Home |  PublicationsEncyclopedia |  McGhee, Howard

The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture

McGHEE, HOWARD (1918–1987).

Howard "Maggie" McGhee was one of the most talented instrumentalists, composers, and arrangers in the 1940s jazz scene. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on February 6, 1918, he moved with his family to Detroit, and he attended high school until age sixteen. While at home, he learned the basics of music from his half brother, who played the guitar. During high school McGhee learned piano, tenor saxophone, clarinet, and trumpet but eventually made the trumpet his basic instrument in 1935 after hearing Louis Armstrong and Roy Eldridge. After joining Lionel Hampton's band in 1941, he then became principal soloist with Andy Kirk for two years.

As one of the pioneers in the bebop jazz movement, McGhee performed at jam sessions at Minton's Playhouse and Monroe's Uptown House on Forty-second Street in New York City. After playing briefly with Count Basie, he joined the Coleman Hawkins combo in 1945. For the next two years McGhee was on the West Coast, and he recorded on Charlie Parker's sessions for "Lover Man" and "Relaxin' at Camarillo." By the end of the 1940s McGhee was one of the most highly respected musicians in the bebop movement and was named Best Trumpet Player by the Down Beat poll in 1949. He worked as an arranger for such notables as Billy Eckstine, Woody Herman, and Charlie Barnet. McGhee's compositions include "McGhee Special," "Night Mist," "Midnight at Mintons," "Dorothy," and "Carvin' the Bird." Inactive during the 1950s, McGhee made a comeback in the 1960s. He formed his own big band, toured Europe and Japan with George Wein, performed with Duke Ellington, and participated in jazz services at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in New York City. McGhee died on July 17, 1987.

George O. Carney

Learn More

George Hoefer, "The Early Career of Howard McGhee," Down Beat 30 (15 August 1963).

Gunther Schuller, The Swing Era (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989).

Eileen Southern, Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musicians (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1982).

Citation

The following (as per The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition) is the preferred citation for articles:
George O. Carney, “McGhee, Howard,” The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=MC025.

Published January 15, 2010

Copyright and Terms of Use

No part of this site may be construed as in the public domain.

Copyright to all articles and other content in the online and print versions of The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History is held by the Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS). This includes individual articles (copyright to OHS by author assignment) and corporately (as a complete body of work), including web design, graphics, searching functions, and listing/browsing methods. Copyright to all of these materials is protected under United States and International law.

Users agree not to download, copy, modify, sell, lease, rent, reprint, or otherwise distribute these materials, or to link to these materials on another web site, without authorization of the Oklahoma Historical Society. Individual users must determine if their use of the Materials falls under United States copyright law's "Fair Use" guidelines and does not infringe on the proprietary rights of the Oklahoma Historical Society as the legal copyright holder of The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and part or in whole.