In recognition of International Jazz Day, celebrated on April 30th, Councilmember Jamie Gauthier has introduced a resolution honoring and recognizing legendary Philadelphian jazz musician Edward “Lee” Morgan (1938-1972).

The Library of Congress recently announced that it was adding Lee Morgan’s The Sidewinder to the National Recording Registry (read more details here). On Tuesday, April 30, Lee Morgan will also be memorialized with a historical marker outside of the former Aqua Lounge at 52nd and Chancellor, the jazz club where he last performed in Philadelphia in 1971 before his tragic death at age 33 (see more details about this event below).

Morgan was born on July 10, 1938, grew up in the Tioga neighborhood, and began playing the trumpet at the age of 14. His musical development was nurtured by the Philadelphia jazz community, and his early interaction with professional musicians at the Heritage House Jazz Workshop and Music City Swing Club.

Morgan joined the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band and signed with Blue Note Records after graduating from the Jules E. Mastbaum Area Vocation Technical High School. He began his career as a bandleader with the  debut album – Lee Morgan, Indeed! – and was a sideman on John Coltrane’s Blue Train and Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers’ Moanin’.

Morgan’s The Sidewinder was one of Blue Note Records’ best-selling albums and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2000.

He was an advocate for social justice as an organizer of Jazz and the People’s Movement, a cultural group that agitated for greater representation of Black jazz musicians on broadcast television.

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and All That Philly Jazz will unveil the historical marker dedicated to Lee Morgan at 52nd and Chancellor at 12 p.m. on Tuesday, April 30. Community members are invited to register for the event here. Speakers will include Lee Morgan family members and saxophonist Billy Harper, a former member of the Lee Morgan Quintet. Harper was with Lee Morgan at the Aqua Lounge in October 1971, and witnessed his tragic death four months later.

Guests are also invited to attend the Black Bottom Jazz Fest featuring the Daud El-Bakara Quartet and the Drexel University Jazztet. Presented by the Black Bottom Tribe Association, the concert will be held on Tuesday, April 30 (International Jazz Day), 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., at Drexel Square, 3001 Market Street. The event is free and open to the public.