Lee Morgan - Live at the Lighthouse '70 (2-CD Set)
Lee Morgan Quintet:
Lee Morgan (tp, flh), Bennie Maupin (ts, fl, b-cl), Harold Mabern (p), Jymie Merritt (b), Mickey Roker (d).
Recorded Live at the Lighthouse, Hermosa Beach, California, July 1970.
This 2-CD set by the Lee Morgan Quintet was recorded live at the Lighthouse, in Hermosa Beach in the summer of 1970, and even though the taping conditions were not all they could have been, the outstanding level of the performances herein make it a valuable document well worth listening to. Morgan's creativity reaches the highest peaks. His playing here is on fire, as is the excellent group of sidemen who back him.
With this collection we have a rare opportunity to hear him stretching out in 2 versions of "Ceora", one of his most famous compositions. It's also worth mentioning, that this set contains the only Lee Morgan recording to feature Harold Mabern's "The Chief", a tune dedicated to John Coltrane.
Lee Morgan's regular quintet had previously recorded this piece for a rejected Blue Note session on September 1968. Also composed by pianist Mabern is "Rakin' and Scrapin'", which was part of the band's regular repertoire as well but was never recorded by Lee Morgan anywhere else than in these performances. Finally, on this album, Lee Morgan is heard for the only time in his entire discography playing the famous song "Willow Weep for Me".
This is a must to have for all Lee Morgan fans, and is the perfect complement to the Blue Note recordings also taped at the Lighthouse a few days later.
Tracklisting:
CD 1:
1. Peyote (Maupin) (13:35)
2. Ceora (Morgan) (16:28)
3. Speedball (Morgan) (5:30) 4. Willow Weep for Me (Ronell) (20:15)
5. The Chief (Mabern) (13:22)

CD 2:
1. Rakin' and Scrapin' (Mabern) (11:54)
2. Yunjanna (Maupin) (15:20)
3. Something like This (Maupin) (12:56)
4. Ceora (Morgan) (17:18)
5. Speedball Theme - Closing announcements by Lee Morgan (1:52)