Idrees Sulieman (August 7, 1923 – July 23, 2002) was an American bop and hard bop trumpeter.

Biography

He was born Leonard Graham in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States, later changing his name to Idrees Sulieman, after converting to Islam. He studied at the Boston Conservatory, and gained early experience playing with the Carolina Cotton Pickers and the wartime Earl Hines Orchestra (1943–1944). 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. Sulieman recorded with Coleman Hawkins (1957) and gigged with Randy Weston (1958–1959), in addition to appearing in many other situations. 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. 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. Sulieman's career slowed down considerably in the 1990s.

Death

He died of bladder cancer on July 23, 2002, at St. Anthony's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida, at the age of 78.

Discography

As leader

As sideman

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