Norman Howard (born August 25, 1944) is a free jazz trumpeter best known for his association with saxophonist Albert Ayler.
[1] Howard was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, in the same neighborhood as Ayler, and played with the saxophonist before he went into the army.
[5] In February of that year, with Howard, bassists Henry Grimes and Earle Henderson (also from Cleveland), and drummer Sunny Murray, Ayler recorded the album Spirits.
[5][7][8] Shortly after the recording session, Howard returned to Cleveland, where he formed a quartet with saxophonist Joe Phillips (also known as Yusef Mumin), bassist Walter Cliff, and drummer Corney Millsap.
[5][9] However, the material was shelved until 1989, when some of the tracks were released by Homeboy Music, a label run by British musicologist Roy Morris, on a limited-edition cassette titled Signals.