Kenny Dorham Comes To Mind

A little bit of exquisite hard bop from the golden period of exquisite hard bop: Kenny Dorham: 'Round Midnight at the Cafe Bohemia (1956).  I noticed a review of this recording in the latest incarnation of the Penguin Jazz Guide and realized with a shock that, although I bought a copy of Vol. 1 decades ago, it somehow wasn't in my iTunes library.  Well, I fixed that. 

Cafe Bohemia is one of the great Blue Note live recordings.  It has distinctly Jazz Messengers sound, what with Dorham and Bobby Timmons on piano.  I have the title cut playing on my L365 station.  It will make your day.  

Here is the lineup:

• Bass – Sam Jones
• Drums – Arthur Edgehill
• Guitar – Kenny Burrell
• Piano – Bobby Timmons
• Tenor Saxophone – J.R. Monterose
• Trumpet – Kenny Dorham

Being in a Dorham mood, I also posted the title cut from Una Mas (1963).  It's a very nice, slightly Latin bop.  Here is the lineup:

• Bass – Butch Warren
• Drums – Anthony Williams
• Piano – Herbie Hancock
• Tenor Saxophone – Joe Henderson
• Trumpet – Kenny Dorham

You can't beat that group.  Anything with Tony Williams on it is a treasure.  Dorham's playing is superb all the way through. 

Finally, I added a cut from one of those Sonny Rollins recordings that might be easily overlooked: Rollins Plays for Bird (1956), which has the subtitle: Sonny Rollins Quintet with Kenny Dorham and Max Roach.  The cut is 'Kids Know'. 

• Bass – George Morrow
• Drums – Max Roach
• Piano – Wade Legge
• Tenor Saxophone – Sonny Rollins
• Trumpet – Kenny Dorham

Roach is Roach and Rollins is Rollins.  Dorham is luminous. 

Hello from New Orleans Updated!

I have been in New Orleans for the last few days, drinking beer and eating Cajun and listening to lectures on the Second Amendment.  In between all this serious activity, I managed to visit one of my favorite music places, the Louisiana Music Factory, on Decatur Street in The Quarter.  It still has one of the most inviting jazz sections available.

I picked up (finally) Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers, Intuition by Lennie Tristano and Warne Marsh, Kenny Dorham Una Mass (with Joe Henderson, Herbie Hancock, Butch Warren, and Anthony Williams), and last but not least, True Blue by Tina Brooks.  I'll try to post a sample or two when I get home this week.

Until now, here is a beautiful picture.  If you cut me out of it.

Update!  I blogged about Harold Floyd (Tina) Brooks back in April.  Doesn't it sound like I know what I am doing when I call him by his real name.  Kinda like when a jazzman leaves out the "King" between Nat and Cole.  In fact, I know very little beyond what is in that post.  But I did obtain Brooks' wonderful Minor Move just about the time I began my (semi) serious collecting. 

True Blue is almost as good.  The late Freddie Hubbard plays trumpet, Duke Jordan piano, Sam Jones bass, and Art Taylor drums.  It is a fine piece of hard bop.  Listening to it is a lot like watching the DVD set of Firefly.  Its great but bittersweet, as I know the series will end prematurely.  Here is a sample, an alternative version of the first cut.

Good Old Soul

And here is a cut from the Dorham album mentioned above.

Sao Paolo