"The Durable Kenny Dorham" on Night Lights

[ghost of miles]

Last week's Night Lights show, a look at the career of trumpeter Kenny Dorham, is now up for online listening:

http://indianapublicmedia.org/nightlights/durable-kenny-dorham/

It spans his career from early bebop recordings with Charlie Parker and the Bebop Boys to his last studio session with Cecil Payne.

[ghost of miles]

Up for Dorham's birthday today:

The Durable Kenny Dorham

[Big Beat Steve]

Very interesting. Will listen closer to it again later.

While I realize his "Quiet Kenny" was a major opus in his discography and that inclusion of sideman appearances with other major (VERY major) leaders are inevitable in such capsule presentations (though they might tend to relegate him to sideman status again), I regret not seeing some of his other leader dates which present a different facet of his, such as his early 60s recordings for the Time label. Maybe I am a bit biased because the Xanadu reissue of one of these dates (Kenny Dorham Memorial Album) was my first introduction to his leader dates almost 35 years ago, but I feel that quite a few of these "other" dates that some with "big name" ambitions might qualify as "journeyman" appearances do indeed stand on their own merits and deserve to be featured at least to some small extent (and yes, there is a life beyond Blue Note! )

[paul secor]

To my ears, KD's Showboat album on Time contains some of his best playing.

[John L]

3 hours ago, paul secor said:

To my ears, KD's Showboat album on Time contains some of his best playing.

Yes!  Jazz Contemporary too.   Whistle Stop is one of my very favorite records, not just for Dorham but for some of the greatest Philly Joe (IMO).

[Big Beat Steve]

Ha, checked again ... that "Memorial album" reissue on Xanadu was not of one of his Time LPs but of his "Arrival of K.D:" LP on Jaro 5007 recorded shortly before Jazz Contemporary.

Time to spin this and Jazz Contemporary later today ..

[medjuck]

No love here for Matador? Gil Evans even covered the title song and you can get it on cd with another record (Into Somethin'.)