), born George Allen Minger, was a bebop

Bebop

Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...

-based trumpeter. He also played flugelhorn

Flugelhorn

The flugelhorn is a brass instrument resembling a trumpet but with a wider, conical bore. Some consider it to be a member of the saxhorn family developed by Adolphe Sax ; however, other historians assert that it derives from the valve bugle designed by Michael Saurle , Munich 1832 , thus...

.

He came from a musical family with his mother and grandmother playing piano at church. His brother is also a jazz pianist. He started with saxophone, but switched to trumpet at an early point. From 1970 to 1980 he worked with Count Basie

Count Basie

William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...

's orchestra. He can be heard on the album Digital III at Montreux

Digital III at Montreux

Digital III at Montreux is a 1979 live album featuring a compilation of performances by Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Joe Pass, and Ray Brown, recorded at the 1979 Montreux Jazz Festival...

 in that period.

After his work with Basie he moved to Florida and received a degree in music from the University of Miami

University of Miami

The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...

 in 1985. He later taught there, but continued to perform. In 1990 he toured with Frank Wess

Frank Wess

Frank Wess is an American jazz musician, who has played saxophone and flute.-Biography:...

's big-band and also worked with Mel Tormé

Mel Tormé

Melvin Howard Tormé , nicknamed The Velvet Fog, was an American musician, known for his jazz singing. He was also a jazz composer and arranger, a drummer, an actor in radio, film, and television, and the author of five books...

. He became a noted individual in Florida's jazz scene releasing two albums of his own, Minger Paintings (Jazz Alliance, 1991), and Look To The Sky (Concord Jazz, 1992)http://www.jazzhouse.org/gone/lastpost.php3?edit=956567556

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