1944-1989. A genius in coke-bottle glasses who bled jazz; the very definition of jazz trumpet. Born in Laurinburg, North Carolina, raised in Newark. Debuted at age 18, on one of Eric Dolphy's later LPs. His apprenticeship sideman credits were A-list: Horace Silver, Chick Corea (in Chick's pre-sellout days), Jackie McLean, Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers... Led his own groups, starting in the 70s, and was part of Dexter Gordon's return from exile - Dex was fresh batteries in the flashlight in Woody's Diogenes-like search for the One True Real Jazz Audience in an era in which hyper-commercial confusion was running amok. Victory gave us the stuffy, blinkered neo-conservatism of the Marsalis years (and even Woody lost his endearing rough edges), but it sure beat the Triple-Z crap that was foisted on the "jazz" marketplace.