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Idrees Sulieman

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Idrees Sulieman
Background information
Birth nameLeonard Graham
Born(1923-08-07)August 7, 1923
St. Petersburg, Florida, United States
DiedJuly 23, 2002(2002-07-23) (aged 78)
St. Petersburg, Florida
GenresBop
Hard bop
OccupationTrumpeter
InstrumentTrumpet
LabelsPrestige, Blue Note, Atlantic, Verve, others

Idrees Sulieman, born Leonard Graham[1] (August 7, 1923 – July 23, 2002),[2] was an American bop and hard bop trumpeter.[3]

Biography

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Graham was born in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States,[1] later changing his name to Idrees Sulieman, after converting to Islam.[4] He studied at the Boston Conservatory, and gained early experience playing with the Carolina Cotton Pickers and the wartime Earl Hines Orchestra (1943–1944).[1]

On October 15, 1947, he played on Thelonious Monk's first recording for Blue Note Records. Sulieman was closely associated with Mary Lou Williams and for a time and had stints with Cab Calloway, John Coltrane, Count Basie, and Lionel Hampton.[1] Sulieman recorded with Coleman Hawkins (1957) and gigged with Randy Weston (1958–1959), in addition to appearing in many other situations.[1]

He toured Europe in 1961 with pianist Oscar Dennard, and stayed, settling in Stockholm at first, and then moved to Copenhagen in 1964. A soloist with the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band from the mid-1960s through 1973, Sulieman frequently worked with radio orchestras.[1] 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' album, Aura, which was not released until 1989.[5] Sulieman's career slowed down considerably in the 1990s.[2]

Death

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He died of bladder cancer on July 23, 2002, at St. Anthony's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida, at the age of 78.[2]

Discography

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As leader/co-leader

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As sideman

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With Gene Ammons

With Teddy Charles

With the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band

With Friedrich Gulda

  • Friedrich Gulda at Birdland (RCA Victor, 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 Coleman Hawkins

With Mal Waldron

  • Mal-1 (Prestige, 1956 [1957])
  • Mal-2 (Prestige, 1957)

With Randy Weston

With others

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 379. ISBN 0-85112-580-8.
  2. ^ a b c "Idrees Sulieman | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  3. ^ "Idrees Sulieman". Jazzhouse.org. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
  4. ^ "Obscure Trumpet Masters #9 – Idrees Sulieman". Curtjazz.com. March 21, 2011. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
  5. ^ "Aura - Miles Davis | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
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