One of the first trombonists to explore free jazz,
Grachan Moncur III was best-known for his pair of innovative Blue Note albums (1963-1964) that also featured
Lee Morgan and
Jackie McLean on the first session, and
Wayne Shorter and
Herbie Hancock on the later date. The son of bassist
Grachan Moncur II, who played with the Savoy Sultans between 1937 and 1945,
Grachan III started on trombone when he was 11. He toured with
Ray Charles (1959-1962), was with
the Jazztet (1962), and in 1963, played advanced jazz with
Jackie McLean.
Moncur toured with
Sonny Rollins (1964) and played and recorded with
Marion Brown,
Joe Henderson, and
Archie Shepp, matching up with fellow trombonist
Roswell Rudd in the latter group. He also was part of the cooperative band 360 Degree Music Experience with
Beaver Harris.
Grachan Moncur, who also recorded as a leader for BYG (1969) and JCOA (1974), continued to play challenging music into the 2000s and worked as an educator. Some of his associations were with
Frank Lowe (1984-1985),
Cassandra Wilson (1985), and the Paris Reunion Band.
Grachan Moncur III died on June 3, 2022 at his home in Newark, New Jersey after a lengthy illness. It was his 85th birthday ~ Scott Yanow