Remembering Marcus Belgrave

Remembering Marcus Belgrave, Detroit's Jazz Godfather, on the anniversary of his birth: https://t.co/uMbhPq5kkJ

— jazzvideoguy (@jazzvideoguy) 12 de junho de 2017

Marcus Belgrave

Happy bday to 2 Detroit heroes: late trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, who wld've been 80, & his protegee Geri Allen, 59 https://t.co/vjcsuQUjUN

— Mark Stryker (@Mark_Stryker) June 12, 2016

Famed Detroit Jazz Trumpeter Marcus Belgrave Dies at 78

Joan Belgrave looks on as her husband Marcus as he plays the trumpet in their Ann Arbor home in 2014. MLIVE.COM /Landov

By Gary Graff / May 24, 2015 2:24 PM EDT

Marcus Belgrave, a jazz master whose resume ranged from Ray Charles and Motown to Aretha Franklin and Joe Cocker, and who helped educate generations of younger jazz lions, passed away on Thursday at the age of 78.

A Chester, Pa., native who settled in Detroit during the early '60s – where he played on Motown hits such as "Dancing in the Street," "My Girl" and more – Belgrave as a musician "was magical," says Rodney Whitaker, a Distinguished Professor and Director of Jazz Studies at Michigan State University and a Belgrave student during the mid-'80s. "He was probably the most imaginative rhythmic player to ever live... one of the greatest players of his generation and one of the most underrated musicians, probably because he never left Detroit."

Belgrave, who had battled heart and pulmonary disease for years, died from heart failure at a convalescent home in Ann Arbor, Mich., after being in and out of the hospital since his final public performance, on April 17 in Durham, N.C. His singer, Joan Belgrave, reported that he "passed in his sleep peacefully" and that as recently as Saturday, he "played his horn, sang" and watched the movie Whiplash, about an aggressive jazz educator.

Quincy Jones Mourns Clark Terry

Belgrave's own teaching style was gentler. He was mentored as a teenager by Clifford Brown and Dizzy Gillespie and spent five years with Ray Charles before moving to Detroit in 1963. He also worked with Max Roach, Charles Mingus and Clark Terry, among others; in addition to his own albums, Belgrave's recording resume includes works by McCoy Tyner, Wynton Marsalis, Joe Henderson and B.B. King. 

Belgrave taught at the Oberlin Conservatory, the Stanford Jazz Workshop, Oakland University, and Detroit's Civic Jazz Orchestra, and he created his own Jazz Development Workshop in Detroit. "The greatest thing I can do is to work with the next generation and the generation after that and the generation after that," Belgrave once said. "I feel a responsibility to help keep this music alive and vital and pass on my passion to others." Among his students were Geri Allen, James Carter, Regina Carter, Karriem Riggins, Robert Hurst, Kenny Garrett, Ray Parker Jr. and Al Jackson.

Read more: http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6575965/famed-detroit-jazz-trumpeter-marcus-belgrave-dies-at-78

Marcus Belgrave ....

Artist Biography by Scott Yanow
Photo: http://www.marcusbelgrave.net/images/mbchairpic_big.jpg
Because he has spent most of his career in Detroit and has not recorded enough, Marcus Belgrave has often been overlooked. A flexible and talented trumpeter able to play both hard bop and free, Belgrave was tutored by Clifford Brown a bit when he was 17. He toured with Ray Charles during 1954-1959 and had opportunities to play with the groups of Charles Mingus and Max Roach. In 1963, Belgrave moved to Detroit where he has been continually active as an educator and a studio player.

He has recorded with (among others) McCoy Tyner, David Newman, Art Hodes (duets), David Murray, Geri Allen (one of his former students), swing tenor Franz Jackson and Sammy Price, mostly beginning in the 1980s. Belgrave has also been featured with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. Among his other former students are Bob Hurst, Kenny Garrett, and James Carter, so at least indirectly Marcus Belgrave has made a strong impact on jazz.
Musicians have called Marcus Belgrave the best trumpeter in the world. If you don't cry watching this then you probably aren't breathing.
Marion Hayden - Bass,
Lawrence Williams - Drums,
Rick Roe - Piano,
Vincent York - Alto Sax