Idrees Sulieman, born Leonard Graham (August 7, 1923 – July 23, 2002), was an American bop and hard bop

trumpeter The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

Biography

Graham was born in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States, later changing his name to Idrees Sulieman, after converting to

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. He studied at the Boston Conservatory, and gained early experience playing with the Carolina Cotton Pickers and the wartime

Earl Hines Earl Kenneth Hines, also known as Earl "Fatha" Hines (December 28, 1903 – April 22, 1983), was an American jazz pianist and bandleader. He was one of the most influential figures in the development of jazz piano and, according to one source, " ...

Orchestra (1943–1944). On October 15, 1947, he played on

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk ( October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the Jazz standard, standard jazz repertoire, includ ...

's first recording for

Blue Note Records Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by History of the Jews in Germany, German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it deriv ...

. Sulieman was closely associated with

Mary Lou Williams Mary Lou Williams (born Mary Elfrieda Scruggs; May 8, 1910 – May 28, 1981) was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer. She wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements and recorded more than one hundred records (in 78, 45, and ...

and for a time and had stints with

Cab Calloway Cabell "Cab" Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was a regular performer at the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he became a popular vocalist of the Swing music, swing era. His niche ...

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

, and

Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, and bandleader. He worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, an ...

. Sulieman recorded with

Coleman Hawkins Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969), nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Yanow, Scot"Coleman Hawkins: Artist Biography" AllMusic. Retrieved December 27, 2013. One of the first ...

(1957) and gigged with Randy Weston (1958–1959), in addition to appearing in many other situations. He toured Europe in 1961 with pianist Oscar Dennard, and stayed, settling in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

at first, and then moved to

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

in 1964. A soloist with the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band from the mid-1960s through 1973, Sulieman frequently worked with radio orchestras. His recordings as a leader were for Swedish Columbia (1964) and SteepleChase (1976 and 1985). In 1985, he was among the performers on

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

' album, '' Aura'', which was not released until 1989. Sulieman's career slowed down considerably in the 1990s.

Death

He died of bladder cancer on July 23, 2002, at St. Anthony's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida, at the age of 78.

Discography

As leader/co-leader

* '' Three Trumpets'' (Prestige, 1957) – with

Donald Byrd Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II (December 9, 1932 – February 4, 2013) was an American jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter, composer and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few h ...

and

Art Farmer Arthur Stewart Farmer (August 21, 1928 – October 4, 1999) was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player. He also played flumpet, a trumpet–flugelhorn combination especially designed for him. He and his identical twin brother, doub ...

* '' Interplay for 2 Trumpets and 2 Tenors'' (Prestige, 1957) – with

, Bobby Jaspar, Webster Young et al. *''

Roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusin ...

'' (Prestige, 1957

958 Year 958 (Roman numerals, CMLVIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * October / November – Battle of Raban: The Byzantine Empire, Byzantines under John I Tzimiskes, Jo ...

– with the Prestige All Stars *'' Americans in Europe'' ( Impulse!, 1963) – with

Don Byas Carlos Wesley "Don" Byas (October 21, 1912 – August 24, 1972) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, associated with swing and bebop. He played with Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Art Blakey, and Dizzy Gillespie, among others, and also l ...

, Kenny Clarke, Champion Jack Dupree et al. *'' The Camel'' ( Columbia, 1964) – with Jamila Sulieman * '' Now Is the Time'' ( SteepleChase, 1976) – with

Cedar Walton Cedar Anthony Walton Jr. (January 17, 1934 – August 19, 2013) was an American hard bop jazz pianist. He came to prominence as a member of drummer Art Blakey's band, The Jazz Messengers, before establishing a long career as a bandleader and c ...

, Sam Jones and Billy Higgins * '' Bird's Grass'' (SteepleChase, 1976 985 – with Horace Parlan, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and Kenny Clarke * ''

Groovin' "Groovin" is a song written by the American singer songwriters Felix Cavaliere and Eddie Brigati, initially recorded by their group the Young Rascals in 1967. Cavaliere was inspired to compose the song by his girlfriend Adrienne Buccheri, whom ...

'' (SteepleChase, 1985 986 – with Horace Parlan

As sideman

With

Gene Ammons Eugene "Jug" Ammons (April 14, 1925 – August 6, 1974), also known as "The Boss", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. The son of boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons, Gene Ammons is remembered for his accessible music, steeped in soul and R ...

*'' Jammin' in Hi Fi with Gene Ammons'' (Prestige, 1957) *''

Blue Gene Blue Gene was an IBM project aimed at designing supercomputers that can reach operating speeds in the petaFLOPS (PFLOPS) range, with relatively low power consumption. The project created three generations of supercomputers, Blue Gene/L, Blue ...

'' (Prestige, 1958) With Teddy Charles * '' Coolin''' (Prestige, 1957 959 – with John Jenkins and

Mal Waldron Malcolm Earl "Mal" Waldron (August 16, 1925 – December 2, 2002) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He started playing professionally in New York in 1950, after graduating from college. In the following dozen years or so Wa ...

* ''Vibe-Rant'' ( Elektra, 1957) With the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band *'' Handle with Care'' (

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

, 1963) *'' Now Hear Our Meanin''' (Columbia, 1963 965 *'' Sax No End'' (SABA, 1967) *'' Out of the Folk Bag'' (Columbia, 1967) *'' 17 Men and Their Music'' (Campi, 1967) *'' All Smiles'' ( MPS, 1968) *'' Faces'' (MPS, 1968) *'' Latin Kaleidoscope'' (MPS, 1968) *'' Fellini 712'' (MPS, 1969) *'' All Blues'' (MPS, 1969) *'' More Smiles'' (MPS, 1969) *'' Clarke Boland Big Band en Concert avec Europe 1'' ( Tréma, 1969 992 With Friedrich Gulda *''Friedrich Gulda at Birdland'' (

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

, 1957) *''A Man of Letters'' ( Decca, 1957) *''From Vienna with Jazz'' (Columbia, 1964) With the Prestige Blues-Swingers * ''Outskirts of Town'' (Prestige, 1958) * ''Stasch'' (Prestige, 1961) – with

With

*'' Mal-1'' (Prestige, 1956 957 *'' Mal-2'' (Prestige, 1957) With Randy Weston *'' Little Niles'' (

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

, 1958 959 *'' Spirits of Our Ancestors'' ( Verve, 1991 992 With others *

Art Blakey Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s. Blakey made a name for himself in the 1 ...

, '' Art Blakey Big Band'' (

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

, 1957 959 *

Clifford Brown Clifford Benjamin Brown (October 30, 1930 – June 26, 1956) was an American jazz trumpeter, pianist and composer. He died at the age of 25 in a car crash, leaving behind four years' worth of recordings. His compositions "Sandu", "Joy Sprin ...

, ''

Memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...

'' (Prestige, 1953 956 *

and

Bud Powell Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell (September 27, 1924 – July 31, 1966) was an American jazz pianist and composer. A pioneer in the development of bebop and its associated contributions to jazz theory,Grove Powell's application of complex phrasing to ...

, '' A Tribute to Cannonball'' (Columbia, 1961 979 *

, '' Aura'' (Columbia, 1985

989 Year 989 ( CMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Emperor Basil II uses his contingent of 6,000 Varangians to help him defeat Bardas Phokas (the Younger), who suffe ...

* Eric Dolphy, '' Stockholm Sessions'' ( Enja, 1961 981 * Tommy Flanagan, '' The Cats'' (Prestige, 1957 959 *

Dexter Gordon Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians. Gordon's height was , so he was also known as "Long Tall Dexter" an ...

, '' More Than You Know'' (SteepleChase, 1975) *

, '' The Hawk Flies High'' ( Riverside, 1957) *

Joe Henderson Joe Henderson (April 24, 1937 – June 30, 2001) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and very occasional flute player. In a career spanning more than four decades, Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day an ...

, ''

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'' (Verve, 1992; 1996 997 * André Hodeir, ''American Jazzmen Play André Hodeir'' (

Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

, 1957) * Bobby Jaspar, ''Tenor and Flute'' (Riverside, 1957) – aka ''Bobby Jaspar with George Wallington and Idrees Sulieman'' (Riverside/ OJC, 1992) * The Jazz Live Trio, ''Jazz Live Trio with Guests'' (TCB, 1970; 1975; 1982–83 011) – with Benny Bailey * Thad Jones">Benny_Bailey.html" ;"title="011) – with Benny Bailey">011) – with Benny Bailey * Thad Jones, ''Live at the Montmartre: A Good Time Was Had by All'' ( Storyville, 1978) * Nils Lindberg">Storyville Records">Storyville, 1978) * Nils Lindberg, ''Trisection'' (Columbia, 1962 [1963">Nils_Lindberg.html" ;"title="Storyville Records">Storyville, 1978) * Nils Lindberg">Storyville Records">Storyville, 1978) * Nils Lindberg, ''Trisection'' (Columbia, 1962 [1963 * Carmen McRae, ''November Girl'' (Black Lion Records, Black Lion, 1970) *

, '' Genius of Modern Music, Vol. 1'' ( Blue Note, 1947) * Horace Parlan, '' Arrival'' (SteepleChase, 1973) *

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He wo ...

, '' The Max Roach Quartet featuring Hank Mobley'' ( Debut, 1953) * Sahib Shihab, ''

Companionship In social psychology, an interpersonal relation (or interpersonal relationship) describes a social association, connection, or affiliation between two or more people. It overlaps significantly with the concept of social relations, which are ...

'' ( Vogue Schallplatten, 1964-70 971 * Bengt-Arne Wallin, ''Old Folklore in Swedish Modern'' (DUX, 1962) * George Wallington, ''Leonard Feather Presents BOP'' (Mode, 1957) * Ernie Wilkins, '' Top Brass'' (Savoy, 1955) *

Lester Young Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed "Pres" or "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and occasional clarinetist. Coming to prominence while a member of Count Basie's orchestra, Young was one of the most i ...

, ''Masters of Jazz'' (Storyville, 1951–56)

References

External links

*
Curt's Jazz Café: Obscure Trumpet Masters #9 -- Idrees Sulieman
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sulieman, Idrees 1923 births 2002 deaths American jazz trumpeters American male trumpeters Bebop trumpeters Hard bop trumpeters Musicians from St. Petersburg, Florida SteepleChase Records artists Prestige Records artists American Ahmadis Muslims from Florida 20th-century American trumpeters Deaths from bladder cancer in Florida DR Big Band members 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band members Converts to Islam