Theodore "Fats" Navarro (September 24, 1923 – July 7, 1950) was an American jazz trumpet player and a pioneer of the bebop style of jazz improvisation in the 1940s. A native of Key West, Florida, he toured with big bands before achieving fame as a bebop trumpeter in New York. Following a series of studio sessions with leading bebop figures including Tadd Dameron, Bud Powell, and Kenny Clarke, he became ill with tuberculosis and died at the age of 26. Despite the short duration of his career, he had a strong stylistic influence on trumpet players who rose to fame in later decades, including Miles Davis, Clifford Brown and Lee Morgan.

Early life

Navarro was born in Key West, Florida Navarro's father, a barber by trade, had some musical knowledge and hired a piano teacher to give Navarro private lessons in his early childhood. Hence, the younger Navarro began to play piano at age six, although he did not become serious about music until he began playing trumpet at the age of thirteen.

By the time Navarro graduated from Frederick Douglass School in 1941, he wanted to be away from Key West and moved north to Orlando to join Sol Allbright's band. As a member, Navarro was able to tour the Midwest, reaching Cincinnati before he left to take lessons. Navarro also played in the Andy Kirk, Benny Goodman, and Lionel Hampton big bands.

Navarro made his last recordings with Kirk and Eckstine in January and March 1946, respectively. The September sessions, in which Navarro participated, were among his first opportunities to play bebop in a studio session and the group's work later formed part of the album Fats Bud-Klook-Sonny-Kinney. However, he was in a position to demand a high salary and did not join one of Parker's regular groups. He instead joined pianist Tadd Dameron's group based at the Royal Roost jazz club in New York. A recording with this group for Blue Note included Ernie Henry on alto saxophone and Charlie Rouse on tenor, both of whom contributed significantly to bebop in the 1940s and 1950s.

Dameron went to great lengths to accommodate Navarro's position in the band, but the trumpeter's continued demands for higher pay ultimately led him to form his own group for studio sessions. Navarro preferred the financial security of being a band member over being a bandleader.

The Lanphere date proved one of the few times Navarro would record with pianist Al Haig and drummer Max Roach. One of them was released as the album One Night in Birdland and starred Charlie Parker on alto saxophone and Powell on piano.

Death

Navarro, nicknamed "Fat Girl" due to his weight and high speaking voice, developed a heroin addiction, tuberculosis, and a weight problem. These afflictions led to a slow decline in health. Navarro was hospitalized on July 1, 1950, and he died five days later on July 7 at the age of 26. His last performance was with Charlie Parker at Birdland. and was survived by wife Rena (née Clark, 1927–1975) and his daughter Linda (1949–2014). He was buried in an unmarked grave, number 414, at the Rose Hill Cemetery in Linden, New Jersey.

In September 2002, friends and family members dedicated a headstone for Fats Navarro's grave. The event of dedication was sponsored by the Jazz Alliance International while the day of it was proclaimed as Fats Navarro Day by the mayor of Linden.

Compilations

  • 1951: Modern Jazz Trumpets (Prestige)
  • 1995: The Complete Blue Note and Capitol Recordings of Fats Navarro and Tadd Dameron (Blue Note)

References

  • Biography of Fats Navarro