Track Listing

1. Search For New Land
2. The Joker
3. Mr. Kenyatta
4. Melancholee
5. Morgan The Pirate

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #45506 in Music
• Released on: 2003-09-02
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered

Album Description
Overshadowed by the success of The Sidewinder, this masterful sextet session of Morgan originals, made just two months later, took years to gain its deserved status as a classic.

Lee Morgan: Trumpet
Wayne Shorter: Tenor Saxophone
Grant Green: Guitar
Herbie Hancock: Piano
Reggie Workman: Bass
Billy Higgins: Drums

Customer Reviews

Morgan's finest album on Blue Note
For some strange reason due to the marketing people at Blue Note, this album came out a few years later after the more commercial, "The Rumpboller" w/Joe Henderson, possibly to cash in on the success of "Sidewinder" also with Henderson. But make no mistake about it, this album is so much different from the rest of Morgan's many albums. For one, the title track is a long modal tune with some interesting progressions and also the first time Morgan utilized guitarist Grant Green to brilliant effect. Also his Blakey teammate Wayne Shorter provided simpatico support for Lee, they were so well matched that they sounded like one--the only other perfect match would be altoist Jackie McLean (check out "Leeway"). The rhythm section is sublime with for the first time, Herbie Hancock on piano, Reginald Workman on bass and the ubiquitous Billy Higgins on drums. The rest of the tunes also fall into the modal/post bop range with Lee at his best here. If you want to pick just one Morgan album--get this one since he would never make album like again!!

his best
I say this is his best because it is much less formulaic than his other funky attempts at hits. Also, look at the line-up. And finally, Grant Green is pushing Lee to travel uncharted waters. The title number is a knock out, and the rest of the album keeps up.
Morgan, Green, and Shorter are a great line-up and nobody gives up without a aggessive fight. This is Green and Morgan at their most progressive, skipping the boogaloo

more straightforward than its reputation
Lee Morgan had a hit with "The Sidewinder", and then tried to recreate the success of that song with a bunch of funky tunes. Before "The Sidewinder" came out, Lee recorded "Search For A New Land". This CD thus has the reputation of being untainted by his soon-to-come commercial success. The title track is the most notable song. It's long, and has a more progressive song structure than the typical theme-solo-theme structure. It's a good song, and you can hear Lee stretching his legs in a salutory fashion. Lee chose a great group of sidemen: Wayne Shorter, Grant Green, Herbie Hancock, Reggie Workman, and Billy Higgins. The rest of the album is more like tracks 2-5 from "The Sidewinder" -- standard Lee Morgan. Of course, that's hardly a criticism, the remainder of the CD is very good. Very good!