Fats Navarro

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Theodore Fats Navarro was an American jazz trumpeter and a pioneer of bebop in the 1940s. He was born in Key West, Florida, in 1923, with Cuban, African and Chinese ancestors, and spoke Spanish as well as English. His father, a barber, had him take piano lessons as a child. He began playing piano at six and trumpet at thirteen. He was also so good on tenor saxophone that in his first years he played both professionally. In 1941 he moved north and played in the band of Sol Allbright.

Music and breakthrough

In the Midwest he played with Snookum Russell, where he influenced the young J.J. Johnson, and then in the big bands of Andy Kirk, Benny Goodman and Lionel Hampton. Billy Eckstine took him into his band, which was full of young bebop musicians. He made his last recordings with Kirk and Eckstine in 1946. After that he became famous as a bebopper in New York, with studio sessions with Tadd Dameron, Bud Powell and Kenny Clarke. He fell ill with tuberculosis and died in 1950, at the age of twenty-six.

Influence

His career was short, but his influence was great. Trumpeters such as Miles Davis, Clifford Brown and Lee Morgan adopted his style. His playing was known for its full tone and long, flowing improvised lines. Records such as The Fabulous Fats Navarro, Volume 1 and Fats Navarro Memorial Album preserve his work. He shows how bebop could sound on the trumpet without speed coming at the expense of beauty.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 1951Fats Navarro Memorial Album
• 1951Modern Jazz Trumpets
• 1957The Fabulous Fats Navarro, Volume 1
• ?Our Delight