had left the band. 'Fat Girl' played Dizzy's solos, not note for note, but his ideas on Dizzy's parts and the feeling was the same and there was just as much swing. Eckstine's band was very successful, due to Eckstine's romantic vocals, and the most musically advanced voice. Besides Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, the band included at one time or other during a four year span a lineup of future stars that is very well known in all of jazz: Kenny Dorham, Miles Davis, Dexter Gordon, Wardell Gray, Gene Ammons, Lucky Thompson, Bud Johnson, Frank Wess, Charlie Rouse, Sonny Stitt, Leo Parker, Cecil Payne, Tadd Dameron, Jerry Valentine, Tommy Potter, Art Blakey, and Sarah Vaughan were some of the more famous to pass through the band. The End ComesSomewhere along the way, Fats contracted tuberculosis, which is usually a slow developing malady. The combination of his drug habit, and the TB led to a sharp decline in his health and a decrease of his musical activity over the last seventeen months of his life. He nevertheless went on the road one last time with the Jazz at the Philharmonic tour for about seven weeks in February and March of 1949. Fats had been described as coughing uncontrollably and appearing physically drained during this period. Theodore "Fats" Navarro died on July 7, 1950 in a New York City hospital....
