Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Calvin “Cal” Massey was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on January 11, 1928 and studied trumpet under Freddie Webster. Following his studies, he played in the big bands of Jay McShann, Jimmy Heath, and Billie Holiday.
In the late 1950s Cal headed an ensemble with Jimmy Garrison, McCoy Tyner, and Tootie Heath. Occasionally John Coltrane and Donald Byrd would play with Massey’s group and in the 1950s he gradually receded from active performance and concentrated on composition.
His works were recorded by Coltrane, Tyner, Freddie Hubbard, Jackie McLean, Lee Morgan, Philly Joe Jones, Horace Tapscott and Archie Shepp. Massey played and toured with Shepp from 1969 until 1972 and also performed in The Romas Orchestra with Romulus Franceschini.
Massey’s political standpoint was radical and his work was strongly connected with the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and ’70s. The Black Panther Party was an inspiration for The Black Liberation Movement Suite which he created with Franceschini and was performed three times at Black Panther benefit concerts. His ideology resulted in him getting whitelisted from major recording companies and only one album was recorded under his name.
Trumpeter and composer Cal Massey passed away from a heart attack on October 25, 1972 at the age of 44 in New York City, New York.
