Fats Navarro - The Fats Navarro Collection 1943-50

2015 release

Despite his tragically brief career, cut short as it was by tuberculosis, exacerbated by heroin addiction, at the age of 26, bebop trumpeter Fats Navarro built an extraordinarily high profile and reputation during the few short years he was recording and performing, and through his involvement in some landmark recordings was a substantial influence on his peers and those who came after. Having cut his teeth playing with the orchestras of Andy Kirk and Billy Eckstine, the latter a renowned staging post for future bebop stars, he came to real prominence after settling in New York in 1946, working with some of the most important established and emerging talents of the day. His style was distinctively different from the other pioneering bebop trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, and he was a marvellously fluent and original improviser.

This 39-track 2-CD collection, which includes some extended ‘live’ performances towards the end, begins with examples of his early recordings with the orchestras mentioned, and includes sessions and performances with a host of luminaries, including Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Coleman Hawkins, Bud Powell, Milt Jackson, Kenny Clarke, Illinois Jacquet, Tadd Dameron, Dexter Gordon, Wardell Gray, Sonny Rollins and Benny Goodman. The final ‘live’ recordings were made just a week before his death in 1950. It’s a hugely entertaining snapshot of his all-too-brief, but stellar career.