Booker Little, Jr (2 April 1938, Memphis, Tennessee – 5 October 1961, New York City, New York) was an American jazz trumpeter and composer.
Despite his premature death from kidney failure at the age of 23, Little made an important contribution to jazz. Stylistically, his sound is rooted in the playing of Clifford Brown, featuring crisp articulation, a burnished tone and balanced phrasing. He is considered to be one of the first trumpet players to...
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Booker Little, Jr (2 April 1938, Memphis, Tennessee – 5 October 1961, New York City, New York) was an American jazz trumpeter and composer.
Despite his premature death from kidney failure at the age of 23, Little made an important contribution to jazz. Stylistically, his sound is rooted in the playing of Clifford Brown, featuring crisp articulation, a burnished tone and balanced phrasing. He is considered to be one of the first trumpet players to develop his own sound after Clifford Brown.
He studied at the Chicago Conservatory from 1956 to 1958 and it was during this time that he worked with leading local musicians such as Johnny Griffin. Later, after moving to New York, he became associated with drummer Max Roach and multi-instrumentalist virtuoso Eric Dolphy, recording with them both as a sideman and a leader. With Dolphy, he co-led a residency at the Five Spot club in New York in June 1961, from which three classic albums were eventually issued by Prestige Records. It was during...
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