| Idrees Sulieman | |
| Background: | non_vocal_instrumentalist |
| Birth Name: | Leonard Graham |
| Birth Date: | 7 August 1923 |
| Birth Place: | St. Petersburg, Florida, United States |
| Death Place: | St. Petersburg, Florida |
| Instrument: | Trumpet |
| Genre: | Bop Hard bop |
| Occupation: | Trumpeter |
| Label: | Prestige, Blue Note, Atlantic, Verve, others |
| Associated Acts: | Cab Calloway, Count Basie, Howard McGhee, Lionel Hampton, Thelonious Monk |
Idrees Sulieman (August 7, 1923 – July 23, 2002) was an American bop and hard bop trumpeter.[1]
He was born Leonard Graham in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States,[2] later changing his name to Idrees Sulieman, after converting to Islam.[3] He studied at the Boston Conservatory, and gained early experience playing with the Carolina Cotton Pickers and the wartime Earl Hines Orchestra (1943–1944).[2]
On October 15, 1947, he played on Thelonious Monk's first recording for Blue Note Records. Sulieman was closely associated with Mary Lou Williams and for a time and had stints with Cab Calloway, John Coltrane, Count Basie, and Lionel Hampton.[2] Sulieman recorded with Coleman Hawkins (1957) and gigged with Randy Weston (1958–1959), in addition to appearing in many other situations.[2]
He toured Europe in 1961 with Oscar Dennard, and stayed, settling in Stockholm at first, and then moved to Copenhagen in 1964. A soloist with the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band from the mid-1960s through 1973, Sulieman frequently worked with radio orchestras.[2] His recordings as a leader were for Swedish Columbia (1964) and SteepleChase (1976 and 1985). In 1985, he was among the performers on Miles Davis' album, Aura, which was not released until 1989.[4] Sulieman's career slowed down considerably in the 1990s.[5]
He died of bladder cancer on July 23, 2002, at St. Anthony's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida, at the age of 78.[5]
With Gene Ammons
With Art Blakey
With Clifford Brown
With Teddy Charles
With the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band
With Don Byas / Bud Powell
With Miles Davis
With Eric Dolphy
With Tommy Flanagan
With Dexter Gordon
With Friedrich Gulda
With Coleman Hawkins
With Joe Henderson
With Bobby Jaspar
With Thad Jones
With Carmen McRae
With Thelonious Monk
With Horace Parlan
With Max Roach
With Sahib Shihab
With Mal Waldron
With Randy Weston
With Ernie Wilkins
With Lester Young