Kenny Dorham – Matador (1963/2021)
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 00:36:54 minutes | 1,48 GB
Genre: Jazz | Publisher (label): Impex Records / Capitol Records / Universal Music Special Markets – IMP8321
Matador Review by Brandon Burke
Kenny Dorham’s Matador can safely claim the all too common distinction of being a classic among jazz connoisseurs while virtually unknown to the casual listener. Dorham is joined here by Jackie McLean, Bobby Timmons, Teddy Smith, and J.C. Moses, all of whom deliver outstanding performances. More than anything, this session is perhaps best known for including a stunning version of McLean’s composition “Melody for Melonae,” used less than a month earlier on his groundbreaking Blue Note LP Let Freedom Ring. For this session, though, the tune is renamed “Melanie” and, if not better, this version at least rivals the take under McLean’s leadership. For starters, the addition of another horn adds some tonal depth to the proceedings, a situation arguably lacking in the tune’s earlier recording. Also of note is what has to be Bobby Timmons’ most intense moment on record. One rarely has the opportunity to hear Timmons dig and scrape as hard as he does during this solo, and his barely audible vocal accompaniment (à la Bud Powell) only helps to prove this point. This is a case where a performer not commonly associated with seriously stretching out goes at it with a life-affirming fervor, making “Melanie” a treat for listeners who revel in emotional performances. Other highlights include the opener, “El Matador,” a 5/4 number that, frankly, fades out just when things were getting good, and the otherwise unaccompanied Dorham/Timmons duet, “Prelude.” A fantastic session by any standard.
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Kenny Dorham – Jazz Contemporary (High Definition Remaster 2023) (1960/2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 39:38 minutes | 455 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © J. Joes J. Edizioni Musicali
Jazz Contemporary is an album by American jazz trumpeter Kenny Dorham featuring performances recorded in 1960 and released on the Time label. The album features the recording debut of pianist Steve Kuhn.
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Kenny Dorham – Inta Somethin’ (High Definition Remaster 2023) (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 38:30 minutes | 452 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © J. Joes J. Edizioni Musicali
Live at the Jazz Workshop in San Francisco, at the close of 1961. Jackie Mac is in terrific form. Tearing version of Una Mas a year before the Blue Note. Leroy Vinnegar, Walter Bishop, Art Taylor.
Composer of “Blue Bossa,” one of the most popular jazz standards of all time, trumpeter Kenny Dorham (1924-1972) was a rather neglected and little-known figure during his lifetime. Decades later, not much has changed. Greatly overshadowed by the stardom of Dizzy Gillespie, Clifford Brown and Fats Navarro, this underrated bebop giant was nevertheless a highly talented musician who performed with some of the most remarkable players of the era. He recorded with Bud Powell; was a regular member of the Charlie Parker quintet (they toured Paris) and replaced the late Clifford Brown in the Max Roach quintet in 1956. Presented here is his splendid quintet LP Inta Somethin’, on which he shares the frontline with alto saxophonist Jackie McLean, with whom he would collaborate on two further occasions, the 1962 LPs Matador and Hipnosis.
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Kenny Dorham – Whistle Stop (1961/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 38:32 minutes | 1,68 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Blue Note Records
Whistle Stop is a jazz studio album by Kenny Dorham, featuring performances by acclaimed musicians Hank Mobley, Kenny Drew, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones. It was recorded in January 1961 at Van Gelder Studio, in Englewood Cliffs, and was originally released on Blue Note Records as BST 84063 and BLP 4063. “In 1975”, Blumenthal states in the CD liner notes, “five British critics picked Whistle Stop as one of 200 albums that belonged in a basic library of jazz recorded after World War II”.
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Kenny Dorham – Una Mas (1963/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 31:29 minutes | 1,33 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Blue Note Records
Trumpeter Kenny Dorham’s Una Mas was one of 1963’s best records. With its melding of hard-bop, bossa nova, and the blues, Una Mas is a prime example of the memorable vamps that Blue Note favored at the time, finding ultimate success later that year with Lee Morgan’s The Sidewinder.
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Kenny Dorham – Una Mas, One More Time (Remastered, Rudy Van Gelder Edition) (1963/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 36:48 minutes | 369 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Blue Note Records
When one thinks of great talent scouts in jazz, the name of Kenny Dorham is often overlooked. However, many top young players benefited from playing in his groups, and for proof one need look no further than the lineup on this 1963 CD reissue: tenor-saxophonist Joe Henderson, bassist Butch Warren, and (before either player joined Miles Davis) pianist Herbie Hancock and drummer Tony Williams. Together the quintet performs three of the trumpeter’s originals (“Una Mas” is the most famous) along with the standard ballad “If Ever I Would Leave You.” Even if the playing time (under 37 minutes) is a bit brief, the explorative yet swinging music lives up to its potential. ~ Scott Yanow
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Kenny Dorham – Trompeta Toccata (1964/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 37:10 minutes | 1,41 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Blue Note Records
It seems strange and somewhat tragic that this was trumpeter Kenny Dorham’s last full album as a leader for he was only 40 at the time and still in his prime. Dorham contributed three of the four selections to the session (Joe Henderson’s catchy “Mamacita” also receives its debut), and his very underrated abilities as a writer, trumpeter, and talent scout are very much in evidence. This modern hard bop quintet set with Henderson on tenor, pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Richard Davis, and drummer Albert “Tootie” Heath served as a strong (if premature) ending to Dorham’s impressive career as a solo artist. –Scott Yanow, AllMusic
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Kenny Dorham – The Complete ‘Round About Midnight At The Cafe Bohemia (1956/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 02:02:58 minutes | 4,74 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Blue Note Records
During the spring and summer of 1956, trumpeter Kenny Dorham recorded two studio albums with his Jazz Prophets, a small hard bop band involving tenor saxophonist J.R. Monterose and a rhythm section of pianist Dick Katz, bassist Sam Jones and drummer Arthur Edgehill. On May 31 of that year, Dorham’s group performed live at the Café Bohemia with Bobby Timmons at the piano and guitarist Kenny Burrell sitting in on all but the first of four sets. Originally engineered by Rudy Van Gelder and remastered by him in 2001, Blue Note’s 2002 double-disc “Complete” Dorham Café Bohemia edition combines every usable track taped during this exceptionally fine evening of live jazz. The word “understated” has sometimes been used to describe the music played by Dorham’s band on this night in 1956; this is only appropriate if Dorham is compared with intense individuals like Fats Navarro or Dizzy Gillespie. Dorham’s jazz was perhaps more intimate and accessible precisely because his horn had an earthier tone, almost like that of a cornet. Sometimes compared with Ted Curson, Richard Williams or Freddie Hubbard, Dorham sounded a lot like the profoundly gifted and vastly underappreciated Johnny Coles, particularly during ballads like “Autumn in New York” and “Round Midnight.” There are also intimations of Miles Davis, Nat Adderley and even young Don Cherry. This music is designed for relaxing and grooving out. It will greatly assist anyone who is traveling by night or trying to make it through to the end of another day. –AllMusic
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Kenny Dorham – Quiet Kenny (1959/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 39:20 minutes | 1,52 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Craft Recordings
Kenny Dorham’s Quiet Kenny is one of the loveliest albums ever made by a trumpeter and a rhythm section. Recorded for the Prestige subsidiary New Jazz, the session is not entirely “quiet”; while ballad readings of standards cast a late-night spell, Dorham’s three tuneful blues originals, plus “Mack the Knife,” swing jauntily. Dorham (1924-1972) had worked as a sideman for such innovators as Charlie Parker, Max Roach, and Art Blakey before going solo.
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Kenny Dorham – Quiet Kenny (1959/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 42:15 minutes | 470 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Prestige
Quiet Kenny features trumpeter Kenny Dorham playing a well-crafted set of standards and originals that may be some of his best work from his tragically-brief career.
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Kenny Dorham – Afro-Cuban (1955/2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 35:00 minutes | 1,23 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Blue Note Records
“In preparing these hi def remasters, we were very conscientious about maintaining the feel of the original releases while adding a previously unattainable transparency and depth. It now sounds like you’ve set up your chaise lounge right in the middle of Rudy Van Gelder’s studio!” – Blue Note President, Don Was.
Afro-Cuban is the 1955 masterpiece by Kenny Dorham. The recording is one of the first well-respected blends of jazz and Afro-Cuban. The legendary jazz trumpeter is joined by J.J. Johnson, Hank Mobley, Cecil Payne, Horace Silver, Percy Heath, Art Blakey, Carlos Valdes and Richie Goldberg. This is a vital addition for any music connoisseur’s collection. Standouts include “Afrodisia,” “Lotus Flower” and “Minors Holiday.”
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Kenny Dorham – Whistle Stop (1961) [APO Remaster 2008]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 38:45 minutes | Scans included | 1,57 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Full Scans included | 760 MB
Kenny Dorham was always underrated throughout his career, not only as a trumpeter but as a composer. Whistle Stop features seven of his compositions, none of which were picked up later by any of the Young Lions of the ’90s despite their high quality and many fresh melodies. Dorham teams up with tenor-saxophonist Hank Mobley (who had recorded with him previously, along with Art Blakey and Max Roach), pianist Kenny Drew, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Philly Joe Jones for a set of lively, fresh, and consistently swinging music. This is a generally overlooked near-classic set.
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