Don Sleet
Although little known, Don Sleet was a gifted hard bop/post-bop trumpeter who had an attractive, smooth tone along the lines of Kenny Dorham and Art Farmer. Dorham was a strong influence on Sleet's playing, and certain aspects of Miles Davis' lyricism had a major impact on him as well. But Sleet had a bigger tone than Davis; he favored a medium tone that was bigger than Davis and Chet Baker but not as big as the Fats Navarro/Clifford Brown school of trumpeting.
Sleet was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on November 27, 1938 but grew up in San Diego, where he studied both jazz and classical as a teenager. In fact, the trumpeter played classical for three years with San Diego Symphony, although jazz was his main focus. Sleet also spent a lot of time in Los Angeles, and it was in Los Angeles that he studied with trumpeter Shorty Rogers and met vibist Terry Gibbs (who hired him to play in...
