsal tomorrow, would you come down and rehearse with us?” I says, “Yes, gladly.” And he says, “No, stay in and play a set with us.” I said, “Well, all right. And I sat in with them and played a set, and man, and so they had a lot of music. They had plenty music; that’s all they did, was reading, you know. Heavy arrangements [by Jerry Heffron]. For a small group, they played; they sound like a big band, that big band sound.”

Al Morgan was settled in New York with all his jams and recording sessions. He was one of those renowned musicians among the jazz community. He was looking for stability and an easier living than the year he spent on the road with Les Hite. They agreed on a week tryout. It lasted a little bit more…

At this time, around the pianist and lead Sabby Lewis, the band included: Jackie Fields (ts), Ricky Pratt, Joe Booker (dm), Maceo Bryant (tp and tb), Charles Hawkins (tp).

Anyway, Al Morgan’s notoriety was high and Mel Powell asked him to join for a recording session on February 4, 1942 (Kansas Fields on drums): When Did You Leave Heaven? or Blue Skies are among the nicest pieces carved that day. Probably because Benny Goodman gets exquisite solos on clarinet…

The Afro-American, August 8, 1924

Starting April 6, the favorite local band is back to the Savoy in Boston for 8 weeks.

At this moment, a memorable night occurs there, as told by Frank Stacy in Down Beat, a year later (April 1, 1943):

“Of course, there were special nights which seemed even better than others.  One night, when the bands of Count Basie and Les Hite were in town, many of the guys from both bands came over to sit in.  I can remember seeing eight trumpets blasting away at One O’Clock Jump, while a yelling crowd tried to force its way into the Savoy when there wasn’t enough room left to squeeze in Pee Wee Russell after he’d been on a long diet.  The combined brass was so loud that it could be heard all the way up to the corner of Massachusetts Ave. and Columbus, almost a quarter of a mile away.”

Lewis manages to get his first recording date with Decca.  Unfortunately, the Petrillo Ban will forbid the band to record…  Nothing will be officially waxed before 1946—but Al Morgan will be there!

Among the notable happenings, the battle of bands between Sabby Lewis’ and Don Redman’ orchestras on July 2, 1942 at the Roseland State Ballroom in Boston. Another one will occur with Hot Lips Page’s orchestra the month after at the Elk’s Ballroom.

Sabby Lewis and His Orchestra during an appearance on NBC’s The Fitch Bandwagon (July 1942)
From left: Lewis (p), Al Morgan (b), Joe Booker (dm),
Elliott "Ricky" Pratt (ts), Eugene "Killer" Caines (tp), Jerry Heffron (ts), Maceo "Mack" Bryant (tp),
Jackie Fields (as), Charlie Hooks (tp), Valjean St. Cyr (tb), Evelyn White (v)
(Source: Mississippi Rag)

The main event is their winning at the Fitch’s Bandwagon Contest. The poll elected Lewis’s outfit as the most popular local band, entitling it to play for the Bandwagon program over 120 stations on NBC in July 1942. This certainly helped to open the door to the Savoy Ballroom but this time in Harlem on September 12.

The dramatic night of November 28, 1942, when the Coconut Grove burned killing 492 people was a major event that has led the authorities to suspend the entertainment licenses of most of jazz venues in Boston and stricter safety guidelines were executed.  Sabby Lewis had no choice but touring nearby.

They went first to the Famous Door in New York before spending two months (Feb-Mar 1943) in Toronto, at the Top Hat, and then flying back to their nest in Boston (July 1943) at the Savoy that just reopened at a new site.  As stated in the book The Boston Jazz Chronicles, Richard Vacca details Sabby Lewis’ itinerary:

“He stayed at the Savoy through 1946, often for months on end. These were some of his greatest bands, and they featured some of his greatest stars: saxophonists Bill Dorsey, Paul Gonsalves, Big Nick Nicholas (who gave music lessons in a studio above the club), Sonny Stitt and Jimmy Tyler; trumpeters Cat Anderson, Freddie Webster, and Idrees Sulieman (Leonard Graham); and Ray Perry playing both alto and violin, all driven by that rhythm section of Lewis, Al Morgan, and Joe Booker. When Booker left for a time, his first replacement was an 18-year-old Boston drummer named Roy Haynes, himself later replaced by Osie Johnson. The vocalist was Evelyn White. The airchecks and private tapes that have found their way on to record make it clear the Lewis band was something special during the war years.”

During the summer of 1943, organized jam sessions started at the Ken Club in Boston. It was a way to attract the New York players for weekly musical meetings with their Boston counterparts. There you could hear along with Al Morgan the likes of Red Allen, Kenny Clarke on drums, Sam Donahue on tenor and three members of Fats Waller’s band.

In fall 1943, Al Morgan’s taste for jam sessions hasn’t faded. On the contrary: at Boston’s new Harvard Jazz Club, he joins Frankie Newton and his bandstand mates Ricky Pratt, Arthur Karle (ts), Charlie Vinal (cl), Pinky Black (dm) and Art Rubin (p). Phil Young writes in Down Beat dated October 15, 1943: “The bash was one of the best, if not the best ever had locally.”

Al’s reputation is going higher thanks to Robert Goffin who, for The Esquire, ranks him in his dream all-American band in 1943.

February 17, 1944, Daily News

In early 1944, the 13-piece Sabby Lewis orchestra (consisting in Freddy Webster, Irving Randolph, Idrees Sulieman, tp; Maceo Bryant, Howard Scott, tb; George James, as; Jerry Heffron, George Nicholas, ts, George Fauntleroy, as, bs; Sabby Lewis, p; Al Morgan, b; Joe Booker, d; Evelyn White, voc) gets a very rewarding engagement at the New York Café Zanzibar (read our full-length article about it “The Home of Calloway”). Located right behind Times Square in the same block of former Cotton Club, the place is popular and famous and the greatest bands play there. Leonard Feather reviews the January 18 broadcast with an article titled “Not Shabby, Sabby”:

“Sabby has one of the few swing groups around today that manage to hit a happy medium in size, without sounding either like an over-sized small band or an under-sized big band. Credit for this can be distributed equally among the boys in general, for their clear performance, and Jerry Heffron in particular.

Jerry, the only ofay member of the outfit, and long a cornerstone of the band, plays tenor and writes the arrangements. The band’s books are crammed with his neat little originals and good arrangements of pops, most of which manage deftly to overcome the limitations of the instrumentation.

Evelyn White is still singing with the band, and singing very capably. Al Morgan, the bass man, is a featured vocalist nowadays too. He did Don’t Cry Baby in a very husky, almost laryngitic tone, but the results would have been very pleasant if his pitch had been more consistent.

Balance was very bad on parts of the original Hangover, with cymbals drowning out a trumpet soloist. Best thing on the fifteen-minute airing was the band’s groovy minor theme, in which the leader could be heard at the piano.

Sabby’s is one of the smoothest jump bands of its kind. If he can get his rhythm section to swing instead of plodding as it sometimes does, he’ll have something very exciting here.”

Only 2 tracks survived from those almost daily Zanzibar broadcasts. Dated March 29, 1944, it offers the band’s theme Boston Bounce and Embraceable You with an arrangement by Tadd Dameron. Find a way to get them and, on the first tune, you’ll hear some brilliant notes by Tadd’s good friend, trumpetist Freddie Webster (whose playing will remind you of the one he’ll later play with Cab).

About the Zanzibar engagement, Lewis confesses:

“I introduced Nat ‘King’ Cole to Marie Hawkins, who had worked with my band as a vocalist. He came back to see me. She came in to see the show, and she wanted to meet him, and I brought them together. They got married later. The time I spent at the Zanzibar was the high light of my whole career.”

An article by Ted Chandler published in the summer edition of Jazz Quarterly gives a review of the whole band with bad comments on the arrangements by Jerry Heffron and adds:

“That should not scare off the prospective customer, how-ever, because, despite the objectionable factors, there is so much of interest in the band as to minimize the faults. The rhythm section, for instance, is, all things considered, one of the most exciting that you are apt to hear. It contributes astounding drive and swing to the band, which is not hard to understand, considering that the bass player is Al Morgan. Al’s been with Lewis for nearly two years, ever since Sabby, on the band’s first trip to New York, wooed him away from Zutty Singleton. Naturally, Al is providential to Lewis— it’s impossible.to over rate the guy; he’s so immense you can’t say enough good about him. Joe Booker on drums, and Sabby’s own Basie-ish piano round out the section nicely, both being highly competent in their own right.”

Anyway, those Zanzibar notes are the last ones you can listen to Al Morgan with Sabby Lewis for his first stint. Louis Jordan has decided to hire him. They probably met while both were guests with the likes of Charlie Spivak and Sabby Lewis on a radio show last January 31, hosted by Kenneth Leslie over WOV. Its topic that evening: “Tolerance through music”.

One of the Tympany Five with Louis JORDAN

Al is hired by Louis Jordan (a month younger than him) in March 1944 to replace his bassist Jesse ‘Pop’ Simpkins, drafted by the US Navy. With some great recordings popular among the G.I.s (“Ration Blues”, “G.I. Jive”, “You Can’t Get That No More” “Mop! Mop!”…), Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five were everywhere! Even on Soundies with “G.I. Jive.” Morgan is at ease with Jordan’s lingo used daily by Cab in his days, and the jump-style jazz perfectly fits with Al’s playing and showmanship.

While Al Morgan was still working with Sabby Lewis, Louis Jordan got him for 3 recording sessions in New York on March, 1, 4 and 15, 1944.

Louis Jordan during the "Deacon Jones" sequence in "Meet Miss Bobby Sox" (1944)

In the same period, Louis Jordan hires Slick Jones, former Fats Waller drummer. Al and he will have to slip in the shoes of their predecessors. Their big debut will be at the Hollywood Trocadero on May 9 1944 for a month residency. Over two days they quickly shoot the “Deacon Jones” sequence for the movie “Meet Miss Bobby Sox”.  They appear on several radio shows such as Command Performance and record for the World Transcription Service.

An interesting recording session is the one with Bing Crosby duetting with Louis Jordan, on July 26 for My Baby Said Yes and the funny Fats Waller song Your Socks Don’t Match. As told by John Chilton in “Let the good times roll: the story of Louis Jordan and his music”, the idea was to record a “duet by two of Decca’s best-selling singers (one long-established and the other a recent addition).” Several titles ranked in top positions in the most played juke box race records (Billboard, Feb 24, 1945).

In July 1944, the Golden Gate Theater in San Francisco was sold out.

In a review of Louis Jordan’s concert at the Savoy Ballroom in Chicago, Down Beat (September 1, 1944) remarks that “Al Morgan considered one of the finest bass men still slapping the bass, fitted into the rhythm trio perfectly.”  Then went the Apollo Theater in October. The group was backed by George Hudson’s orchestra (including Clark Terry and Ernie Wilkins).

Like in January 1935 when trumpetist Edwin Swayze died suddenly in Cab Calloway’s orchestra, Al endured the sudden death of long-time Jordan’s pianist Arnold ‘Timmy’ Thomas, on October 26, 1944.

Within a year, Al will enter the recording studio with Louis Jordan 12 times and wax 30 titles—almost all successful. Louis’s infectious personality kind of reminds Al of his time with Cab Calloway. Leonard Feather writes that “He’s one of the few rare and fortunate people (like King Cole) who has managed to find a formula that is completely commercial without ever compromising or bastardizing his music.” (Metronome, Nov 1943). The stage recipe would have provided him more featuring, but more than with Cab, the frontman was the one and only star.

Only the movie Caldonia (1945) and its subsequent edited Soundies provide a good vision of what the role of Al was with his new boss. In the 18-minute movie “Caldonia”, produced by Astor Pictures, “Al Morgan executes the looping iconic bass line with stars in his eyes. (…) In 1946, Billboard reported that the film was “one of the few all-negro productions to get bookings in white theaters.” (in “Louis Jordan” by Stephen Koch). With its music and its visual appeal, “Caldonia” had probably a strong influence on the development of rock. And you can notice this from the very first bars, when Al Morgan starts the song with the same energy as he did more than 10 years ago with Cab. Every Tympany is ready for fun? For the Soundies “Tillie,” Al wears a clown outfit but doesn’t look to… be having so much fun in the end.

A rare 8x10 promo photo for Al Morgan,
isolated from Louis Jordan's Tympany Five (courtesy Dan Vernhettes)

The forthcoming months will prove him right… In the spring of 1945, Louis Jordan’s show was on another successful tour: Baltimore, Washington, Detroit, and Chicago were all-in sold-out venues. Yet, Louis was dissatisfied with the band’s performances. And he was also having a hard time with a sore throat. So, after performing in Chicago for two weeks, Louis went to the hospital for a tonsillectomy on May 17, 1945. This gave him a chance to completely reorganize his group. He fired everyone in the Tympany Five, including Al Morgan and started hiring new people. Louis said he was unhappy with the band’s performance and that they weren’t working together well, accusing them of lacking of co-operation. One reason Louis didn’t mention was that the band members didn’t like his controlling behavior. John Chilton confirms in Jordan’s biography:

“One of the reasons he did not cite was that this edition of the Tympany Five did not take too kindly to his dictatorial ways. As a result, some of the musicians questioned his right to govern their lives by calling extra rehearsals and insisting on having first call on their spare time. They were also keen to play solos and felt disgruntled at their subsidiary roles now that Louis was featuring himself on practically every number.”

When a critic pointed out that the group’s leader was always in the spotlight, the other musicians agreed with him, even if they didn’t say it publicly. Musicians earned good money but this wasn’t enough anymore to calm their discontent. However, word spread among musicians that Louis didn’t want any musician to be the center of attention—which is contradictory when you hire such a showman as Al Morgan!

Jordan’s former bassist Jesse Simpkins eventually replaced Al Morgan, leaving him with enough reputation to find a new job in a snap. That was easy: Sabby Lewis was longing for him.

Sabby Lewis and His Orchestra feel good at home, at the Café Savoy, Boston (1946).
Notice Paul Gonsalves on tenor sax (left)

Sabby LEWIS’s second stint (1945-1949)

Having your extended portrait written in an important magazine such as Jazz Record might mean something for any musician.  21-year-old Bostonian Nat Hentoff gives meticulous details about Al’s early life, his way of playing compared to other bassists.  This is a way to celebrate Al’s return to Sabby Lewis orchestra, a couple of months before: “he remains the sparkplug of the band,” writes Hentoff. That was Hentoff’s first jazz piece to be published.

Beantown—Boston’s nickname—is going to be Al Morgan’s place for the next 11 years. Since his departure from the band, things have evolved in a good way for Sabby Lewis, even if the recognition by New York musicians doesn’t pay the bills…  Arrived in Boston in 1942, Nex York trumpeter Frankie Newton’s growing fame gave a new stature to jazz in Boston.  The Savoy was Sabby Lewis’s home.  Richard Vacca in his indispensable book develops:

“These were some of [Sabby Lewis’s] greatest bands, and they featured some of his greatest stars: saxophonists Bill Dorsey, Paul Gonsalves, Big Nick Nicholas (who gave music lessons in a studio above the club), Sonny Stitt and Jimmy Tyler; trumpeters Cat Anderson, Freddie Webster, and Idrees Sulieman (Leonard Graham); and Ray Perry playing both alto and violin, all driven by that rhythm section of Lewis, Al Morgan) and Joe Booker. When Booker left for a time, his first replacement was an 18-year-old Boston drummer named Roy Haynes, himself later replaced by Osie Johnson.”

About Boston Bounce and Edna, 2 tracks recorded in 1946 and released on a compilation LP titled “Ethel Waters” (although they don’t back her):

“There are two excellent pieces by Sabby Lewis’ band of 1946, a bright, strong Basie-influenced group, which include superb, soaring alto solos by Tyler, some excellent trumpet in the Buck Clayton manner, presumably by Caines, and an interesting sample of Gonsalves churning through a solo in almost the same manner that he uses today. This is a tightly knit, lively, and very worthwhile band.” (Down Beat, November 12, 1962)

June 26, 1946, Press of Atlantic City

Atlantic City’s Paradise nightclub welcomed Sabby Lewis for the summer of 1946.  Buck and Bubbles were top-billed (Stump and Stumpy replaced them in August) and the stage was shared with Billy Daniels, Marie Bryant, Snooky Marsh, The Five Kings.  Four shows per night and a breakfast show every Sunday.  A restful engagement…

In October 1946, at the Club Baron, 132nd and Lenox in Harlem, while Billy Daniels is in residence there, Sabby Lewis gets noticed.  Coincidently, as in Atlantic City, Al Morgan spends all evenings close to his former bandstand mate, pianiste Benny Payne who now accompanies Billy Daniels.  Metronome, dated December 1946:

“Built like a miniature theatre, with the show on a high platform at one end and the musicians so cramped that the bass player has to operate from a separate dais six feet above the rest of the band, Baron’s offers a well-costumed line of girls, good assortment of acts. (…) Sabby Lewis band from Boston offering the occasional treat of a blues vocal by the veteran Al Morgan.”

In November, they’re back in Boston, playing at the Rio Casino, the new place to play.

Al Morgan on bass… and vocal

“Outstanding personalities of the band include Al Morgan, Esquire bass man, who handles the male vocals as well, sending followers with his renditions of blues and ballads” (“Sabby Lewis, Swinging to Stardom”, Rhythm, May 1947).  His talent and fidelity were rewarded by Sabby Lewis: Al Morgan went also featured as singer on the bill, next to the regular vocalist Evelyn White.  Sabby Lewis only recorded a few times but he made sure to feature his bassist several times on wax and on stage.

• 1947: Alone in the City Blues, written by Al Morgan with Leonard Feather (Continental C-6035-B)
• March 1949: King for a Day, written and sung by Al Morgan (Crystal Tone 516B) and Ugly Woman Blues (Mercury 8134)

After regular gigs in Boston, Sabby Lewis and his band spent the summer of 1947 in New York at the Club Tondolayo, before going back to the average evenings in Beantown.  At this moment, Sabby Lewis opened his restaurant in November 1947.  Diversification was on the bandleader’s menu.

Source: Frank Schiffman's papers

But New York called Sabby Lewis to warm up its winter 1948: they stayed at the Club Ebony, the Club Baron and for the week of March 19 were at the Harlem’s Apollo with the likes of Catherine Spencer, Carol Simms, Rhythm Willie, Eddie Rector, Ralph Cooper, Tomorrow’s Stars (the amateur show winners).

Baltimore in April, then the Down Beat in Boston from May to July.  The summer was spent on the Black circuit: the Regal in Chicago, the Royal in Baltimore, and the Howard in Washington (their first time there).  New Yorkers kept on wanting Sabby there so the band went back to the Club Ebony on Broadway and 53rd Street. Boston’s Hi-Hat became Sabby’s home from November 1948 to April 1949.  In order to renew or surprise patrons, they organized Sunday noon sessions, which became popular thanks to guest jazzmen invited to perform with the band.  “A good variety of talent for only a price of a bottle of beer can be heard and seen.” (Down Beat, January 28, 1949).

Considered as one of the top musicians around, Al Morgan was invited by George Wein to co-star with another New-Orleans born jazzman, Edmund Hall (cl) and his quartet for an All-Star Concert at Boston’s Jordan Hall.  With them were Wild Bill Davison (tp), Frankie Newton (tp) with several of his musicians: John Field (b), Everett Swarz (p), Joe Cochrane, and Ralph Ferrigno (tb).  Nat Hentoff—then Boston radio commentator, jazz critic, author and still big fan of our bassist—was the master of ceremonies.

Mercury Records convoked them into their studios in March 1949.  Richard Vacca quotes George Clarke from Record’s magazine who attended the session:

“There was drama of a sort at the Boylston St. studios of the Ace Recording Co. the other early morning when, at 2 a.m., Sabby Lewis and his band from the Hi-Hat showed up to make their first recordings for Mercury Records. It was almost 3 a.m. before the band got set up and streaks of dawn were highlighting the Common across the street before the session was finished.

They cut four sides, one whole record of two parts being devoted to his sensational ‘The King,’ with Dan Turner's saxophone, while another record has Al Morgan singing ‘Ugly Woman Blues,’ a little piece stirred up by Sabby and Sherm Feller.  The other side of that one has on it —ahem!—a piece called ‘Clarke's Idea.’?”

April 20, 1949, Daily News
 

The Royal Roost in New York was supposed to become the place to listen to Sabby Lewis for 6 weeks.  On the same bill was pianist and singer Nellie Lutcher with whom Al Morgan would work continuously during the end of the Fifties. But after two exhausting weeks (in fact, after backing for the first 3 shows, they only had one set to show their skills) the place folded out suddenly, sending Sabby and his men back to Boston’s Hi-Hat.

In a revue staged by Larry Steele, Sabby Lewis started his summer of 1949 at the Club Harlem in Atlantic City.  He obtains a real nice review by Maurie Orodenker from Billboard (July 16, 1949):

“Maestro Lewis brings on a dozen rhythm busters who display an enthusiasm matched by their musicianship in a manner that dispels the threat of be-bob smothering all musical initiative in any other direction. Eschewing any stylization, Lewis is devoted entirely to the solid rock formation that features the full-voicing of all instruments against a background of sustained and solid rhythmic beat that's completely contagious.”

In September 1949, they are back at the Apollo for the week of the 16th.  Roy Milton, Camille Howard, the Trumpeteers, and the Three Chocolateers share the bill with Sabby Lewis Band.  They went back to Boston and its Hi-Hat until November. During the fall, Sabby Lewis added trumpetist Cat Anderson, an Ellington’s alumni, delivering—also thanks to new arrangements— a new sound in the brass section.  Richard Vacca confirms that it was:

“a major addition to the Lewis crew, and perhaps the ingredient they needed to attain sustained national recognition once and for all.  There was no doubt it was a powerful lineup.  In early December 1949, Sabby Lewis brought this band into the Show Boat. (…)  Finally Sabby had the band that should have achieved the recognition and success he sought all through the decade. The pieces were in place—a crack band with top soloists, good press both black and white, and records in the shops.”

Things went differently, though: the audience wasn’t there and on December 18, all the musicians staged a mutiny, resigning and leaving the bandstand: Sabby Lewis didn’t pay them because he had run out of money.  They decided to form a new orchestra led by Sabby’s main soloist, Jimmy Tyler.  The young and very vanguardist Jaki Byard sat on Sabby’s chair at the piano.

The Jimmy Tyler Orchestra, 1950. From left: Al Morgan, Jaki Byard, Joe Booker, Maceo Bryant,
Dan Turner, Gene Caines, Bill Dorsey, Cat Anderson, Jimmy Tyler
(Source: Richard Vacca, The Boston Jazz Chronicles).

Lewis vs. Tyler: a battle of bands in the neighborhood

The new decade starts with a new boss, Jimmy Tyler.  20 years younger than Al, who tried his luck with Count Basie, influenced by Illinois Jacquet, Tyler was the composer of Bottom’s Up, one of the main themes of Sabby Lewis’s orchestra and his own signature tune.  An energetic performer, he was more than just another honker. Plus he was very efficient since the Hi-Hat immediately jumped on the newly formed band and hired them on January 2, 1950!

New sound, new energy… That was the public’s new taste.  While Jimmy Tyler remained the house band at the Hi-Hat, Sabby Lewis quickly set up a new orchestra who played at Wally’s Paradise, in the same neighborhood.

"Chico Pepe' Jimmy Tyler and his Rhumba band (May 24, 1950, Nashua Telegraph)

Fun fact for May 1950: For a special Rhumba Night gig at Hotel Merrimack in Lowell, all the featured musicians are billed with Cuban names, such as “Chico Pepe” Jimmy Tyler… and “Alberto Singaro” Morgan (which is better than the spelling “Al Murcon” a couple of weeks before).

Like his predecessor Sabby Lewis, the Jimmy Tyler band joins for an extended tour with Larry Steele’s Smart Affair of the year.  Then, on a schedule that will almost exactly repeat each year, from June to September, the band stays at Atlantic City’s Club Harlem.  Note that Coleridge Davis is also featured with them (See Elmer Calloway article, plus he married Harriet Calloway, the fake cousin of Cab!). 

With their leader billed as "The Wild Man of The Tenor Sax,”, the band went touring in fall with the revue: Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee… Let’s remark that on October 4, 1950, they play at the Lyric Theatre in Lexington, the place where Sally Lawson (1928-1992) lives.  Al possibly met his future wife during this engagement… Note that Sally is a white woman from Lexington, whose daughter is a banker.  A mixed marriage, even in Massachusetts, may have been a big deal… We only have assumptions there.

They travel this way to Buffalo, NY where they back Sarah Vaughan. The last stop is New York’s Sugar Hill in November.  In December 1950, they start at the Cotton Club in Miami (a few years before Cab Calloway came there—read our series).

“Jimmy Tyler’s band—he does a show stopping bit on his sax—not only play for the show with a terrific pace, but keep the dance floor crowded between times.” (The Miami Herald, December 17, 1950)

The same touring program will occur in 1951 and 1952. A notable moment was when the Jimmy Tyler band was a guest on NBC’s Texaco Theater, hosted by Milton Berle in NYC. A real treat for viewers and a memorable moment for the musicians!

The tracks recorded in December 1951 in Los Angeles with Jimmy Tyler’s 9-piece outfit are a rare opportunity to hear the sound of the new band, with Thad Jones on trumpet on one of his first records.  But we haven’t been able to listen to it yet.  Al Morgan shortly escaped for a few hours (probably during the same session) from his bandmates to record with William McDaniel, a rhythm and blues pianist from Los Angeles.  Ciri-Biri-Bin Boogie and Blues for Mimi published by Specialty in 1952 are absolutely forgettable even if Al’s walking bass proves to be as efficient as ever on a boogie.

March 29, 1952, The Louisville Defender 

On February 1952, Larry Steele's Smart Affairs is the first of Jimmy Tyler’s 6 appearances at the Apollo until 1955, when he appeared on the same bill as Billie Holiday for a disastrous engagement for an exhausted Lady Day.  The band will be back, already on June 1952, but without several men from those restless months touring: Maceo Bryant, Jaki Byard, Gene Caines, Cat Anderson… But in October, after a last season in Atlantic City and a last date in Detroit with Larry Steele’s Smart Affairs of 1953, Jimmy Tyler broke the band.

August 27, 1954, Portland Press Herald

Sabby Lewis’s third stint (1952-1957)

The reconciliation was shortly over: in September, Al Morgan, with Joe Booker and Bob Dorsey came back to their former bandleader Sabby Lewis, now at Boston’s Sugar Hill.  The latter who was then mainly a disc-jockey on local radio WBMS (he will remain for5 years), was probably relieved to see friendly faces.

In June, he “was granted an uncontested divorce for cruelty” from his wife Dorothy Lewis he surprised with officers to the home of another man. Prior to that incident, he said, his wife declared, ‘I’d like to kill you, I just can’t stand the looks of you.’ He said she threw a glass that cut his face.” (The Boston Globe, June 20, 1956).

Sugar Hill had found their house band with Sabby Lewis’s new formation.  It lasted until they moved to Showtime and after that to the Jazz Box in 1955.  At this moment, the music has evolved and had been metamorphosed: they were publicized as “rock and roll with Sabby Lewis.”

“Mr. Swing in person and his bold entertainers…”  Indeed, it was bold to still play jazz while everybody was eager for rock!  Therefore, in March 1956, for ABC-Paramount, Sabby Lewis and his orchestra go back to the studio to record some rock tunes: Kenny’s Blues and Ding-a-Ling (Coo Coo Mop).  Whatever you think of the tune, this is your one and only opportunity to listen to Al Morgan singing rock ‘n’ roll or, as summarized by Billboard (June 2, 1956): “Swingy vocalizing on a bouncy novelty with amusing nonsense lyrics.”

A brief escape from this new trend for Al was to join his old friend from the Calloway years, Doc Cheatham, along with Vick Dickenson, Al and Buzzy Drootin, and Claude Hopkins at the Mahogany Hall in Boston (September 8, 1953). Also in town was also an old friend Henry Red Allen at the Savoy.

On May 12, 1954, Al and Sally’s first son was born in Philadelphia, PA.  His name is Donald A. (for Albert?) and he will play music like his dad, but not dad’s music.  Donald went to Santa Monica City College and LACC. “I rocked out with my guitar bass. I thought my calling was music all through high school and in college,” he declares in a 2023 interview.  Donald will later be a renowned cinematographer for TV series, multiple Emmy awarded and nominated.  Married to Geneva Nash, who also works in the movie industry, one of their three kids is a successful hip-hop artist and producer, Axlfolie.

Al Morgan relaxing next to his Esquire trophee, at home, in Los Angeles, September 1958

When he was a teenager, Donald played bass in a rock group called “The Broad Minded” whose drummer was Charles Telerant.  Now a professional musician and rapper, Charles has fond memories of his times with his friend Donald and his father, he was happy to share:

“I met Donald at school, when I was in 6th grade.  I never heard him yell.  The mom was disciplinarian.  Al laid back to the max, I mean nothing like his young persona when you see on YouTube with Cab Calloway: the most laid-back dude.  I can't imagine him ever angry.  I was there around a couple years on a regular basis and he never yelled.  He used to drive us to and from rehearsals.  While it was on the radio in the car, Al told he liked the bass on Jefferson Airplane’s Somebody to Love.  He had a bass method by Ray Brown, whom he told ‘he’s the fastest bass player!’ But his favorite was Pops Foster.”

“At that time, Al Morgan had a duo with a piano player [read in next part].  He had an upright bass and an Amped baby bass.  I remember one time I heard him sing Summertime and it was an unbelievable thing—I mean, definitely pro level.  I wasn’t really aware of his past career and he never talked to me about that.  I just knew he was a pro.  He was always cautioning: for instance, the last time I saw him he told me: ‘This music business is a really cutthroat business, so don’t let people take advantage of you!’