Matthew Gee (November 25, 1925 in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

– July 18, 1979 in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

) was an American

bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early to mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo (usually exceeding 200 bpm), complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerou ...

trombonist. Gee played trumpet and

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

as a child, and took up the trombone at age 11. After studying at Alabama State University, he played 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 ...

before doing a stint in the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

. Following this, he played with

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

(1946–1949), Joe Morris,

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 ...

and

Sonny Stitt Sonny Stitt (born Edward Hammond Boatner Jr.; February 2, 1924 – July 22, 1982) was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. Known for his warm tone, he was one of the best-documented saxophonists of his era, recording over ...

(1950),

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 ...

(1951), Illinois Jacquet (1952–1954),

Lou Donaldson Louis Andrew Donaldson Jr. (November 1, 1926 – November 9, 2024) was an American jazz Alto saxophone, alto saxophonist. He was best known for his soulful, bluesy approach to playing the alto saxophone, although in his formative years he was he ...

(1954),

Sarah Vaughan Sarah Lois Vaughan (, March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer and pianist. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "List of nicknames of jazz musicians, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, ...

(1956), and Gillespie again in 1957. In 1956 he released his only record as a bandleader on

Riverside Records Riverside Records was an American jazz record company and label. Founded by Orrin Keepnews and Bill Grauer, Jr, under his firm Bill Grauer Productions in 1953, the label played an important role in the jazz record industry for a decade. Riversid ...

. From 1959 to 1963 he played on and off with the

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

Orchestra. Later in the 1960s, he played in small groups with Paul Quinichette and Brooks Kerr, as well as in

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

s with Sonny Stitt and

Johnny Griffin John Arnold Griffin III (April 24, 1928 – July 25, 2008) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Nicknamed "the Little Giant" for his short stature and forceful playing, Griffin's career began in the mid-1940s and continued until the month of ...

Discography

As leader

* '' Jazz by Gee'' ( Riverside, 1956) * '' Soul Groove'' (Atlantic, 1963) - with

As sideman

With

*'' Soulful Saxophone'' (Chess, 1948-50 959 *'' Jug and Sonny'' (Chess, 1948–51, 960 *''The Gene Ammons Story: The 78 Era'' (Prestige, 1950–55) With

*'' Basie in London'' (Verve, 1956) ;With Ray Bryant *'' Dancing the Big Twist'' (Columbia, 1961) With

*'' Quartet/Quintet/Sextet'' ( Blue Note, 1952–54) With

*''

Blues in Orbit ''Blues in Orbit'' is an album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded for the Columbia label in 1959 and released in 1960.

'' (Columbia, 1958–59) *'' Swinging Suites by Edward E. and Edward G.'' (1960) With

*'' Jazz Recital'' (Norgran, 1955) With Tony Graye *''Oh, Gee!'' (Zim, 1975) With

*'' The Big Soul-Band'' (Prestige, 1960) With

*''Body And Soul Revisited'' (GRP, 1951–58) With Erskine Hawkins *''1946-1947'' (Classics) With Illinois Jacquet *'' Groovin' with Jacquet'' (Clef, 1951-53

956 Year 956 ( CMLVI) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Summer – Emperor Constantine VII appoints Nikephoros Phokas to commander of the Byzantine field army (''Domestic o ...

*'' The Kid and the Brute'' (Clef, 1955) *'' The Soul Explosion'' (Prestige, 1969) With

*'' Stitt's Bits'' (Prestige, 1950

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 ...

*''

Kaleidoscope A kaleidoscope () is an optical instrument with two or more reflecting surfaces (or mirrors) tilted to each other at an angle, so that one or more (parts of) objects on one end of these mirrors are shown as a symmetrical pattern when viewed fro ...

'' (Prestige, 1950 957 *'' Sonny Stitt & the Top Brass'' (Atlantic, 1962)

References

* Richard Cook & Morton, Brian: The Penguin Guide To Jazz on CD'', 6th Edition, London, Penguin, 2002 . *

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author. Life and career Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Beginning in 1974, Yanow was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles and was the jazz e ...

, Matthew Geeat Allmusic.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Gee, Matthew American jazz trombonists American male trombonists Musicians from Houston Riverside Records artists 1925 births 1979 deaths 20th-century American trombonists Jazz musicians from Texas 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians