Don Sleet

Biography

Although small known, Don Sleet was a gifted hard bop/post-bop trumpeter who had a stylish, smooth tone such as Kenny Dorham and Art Farmer. Dorham was a solid impact on Sleet’s playing, and particular aspects of Kilometers Davis’ lyricism experienced a major effect on him aswell. But Sleet experienced a larger firmness than Davis; he preferred a medium firmness that was larger than Davis and Chet Baker however, not as large as the Body fat Navarro/Clifford Brown college of trumpeting. Sleet was created in Fort Wayne, IN, on November 27, 1938 but was raised in NORTH PARK, where he analyzed both jazz and traditional as an adolescent. Actually, the trumpeter performed classical for 3 years with NORTH PARK Symphony, although jazz was his primary concentrate. Sleet also spent lots of time in LA, and it had been in L.A. that he analyzed with trumpeter Shorty Rogers and fulfilled vibist Terry Gibbs (who employed him to try out within the trumpet portion of his big music group). In 1960, he spent several a few months with Howard Rumsey’s Lighthouse All-Stars, among L.A.’s best jazz outfits at that time. The following calendar year, Sleet had an opportunity to record being a head when, at 22, he documented All Associates for Jazzland. Stated in NY by Orrin Keepnews, the record finds Sleet became a member of by an extraordinary East Coast ensemble which includes Jimmy Heath on tenor saxophone, Wynton Kelly on piano, Ron Carter on upright bass, and Jimmy Cobb on drums. But despite obtaining the chance to utilize such heavyweights on his initial album, Sleet hardly ever enjoyed the identification he must have. All Associates ended up being his only discharge; Sleet never documented a second record, and in 1986, he passed away in obscurity at age 47. In 2001, Illusion reissued All Associates on CD because of its First Jazz Classics series.

Quick Facts