Kenny Dorham

McKinley Howard "Kenny" Dorham was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and occasional singer. Dorham's talent is frequently lauded by critics and other musicians, but he never received the kind of attention or public recognition from the jazz establishment that many of his peers did. For this reason, writer Gary Giddins said that Dorham's name has become "virtually synonymous with 'underrated'."
Dorham also composed the bossa nova jazz standard "Blue Bossa", which was first recorded by his associate Joe Henderson.

Biography

Dorham was one of the most active bebop trumpeters. Early in his career, he played in the big bands of Lionel Hampton, Billy Eckstine, Dizzy Gillespie, and Mercer Ellington, and in Charlie Parker's quintet. He joined Parker's band in December 1948. He was a charter member of the original cooperative the 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, Dorham led his own groups, including the Jazz Prophets. 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 the album Una Mas. 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 1960s 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 later quartet consisted of some well-known jazz musicians: Tommy Flanagan, Paul Chambers, and Art Taylor. Their recording debut was Quiet Kenny for Prestige's 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. In 1990, the album was re-released on CD under the name "Kenny Dorham Quartet featuring Ernie Henry".

Death

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

Discography

As leader

Year recorded	Title	Label	Year released	Personnel/Notes
1946	Blues in Bebop	Savoy Jazz	1998	Quintets, with Dorham, Sonny Stitt, Bud Powell, Al Hall, Wallace Bishop or Kenny Clarke ; also includes early material recorded with Billy Eckstine, Milt Jackson, Charlie Parker and Cecil Payne
1953	Kenny Dorham Quintet	Debut	1954	Quintet, with Dorham, Jimmy Heath, Walter Bishop Jr., Percy Heath, Kenny Clarke ; 10" LP
1955	Afro-Cuban	Blue Note	1955	Nonet, with Dorham, J. J. Johnson, Hank Mobley, Cecil Payne, Horace Silver, Oscar Pettiford, Art Blakey, Carlos "Patato" Valdes, Richie Goldberg ; sextet, with Mobley, Payne, Silver, Percy Heath, Blakey ; nonet tracks originally released as a 10" LP in 1955, then reissued as a 12" LP with the sextet tracks in 1957
1956	Kenny Dorham and the Jazz Prophets Vol. 1	ABC-Paramount	1956	Quintet, with Dorham, J. R. Monterose, Dick Katz, Sam Jones, Arthur Edghill
1956	'Round About Midnight at the Cafe Bohemia	Blue Note	1957	With Dorham, J. R. Monterose, Bobby Timmons, Kenny Burrell, Sam Jones, Arthur Edghill ; two additional volumes with another 11 tracks released on the Japanese Blue Note label in 1984, and then fully reissued on CD as The Complete 'Round About Midnight At The Cafe Bohemia
1957	Jazz Contrasts – with Sonny Rollins	Riverside	1957	With Dorham, Sonny Rollins, Hank Jones, Oscar Pettiford, Max Roach, Betty Glamann
1957	2 Horns/2 Rhythm – with Ernie Henry	Riverside	1957	With Dorham, Ernie Henry, Eddie Mathias or Wilbur Ware, G. T. Hogan
1958	This Is the Moment! Kenny Dorham Sings and Plays	Riverside	1958	With Dorham, Curtis Fuller, Cedar Walton, Charlie Persip or G. T. Hogan
1959	Blue Spring – with Cannonball Adderley	Riverside	1959	With Dorham, Cannonball Adderley, David Amram, Cecil Payne, Cedar Walton, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb or Philly Joe Jones
1959	Quiet Kenny	Prestige/New Jazz	1960	Quartet, with Dorham, Tommy Flanagan, Paul Chambers, Art Taylor ; reissued as Kenny Dorham/1959
1960	The Arrival of Kenny Dorham	Jaro International	1960	Quintet, with Dorham, Charles Davis, Tommy Flanagan, Butch Warren, Buddy Enlow ; reissued as The Kenny Dorham Memorial Album
1960	Jazz Contemporary	Time	1960	Quintet, with Dorham, Charles Davis, Steve Kuhn, Butch Warren, Buddy Enlow
1960	Showboat	Time	1961	Quintet, with Dorham, Jimmy Heath, Kenny Drew, Butch Warren, Buddy Enlow
1961	Hot Stuff from Brazil	West Wind	1988	With Dorham, Curtis Fuller, Zoot Sims, Ronnie Ball, Ben Tucker, Dave Bailey, Ray Mantilla, Herbie Mann
1961	Inta Somethin' – with Jackie McLean	Pacific Jazz	1962	Quintet, with Dorham, Jackie McLean, Walter Bishop Jr., Leroy Vinnegar, Art Taylor
1961	Whistle Stop	Blue Note	1961	Quintet, with Dorham, Hank Mobley, Kenny Drew, Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones
1962	Matador	United Artists	1963	Quintet, with Dorham, Jackie McLean, Bobby Timmons, Teddy Smith, J. C. Moses
1962	Una Mas	Blue Note	1964	Quintet, with Dorham, Joe Henderson, Herbie Hancock, Butch Warren, Tony Williams
1963	The Flamboyan, Queens, NY, 1963 – with Joe Henderson	Uptown	2009	Quintet, with Dorham, Joe Henderson, Ronnie Mathews, Steve Davis, J. C. Moses
1963	Scandia Skies	SteepleChase	1980	Quintet, with Dorham and Rolf Ericson, Tete Montoliu, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Alex Riel ; reissued, together with Short Story, as Scandia Story
1963	Short Story	SteepleChase	1979	Quintet, with Dorham, Allan Botschinsky, Tete Montoliu, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Alex Riel ; reissued, together with Scandia Skies, as Scandia Story
1964	Jazz at P. S. 175	Harlem Youth Unlimited	1964	Quintet, with Dorham, Barry Harris, Julian Euell, Albert Heath
1964	Trompeta Toccata	Blue Note	1965	Quintet, with Dorham, Joe Henderson, Tommy Flanagan, Richard Davis, Albert Heath
1966	Last But Not Least 1966, Vol. 2	Raretone	1988	Quintet, with Dorham, Sonny Red, Cedar Walton, John Ore, Hugh Walker ; unofficial release
1967	Blue Bossa in the Bronx: live from the Blue Morocco	Resonance	2025	Quintet, with Sonny Red, Cedar Walton, Paul Chambers, Denis Charles
1968	A Trumpet Tribute: A Tribute to Fats Navarro, Clifford Brown and Booker Little	Trip Jazz	1975	Three sextet tracks, with Dorham, Bill Hardman and Richard Williams, Lonnie Liston Smith, Peck Morrison, Richard Davis, Walter Perkins ; reissued as Trumpet Summit: Live at Club Ruby, 1968