Kenny Dorham

Kenny Dorham
Kenny Dorham at the Metropole Hotel in Toronto, 1954.
Background information
Birth name	McKinley Howard Dorham
Born	August 30, 1924(1924-08-30), Fairfield, Texas
Died	December 5, 1972(1972-12-05) (aged 48), New York
Genres	Bebop Mainstream jazz Hard bop
Occupations	Bandleader, Composer
Instruments	Trumpet
Associated acts	Kenny Dorham Quartet Kenny Dorham Quintet

McKinley Howard (Kenny) Dorham (August 30, 1924 – December 5, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and composer born in Fairfield, Texas. Dorham's talent is frequently lauded by critics and other musicians, but he never received the kind of attention from the jazz establishment that many of his peers did. For this reason, his name has become (in the words of writer Gary Giddins) "virtually synonymous with underrated." He also composed the jazz standard "Blue Bossa," which first appeared on Joe Henderson's album Page One.

Biography

Dorham was one of the most active bebop trumpeters. He played in the big bands of Billy Eckstine, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton and Mercer Ellington and the quintet of Charlie Parker. He was a charter member of the original cooperative Jazz Messengers. He also recorded as a sideman with Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins, and he replaced Clifford Brown in the Max Roach Quintet after Brown's death in 1956. In addition to sideman work, he led his own groups, including the Jazz Prophets (formed shortly after Art Blakey took over the Jazz Messengers name). The Jazz Prophets, featuring a young Bobby Timmons on piano, bassist Sam Jones and tenorman J. R. Monterose with guest Kenny Burrell on guitar, recorded a live album 'Round About Midnight at the Cafe Bohemia in 1956 for Blue Note.

In 1963 Dorham added the 26-year-old tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson to his group, which later recorded Una Mas (the group also featured a young Tony Williams). The friendship between the two musicians led to a number of other albums, such as Henderson's Page One, Our Thing and In 'n Out. Dorham recorded frequently throughout the sixties for Blue Note and Prestige Records, as leader and as sideman for Henderson, Jackie McLean, Cedar Walton, Andrew Hill, Milt Jackson and others.

Dorham's quintet originally consisted of some very well known jazz musicians, being Tommy Flanagan (piano), Paul Chambers (double-bass) and Art Taylor (drums). Their recording debut was Quiet Kenny for the New Jazz label, an album which featured mostly ballads. An earlier quartet featuring Dorham as co-leader with alto saxophone player Ernie Henry had released an album together under the name "Kenny Dorham/Ernie Henry Quartet". They produced the album 2 Horns / 2 Rhythm for Riverside Records in 1957 with double-bassist Eddie Mathias and drummer G.T. Hogan. Today the album is being released under the name "Kenny Dorham Quartet", though this is due to marketing and is not technically correct.

During his final years Dorham suffered from kidney disease, from which he died on December 5, 1972, aged just 48.

Discography

As leader

• 1953: Kenny Dorham Quintet (Debut)
• 1955: Afro-Cuban (Blue Note)
• 1956: 'Round About Midnight at the Cafe Bohemia (Blue Note)
• 1957: Jazz Contrasts (Riverside) featuring Sonny Rollins
• 1957: 2 Horns / 2 Rhythm (Riverside) featuring Ernie Henry
• 1958: This Is the Moment! (Riverside)
• 1959: Blue Spring (Riverside) with Cannonball Adderley
• 1959: Quiet Kenny (New Jazz)
• 1960: The Kenny Dorham Memorial Album (Xanadu)
• 1960: Jazz Contemporary (Time)
• 1960: Showboat (Time)
• 1961: Whistle Stop (Blue Note)
• 1961: Inta Somethin' (Pacific Jazz)
• 1962: Matador (United Artists)
• 1963: Una Mas (Blue Note)
• 1963: Scandia Skies (SteepleChase)
• 1963: Short Story (SteepleChase)
• 1964: Trompeta Toccata (Blue Note)

As sideman

With Toshiko Akiyoshi

• Toshiko at Top of the Gate (1968)

With Andy Bey

• Andy and the Bey Sisters (1959)

With Art Blakey

• The Jazz Messengers at the Cafe Bohemia Volume 1 (1955)
• The Jazz Messengers at the Cafe Bohemia Volume 2 (1955)

With Rocky Boyd

• Ease It (1961; aka West 42nd Street)

With Tadd Dameron

• Fontainebleau (1956)

With Lou Donaldson

• Quartet/Quintet/Sextet (1954)

With Matthew Gee

• Jazz by Gee! (1956)

With Herb Geller

• Fire in the West (1957)

With Benny Golson

• The Modern Touch (1957)

With Barry Harris

• Bull's Eye (1968)

With Joe Henderson

• Page One (1963)
• Our Thing (1963)
• In 'n Out (1964)

With Ernie Henry

• Presenting Ernie Henry (1956)

With Andrew Hill

• Point of Departure (1964)

With Milt Jackson

• Roll 'Em Bags (Savoy, 1949)
• Invitation (1962)

With Clifford Jordan

• Starting Time (1961)
• In the World (1969)

With Harold Land

• Eastward Ho! (1960)

With Abbey Lincoln

• That's Him (1957)
• It's Magic (1958)
• Abbey Is Blue (1959)

With Jackie McLean

• Vertigo (1962)

With John Mehegan

• Casual Affair (1959)

With Gil Mellé

• Gil's Guests (1956)

With Helen Merrill

• You've Got a Date with the Blues (1959)

With Hank Mobley

• Mobley's 2nd Message (1956)
• Curtin Call (1957)

With Thelonious Monk

• Genius of Modern Music: Volume 2 (1952)

With Oliver Nelson

• Meet Oliver Nelson (1959)

With Cecil Payne

• Zodiac (1968)

With Max Roach

• Max Roach + 4 (1956)
• Jazz in ¾ Time (1957)
• The Max Roach 4 Plays Charlie Parker (1958)

With Sonny Rollins

• Moving Out (1954)
• Rollins Plays for Bird (1956)

With Horace Silver

• Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers (1954)

With Cecil Taylor

• Hard Driving Jazz (1958)

With Cedar Walton

• Cedar! (1967)

With Randy Weston

• Live at the Five Spot (1959)

With Barney Wilen

• Barney (1959)
• Un Temoin Dans La Ville (1959)

With Phil Woods

• Pairing Off (1956)