Booker Little | Artist
Booker Little Jr. was an American jazz trumpeter and composer born 1938 in Memphis Tennessee. He appeared on many recordings in his short career, both as a sideman and as a leader. Little performed with Max Roach, John Coltrane, and Eric Dolphy and was strongly influenced by Sonny Rollins and Clifford Brown. He died of natural causes aged only 23. Little came from a highly musical family, his father worked as a Pullman porter but was also a trombonist. His Mother was a church organist, and one of his sisters Vera went on to sing with the London Opera Company. Booker Jr's first instrument was trombone like his father, but he switched to clarinet and then at 14 switched to trumpet. Growing up in Memphis, Little attended Manassas High School and was influenced musically by contemporaries such as Phineas Newborn Jr., George Coleman, Frank Strozier, and his cousin Louis Smith. He was performing with Newborn on a casual basis by his mid-teens. After graduating, he moved to Chicago to continue his studies at the Chicago Conservatory where he continued to study trumpet but also incorporated studies in composition, theory, and orchestration with piano. He would later on graduate with a bachelor's degree in his main instrument. As a sophomore, Little met Sonny Rollins, and for nine months the pair stayed at the YMCA where Rollins would influence Little greatly. While attending a recording session with Rollins, Little met drummer Max Roach in 1955. Following the death of Clifford Brown the next year, Little became Roach's trumpet player in the Max Roach Four. Being in school limited his performance schedule, and he was replaced by Kenny Dorham. Following graduation, Little rejoined Roach's band, reuniting with one of his friends from Memphis, George Coleman. As trumpeter, Little made his recording debut on Max Roach + 4 on the Chicago Scene in June. On that album, Little was the main soloist on the perennial favourite "A Night in Tunisia". In October that same year, Little recorded his first album as a leader, Booker Little 4 and Max Roach (not released until 1959) with Roach on drums and Coleman on tenor. Little played on several more Max Roach albums but also freelanced around New York, developing new acquaintances with musicians such as John Coltrane, Slide Hampton, and Teddy Charles. 1960 saw the release of Little's second solo album, which was the first of three superb releases over successive years, by this time working with the support of Eric Dolphy: Booker Little (1960), Out Front (1961), and Booker Little and Friend (1962). The final album was recorded only months before his death, and released posthumously. After years of physical pain, Little died of complications resulting from kidney failure, on October 5 1961, in New York City at the age 23. He was survived by his wife, two sons Booker T. III and Larry Cornelius, and two daughters Cornelia and Ana Dorsey.
Artist Website: wikipedia/Booker_Little
Featured Albums: Booker Little
Related Artists: Max Roach, Booker Ervin, Eric Dolphy
