Grachan Moncur III (born June 3, 1937) is an American jazz trombonist. He was one of the first free jazz trombonists, as well as a prolific composer. He is the son of jazz bassist Grachan Moncur II. Born and raised in Newark, New Jersey, USA, Grachan began playing the cello at age nine, and switched to the trombone at eleven. In high school he attended the Laurinburg Institute in North Carolina, the private school where Dizzy Gillespie studied. While still in school he began sitting in with touring jazz musicians on their way through town