Fats Navarro
September 24, 1923 – July 7, 1950

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“Dizzy Gillespie is a nice trumpet player, but he’s no Fats Navarro.”

– Pianist Lennie Tristano

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“As an influence, Navarro was important almost immediately after he first made his presence felt in the mid-1940s Billy Eckstine band. Kenny Dorham was affected early in his career and you could hear Fats in Red Rodney too. Then, of course, came Clifford Brown and through him Navarro has indirectly influenced so many of the young trumpeters playing today.”

– Critic Ira Gitler

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“He had everything a trumpet player needs — soul, a good lip, continuity and a good sound, one of those big butter sounds. A guy with as much as he had to work with couldn’t have failed if he had remained level-headed.”

– Trumpeter Joe Newman

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“His sound was the biggest and most moving of any “modern” trumpeter; as a confirmed lover of big sounds, I must confess that this is where I find the modernists most lacking when compared to the masters of “mainstream” jazz … but Fats (and to a lesser extent, Clifford Brown) could hold their own … Just listen to Fats … don’t you miss that sound today?”

-Critic/Educator, Dan Morgenstern

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“Fat Girl”