Theodore "Fats" Navarro (September 24, 1923 – July 7, 1950) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

trumpet player and a pioneer of the

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 ...

style of

jazz improvisation Jazz improvisation is the spontaneous invention of melodic solo lines or accompaniment parts in a performance of jazz music. It is one of the defining elements of jazz. Improvisation is composing on the spot, when a singer or instrumentalist inv ...

in the 1940s. A native of

Key West, Florida Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Sigsbee Park, Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Islan ...

, he toured with big bands before achieving fame as a bebop trumpeter in New York. Following a series of studio sessions with leading bebop figures including

Tadd Dameron Tadley Ewing Peake Dameron (February 21, 1917 – March 8, 1965) was an American jazz composer, arranger, and pianist. Biography Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Dameron was the most influential arranger of the bebop era, but also wrote charts for swi ...

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 ...

, and

Kenny Clarke Kenneth Clarke Spearman (January 9, 1914January 26, 1985), known professionally as Kenny Clarke and nicknamed Klook, was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. A major innovator of the bebop style of drumming, he pioneered the use of the ride ...

, he became ill with tuberculosis and died at the age of 26. Despite the short duration of his career, he had a strong stylistic influence on trumpet players who rose to fame in later decades, including

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 ...

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 ...

and

Lee Morgan Edward Lee Morgan (July 10, 1938 – February 19, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter and composer. One of the key hard bop musicians of the 1960s and a cornerstone of the Blue Note Records, Blue Note label, Morgan came to prominence in his la ...

Early life

Navarro was born in Key West, Florida and was of Cuban, African, and Chinese descent. He was bilingual, speaking Spanish as his second language, and he was a childhood friend of drummer Al Dreares. Navarro's father, a barber by trade, had some musical knowledge and hired a piano teacher to give Navarro private lessons in his early childhood. Hence, the younger Navarro began to play piano at age six, although he did not become serious about music until he began playing trumpet at the age of thirteen. Additionally, he mastered the tenor saxophone and played both trumpet and tenor saxophone professionally during the earliest years of his career. By the time Navarro graduated from Frederick Douglass School in 1941, he wanted to be away from Key West and moved north to

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

to join Sol Allbright's band. As a member, Navarro was able to tour the Midwest, reaching

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

before he left to take lessons.

Career

1941–1946: Touring with big bands

Now living permanently in the Midwest, Navarro joined Snookum Russell's territory band. He gained valuable experience touring in bands, including Russell's band, where he met and influenced a young J.J. Johnson. Navarro also played in the Andy Kirk,

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader, known as the "King of Swing". His orchestra did well commercially. From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing bi ...

, 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 ...

big bands. Vocalist

Billy Eckstine William Clarence Eckstine (July 8, 1914 – March 8, 1993) was an American jazz and pop singer and a bandleader during the swing and bebop eras. He was noted for his rich, almost operatic bass-baritone voice. In 2019, Eckstine was posthumously a ...

invited the young trumpet player to join his band, which included several prominent musicians in the emerging bebop genre. Although Eckstine's group and other big bands yielded few opportunities for Navarro to demonstrate his improvisational skills, he used the opportunity to gain experience. He befriended other trumpet players including

Howard McGhee Howard McGhee (March 6, 1918 – July 17, 1987) was one of the first American bebop jazz trumpeters, with Dizzy Gillespie, Fats Navarro and Idrees Sulieman. He was known for his fast fingering and high notes. He had an influence on younger bebo ...

and his third cousin

Charlie Shavers Charles James Shavers (August 3, 1920 – July 8, 1971) was an American jazz trumpeter who played with Dizzy Gillespie, Nat King Cole, Roy Eldridge, Johnny Dodds, Jimmie Noone, Sidney Bechet, Midge Williams, Tommy Dorsey, and Billie Holiday. He ...

. Navarro made his last recordings with Kirk and Eckstine in January and March 1946, respectively. Regarding Navarro's presence in the big bands of the day,

Carmen McRae Carmen Mercedes McRae (April 8, 1920 – November 10, 1994) was an American jazz singer. She is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century and is remembered for her behind-the-beat phrasing and ironic interpretati ...

noted in her book that Navarro "was a big, lovable character, playing the most beautiful horn, forever practicing and forever striving. He and I used to discuss the way the cats were using the stuff arcotics and he said he’d never do it.”

1946–1948: Transition to bebop

Tiring of life on the road, Navarro settled 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 ...

in 1946, where his career took off. Navarro participated in small group recording sessions with

, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis,

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 ...

, Illinois Jacquet, and

. Clarke's 52nd Street Boys, also known as the Be Bop Boys, recorded at the studio in September 1946 and 1947 and included another young bebop trumpet player,

Kenny Dorham McKinley Howard "Kenny" Dorham (August 30, 1924 – December 5, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and occasional singer. Dorham's talent is frequently lauded by critics and other musicians, but he never received the kind of attention ...

, and were joined by

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 ...

on alto saxophone and

on piano. The September sessions, in which Navarro participated, were among his first opportunities to play bebop in a studio session and the group's work later formed part of the album '' Fats Bud-Klook-Sonny-Kinney''. Navarro met and played with

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz Saxophone, saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of beb ...

. However, he was in a position to demand a high salary and did not join one of Parker's regular groups. He instead joined pianist Tadd Dameron's group based at the Royal Roost jazz club in New York. A recording with this group for

Blue Note 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 German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue no ...

included Ernie Henry on alto saxophone and Charlie Rouse on tenor, both of whom contributed significantly to bebop in the 1940s and 1950s. Dameron went to great lengths to accommodate Navarro's position in the band, but the trumpeter's continued demands for higher pay ultimately led him to form his own group for studio sessions. Navarro preferred the financial security of being a band member over being a bandleader. Navarro won the Metronome Jazz Poll in 1948, enabling him to join the Metronome Jazz All-Stars for a studio session. In addition to regular studio recording, in the late 1940s Navarro began to compose, and many of his tunes were dedicated to Dameron's band, in which he continued to play on occasion. Navarro reunited with McGhee in late 1948 for yet another recording session, this time including

Milt Jackson Milton Jackson (January 1, 1923 – October 9, 1999), nicknamed "Bags", was an American jazz vibraphonist. He is especially remembered for his cool swinging solos as a member of the Modern Jazz Quartet and his penchant for collaborating with ...

on his second instrument, the piano. By the late forties, many jazz musicians refused to play in bands with Navarro for fear of being overshadowed by the trumpeter. Although

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 ...

described Navarro's personality as "sweet," at jam sessions he feuded often with Bud Powell and on one occasion attacked the pianist with his trumpet, but missed.

1948–1950: Tuberculosis

He once again began touring in 1948, this time with Lionel Hampton's band. While on the group's tour bus on route to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Navarro fell ill and decided to return to New York. His illness proved to be

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

, but he continued to play despite declining health. His continued narcotics use hastened the progression of the disease. Navarro toured with Jazz at the Philharmonic in early 1949. He appeared on two studio sessions that year: with Bud Powell for '' The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. 1'' in August and with tenor saxophone player Don Lanphere in September for a few sides. Powell's session was notable for the presence of tenor saxophone player

Sonny Rollins Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American retired jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, Rollins recorded over sixt ...

, who was only 18 years old at the time of recording. The quintet, known on record as "Bud Powell's Modernists," recorded three of Powell's tunes and the jazz standard "52nd Street Theme" written by

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 ...

. The Lanphere date proved one of the few times Navarro would record with pianist Al Haig and drummer

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 ...

. Navarro performed on live recordings twice at Birdland prior to his death, but the dates of those performances are disputed; what is certain is that both were recorded in 1950, and that they included Parker and

respectively. One of them was released as the album '' One Night in Birdland'' and starred

on alto saxophone and Powell on piano.

Death

Navarro, nicknamed "Fat Girl" due to his weight and high speaking voice, developed a heroin addiction, tuberculosis, and a weight problem. These afflictions led to a slow decline in health. Navarro was hospitalized on July 1, 1950, and he died five days later on July 7 at the age of 26. His last performance was with Charlie Parker at Birdland. Navarro died of

in New York City on July 6, 1950, and was survived by wife Rena (née Clark, 1927–1975) and his daughter Linda (1949–2014). He was buried in an unmarked grave, number 414, at the Rose Hill Cemetery in Linden, New Jersey.

Legacy

In 1982, Navarro was inducted into the ''

DownBeat ''DownBeat'' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...

'' Hall of Fame. In September 2002, friends and family members dedicated a headstone for Fats Navarro's grave. The event of dedication was sponsored by the Jazz Alliance International while the day of it was proclaimed as Fats Navarro Day by the mayor of Linden. During the ceremony, Linden High School Choir performed "

Amazing Grace "Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn written in 1772 and published in 1779 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton (1725–1807). It is possibly the most sung and most recorded hymn in the world, and especially popular in the Unit ...

", while trumpeter Jon Faddis played Navarro's "Nostalgia". The night of the same day, 14 trumpeters joined a stellar rhythm section to honor the Navarro songbook at the

Jazz Standard Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive List ...

in Manhattan. Faddis, who assembled the section under musical direction from Don Sickler, was accompanied by drummer Billy Drummond, bassist Peter Washington, and pianist James Williams.

Discography

1943

* Andy Kirk – "Fare Thee Well Honey" c/w "Baby, Don't You Tell Me No Lie" (

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, record label * Decca Gold, classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, musical theater record label * Decca Studios, recording facility in West ...

4449)

1944

*Andy Kirk and his Orchestra – ''Live at the Apollo 1944–1947'' (Everybody's EV 3003) *Andy Kirk – ''Andy's Jive'' (Swing House (E) SWH 39) *Andy Kirk and his Twelve Clouds of Joy – ''The Uncollected Andy Kirk'' ( Hindsight (E) HSR 227) *Andy Kirk and his Orchestra (no details) (Caracol (F) CAR 424)

1945

*Andy Kirk and his Orchestra (no details) (Swing House (E) SWH 130) *

– ''Together ''( Spotlite (E) SPJ 100) *Billy Eckstine – ''Blues for Sale'' ( EmArcy MG 36029) *Billy Eckstine – ''The Love Songs of Mr. "B"'' (EmArcy MG 36030) *Various Artists – ''The Advance Guard of the '40s'' (EmArcy MG 36016) *Billy Eckstine – ''You Call It Madness'' (

Regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

MG 6058) *Billy Eckstine – ''Prisoner of Love'' (Regent MG 6052)

1946

*Andy Kirk – "He's My Baby" c/w "Soothe Me" (Decca 23870) *Andy Kirk – "Alabama Bound" c/w "Doggin' Man Blues" (Decca 48073) *Billy Eckstine – ''My Deep Blue Dream'' (Regent MG 6054) *Billy Eckstine – ''I Surrender, Dear'' (EmArcy MG 36010) *Various Artists – ''Boning Up the 'Bones'' (EmArcy MG 36038) *Billy Eckstine – ''Mr. B and the Band'' (

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 ...

SJL 2214) *Various Artists – ''The Bebop Era'' (

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 ...

LPV 519) *'' Fats Navarro Memorial: Fats - Bud - Klook - Sonny - Kinney'' (Savoy MG 12011) * Earl Bud Powell – ''Burning in U.S.A., 53-55, Vol. 2'' (Mythic Sound MS 6002–2) *''Fats Navarro Memorial, Vol. 2: Nostalgia'' (Savoy MG 12133) *Various Artists – ''In the Beginning Bebop!'' (Savoy MG 12119) *

– '' Bean and the Boys'' (

Prestige Prestige may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Films *Prestige (film), ''Prestige'' (film), a 1932 American film directed by Tay Garnett: woman travels to French Indochina to meet up with husband *The Prestige (film), ''The Prestige'' (fi ...

PR 7824)

1947

* Illinois Jacquet – ''Illinois Jacquet and his Tenor Sax'' (

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...

AL 803) *Various Artists – ''Opus de Bop'' (Savoy MG 12114) * Billy Stewart/ Ray Abrams – "

Gloomy Sunday "Gloomy Sunday" ( Hungarian: ''Szomorú Vasárnap''), also known as the "Hungarian Suicide Song", is a song composed by Hungarian pianist and composer Rezső Seress and published in 1933. The original lyrics were titled "Vége a világnak" (' ...

" c/w "In My Solitude" (Savoy 647) *Milton Buggs/Ray Abrams – "I Live True to You" c/w "Fine Brown Frame" (Savoy 648) *Various Artists – ''Jazz Off the Air, Vol. 2'' ( Vox VSP 310) *Fats Navarro – '' The Fabulous Fats Navarro, Vol. 1'' (

BLP 1531) *Fats Navarro – '' Fat Girl'' (Savoy SJL 2216) *

– "

Anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

" (Spotlite (E) SPJ 108) *Coleman Hawkins – ''His Greatest Hits 1939–47, Vol. 17'' (RCA (F) 730625) *Coleman Hawkins – ''Body and Soul: A Jazz Autobiography'' (RCA Victor LPV 501) *Various Artists – ''All American Hot Jazz'' (RCA Victor LPV 544)

1948

and his Orchestra – 1948 (Weka (Swt) Jds 12–1) *Lionel Hampton – ''Lionel Hampton in Concert'' (Cicala Jazz Live (It) BLJ 8015) *Fats Navarro Featured with the

Quintet ( Jazzland JLP 50) *The Tadd Dameron Band – ''1948'' ( Jazzland JLP 68) *

Charlie Barnet Charles Daly Barnet (October 26, 1913 – September 4, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. His major recordings were "Nagasaki", "Skyliner", "Cherokee", "The Wrong Idea", "Scotch and Soda", "In a Mizz", and "South ...

– ''Capitol Jazz Classics, Vol. 15: Bebop Spoken Here'' ( Capitol M 11061) *Fats Navarro – '' The Fabulous Fats Navarro, Vol. 2'' (Blue Note BLP 1532) *Various Artists – ''The Other Side Blue Note 1500 Series'' (Blue Note (J) BNJ 61008/10) *''The Complete Blue Note and Capitol Recordings of Fats Navarro and Tadd Dameron'' (Blue Note CDP 7243 8 33373–2) * Earl Coleman – " I Wished on the Moon" c/w "Guilty" ( Dial 756) *

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 ...

– ''Move!'' (Spotlite (E) SPJ 133)

1949

*The Metronome All Stars – ''From Swing to Be-Bop'' (RCA Camden CAL 426) - released on

's '' The Complete RCA Victor Recordings'' ( Bluebird, 1937–1949,

995 Year 995 (Roman numerals, CMXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Japan * 17 May - Fujiwara no Michitaka (imperial regent) dies. * 3 June: Fujiwara no Michikane gains power and becomes Rege ...

– ''Strictly Be Bop'' (Capitol M 11059) * Jazz at the Philharmonic – ''J.A.T.P. at Carnegie Hall 1949'' ( Pablo PACD 5311–2) *

– '' The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. 1'' (Blue Note BLP 1503) *Various Artists – ''25 Years of Prestige'' (Prestige PR 24046) *

/Fats Navarro – ''Trumpet Giants'' ( New Jazz NJLP 8296) * Don Lanphere/Fats Navarro/ Leo Parker/ Al Haig – ''Prestige First Sessions, Vol. 1'' (Prestige PRCD 24114–2)

1950

*Charlie Parker - Fats Navarro - Bud Powell (Ozone 4) *Charlie Parker – '' One Night in Birdland'' ( Columbia JG 34808) *Charlie Parker - Bud Powell - Fats Navarro (Ozone 9) *

– ''Hooray for Miles Davis, Vol. 1'' (Session Disc 101) *Miles Davis All Stars and

Gil Evans Ian Ernest Gilmore Evans (né Green; May 13, 1912 – March 20, 1988) was a Canadian Americans, Canadian–American jazz pianist, Music arranger, arranger, composer and bandleader. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest orchestrators i ...

(Beppo (E) BEP 502) *Miles Davis – ''The Persuasively Coherent Miles Davis'' (Alto AL 701) *Miles Davis – ''Hooray for Miles Davis, Vol. 2'' (Session Disc 102)

Compilations

*1951: '' Modern Jazz Trumpets'' (Prestige) *1995: ''The Complete Blue Note and Capitol Recordings of Fats Navarro and Tadd Dameron'' (Blue Note)

References

External links

*
Biography of Fats Navarro
{{DEFAULTSORT:Navarro, Fats 1923 births 1950 deaths 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American musicians 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis American jazz trumpeters American male jazz musicians American male trumpeters American people of Chinese descent American musicians of Cuban descent Bebop trumpeters Blue Note Records artists Deaths by heroin overdose in New York (state) Drug-related deaths in New York City People from Key West, Florida Savoy Records artists Tuberculosis deaths in New York (state) DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame members