Marcus Belgrave, a Detroit-based trumpeter whose career stretched back to the 1950s, died May 24 in Ann Arbor, Mich. Belgrave had been hospitalized since April with complications of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and congestive heart failure. He was 78. He first became known nationally at age 21 as a member of Ray Charles’ orchestra, and appeared on many of Charles’ hit recordings. Belgrave moved to New York in the early 1960s, working with Charles Mingus, Yusef Lateef, Eric Dolphy and Max Roach, among others. In 1963 he relocated to Detroit, where he joined the Motown company as a staff trumpeter. He recorded several albums as a leader beginning in 1974 with Gemini II and later for his own Detroit Jazz Musicians Co-Op label. He also worked as a sideman with B.B. King, Geri Allen, McCoy Tyner, David Murray, Joe Henderson and others. Named a Jazz Master Laureate for the city of Detroit, Belgrave was a celebrated educator and an invaluable mentor to generations of Motor City musicians.
