Born in New York City, United States,[1] (his paternal grandfather was from the Bahamas)[3] and raised in Newark, New Jersey, Grachan Moncur III began playing the cello at the age of nine, and switched to the trombone when he was 11.
Moncur joined Archie Shepp's ensemble,[1] and recorded with other avant-garde players such as Marion Brown, Beaver Harris and Roswell Rudd (another free jazz trombonist).
Through the 1980s, he recorded with Cassandra Wilson (1985), played occasionally with the Paris Reunion Band and Frank Lowe, appeared on Big John Patton's Soul Connection (1983), but mostly concentrated on teaching.
In 2004, he re-emerged with a new album, Exploration, on Capri Records featuring Moncur's compositions arranged by Mark Masters for an octet including Tim Hagans and Gary Bartz.
[2] with Marion Brown: with Dave Burrell: with Benny Golson: with Herbie Hancock: with Beaver Harris: with Joe Henderson: with Khan Jamal: with Frank Lowe: with Jackie McLean: with Lee Morgan: with Butch Morris: with Sunny Murray: with Sunny Murray, Khan Jamal and Romulus: with Paris Reunion Band: with William Parker: with John Patton: with The Reunion Legacy Band: with Archie Shepp: with Archie Shepp and Roswell Rudd: with Wayne Shorter: with Alan Silva: with Clifford Thornton: with Chris White: with Cassandra Wilson: