Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 21, 2026

Idrees Sulieman

Idrees Sulieman, born Leonard Graham, was an American bebop and hard bop trumpeter.

Last revised
Jun 21, 2026
Read time
≈ 4 min
Length
818 w
Citations
12
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Idrees Sulieman
Background information
Born
Leonard Graham

(1923-08-07)August 7, 1923
St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S.
DiedJuly 23, 2002(2002-07-23) (aged 78)
St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S.
Genres
OccupationMusician
InstrumentTrumpet
Years active1940s–1990s
Labels

Idrees Sulieman (August 7, 1923 – July 23, 2002),1 born Leonard Graham,2 was an American bebop and hard bop trumpeter.3

Biography

Graham was born in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States,2 later changing his name to Idrees Sulieman after converting to Islam.4 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 pianist 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's album Aura, which was not released until 1989.5 Sulieman's career slowed down considerably in the 1990s.1

Death

He died of bladder cancer on July 23, 2002, at St. Anthony's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida, at the age of 78.1

Discography

As leader/co-leader

As sideman

With Gene Ammons

With Teddy Charles

With the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band

With Friedrich Gulda

  • Friedrich Gulda at Birdland (RCA Victor, 1957)
  • A Man of Letters (Decca, 1957)
  • From Vienna with Jazz (Columbia, 1964)

With the Prestige Blues-Swingers

  • Outskirts of Town (Prestige, 1958)
  • Stasch (Prestige, 1961) – with Coleman Hawkins

With Mal Waldron

  • Mal-1 (Prestige, 1956 [1957])
  • Mal/2 (Prestige, 1957)

With Randy Weston

With others

References

References

  1. "Idrees Sulieman | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  2. Larkin, Colin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 379. ISBN 0-85112-580-8.
  3. "Idrees Sulieman". Jazzhouse.org. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
  4. "Obscure Trumpet Masters #9 – Idrees Sulieman". Curtjazz.com. March 21, 2011. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
  5. "Aura – Miles Davis | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
External links