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Sad news about Frank Morgan


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This write up was in the Star Tribune today:

An unsinkable spirit

Last update: December 13, 2007 - 5:22 PM

An unsinkable spirit After two dozen gigs and a monthlong European tour, alto-sax great Frank Morgan wasn't feeling well when he arrived home in Minneapolis Nov. 30. The diagnosis: inoperable colon cancer. "He fades in and out of sleep but his spirits are very good," said his second cousin by marriage, Lance Taylor, with whom the 73-year-old jazzman has lived for the past two years. In his hospital room, Morgan sometimes listens (softly) to his favorites -- Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Ahmad Jamal -- and has been autographing his CDs for staffers. A prodigy-turned-junkie who spent 30 years in prison, he made a comeback in the 1980s and moved back to his birth city in 2005. His final days will be spent at home, in hospice care. Taylor said Morgan "made peace with his manager on the phone and said his usual line: 'Ain't it great to be alive?' He knows what's happening."

JON BREAM

It doesn't seem like a very respectfully written piece but regardless it is still some very sad news.

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I had the opportunity to meet and play with him last summer at the Brubeck Institute. A very sweet man, and when he played his whole life came pouring out of the horn. He was very frail at that point, and I had the feeling that he might not be around much longer. I hope he can spend his last days in as much comfort as is possible.

"Ain't it great to be alive!", that was his mantra. I feel very fortunate to have crossed paths with him.

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This is very sad news. I only wish he isn't suffering too much. I've seen him live many times.

I've seen him many times myself...a gentle spirit. Always sitting on the bandstand with a little smile on his face when he's not playing....well... except the one time I saw him chew on the piano player after a Monk tune ^_^ but other than that, a wonderful, soft-spoken guy.

Hardbop's avatar is a image I made of Frank at the old Jazz Showcase!

m~

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Message on the Jazz Programmers Listserv:

We've just been notified that Frank Morgan passed away peacefully from

kidney failure this morning, near his family and friends in his hometown

of Minneapolis. He had just completed a successful European tour, even

though he was worried about his health. A memorial gathering is planned

in his longtime home town of Taos, New Mexico, on what would have been

his 74th, birthday, December 23.

I'm very sorry to pass it along. The thread here was the first indication I'd had that he was in a bad way... it has been a brutal holiday season in terms of public figures and personal acquaintances.

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"30 years in prison"?????

WTF? Did he kill someone??

Sad day. I'm glad I got to see him a couple of times in the past few years. Rest in peace, Frank.

Morgan's junkie years were spent doing what junkies do to get money to support their habit. Several convictions for robbery, etc. & failed paroles.

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"30 years in prison"?????

WTF? Did he kill someone??

Sad day. I'm glad I got to see him a couple of times in the past few years. Rest in peace, Frank.

Morgan's junkie years were spent doing what junkies do to get money to support their habit. Several convictions for robbery, etc. & failed paroles.

Oh. I knew he had spent some time(I was thinking it was just a few years) in prison but I didn't realize it was for robbery. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

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