Kenny Dorham - Blue Bossa In The Bronx: Live from the Blue Morocco
(Resonance Records, 2025)
Record Store Day is upon us and that mad music shaman, Zev Feldman, has pulled yet another rabbit from his hat in the most significant Kenny Dorham release since the unofficially released Last But Not Least 1966, Vol. 2 (1988).
Trumpeter Kenny Dorham is like a wisp of smoke passing through the history of bebop and beyond. Not as technically flashy as Dizzy Gillespie or Fats Navarro, nor as earthy as Howard McGee or Clifford Brown, nor as white-hot scintillating as Lee Morgan or Freddie Hubbard, Morgan was all of them and none of them. Although consistently celebrated by critics and musicians, the mainstream jazz establishment overlooked Kenny Dorham, unlike many of his peers (including those mentioned). As a result, jazz journalist Gary Giddins aptly described him as "virtually synonymous with 'underrated'."
Dorham made several notable recordings in the 1950s, in particular 'Round About Midnight at the Cafe Bohemia (Blue Note, 1956) featuring guitarist Kenny Burrell and a young Bobby Timmons. In 1963, Dorham began a fruitful collaboration with tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson that would result in the release of Una Mas (Blue Note, 1963) and considerable traction gained in his career. It would be Dorham’s last commercial recording as a leader, but he would contribute to Henderson’s recordings: Page One (Blue Note, 1963), Our Thing (Blue Note, 1963), and In 'n Out (Blue Note, 1964).
When Dorham performed at New York City’s the Blue Morocco, he had been recording with pianist Cedar Walton on Prestige Records (The Cedar Walton Trio, Quartet & Quintet - Cedar!, 1967) and had Walton in the piano chair for these performances. Also, joining the trumpeter was alto saxophonist Sonny Red, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Denis Charles.
The set comprises seven well-worn standards, including Dorham’s “Blue Bossa” which opens the recording. Dorham plays with a sweetness that was characteristic of him, keeping his composition light and airy. He transfers this same sweetness to the bebop warhorse, “Confirmation” which, while remaining bebop, reminds the listener that Charlie Parker has been gone for 12 years. Dorham is a vastly underrated ballads player, as evidenced by “Memories of You” and “My One and Only Love.” It is this tone and playing that informs the entire performance, including the last three selections “Bag’s Groove,” the Dorham original, “Blue Friday,” and the Miles Davis set closer, “The Theme.”
Blue Bossa In The Bronx: Live from the Blue Morocco is a fine addition to the Dorham discography and is a tribute to this fine musician and humble man.