Kenny Dorham’s Stunning Blue Note Swansong

“Kenny was a hell of a trumpet player – great style, all his own.” So wrote Miles Davis in his 1988 memoir. Despite being praised by Davis and widely admired by his peers, Kenny Dorham never received the recognition his prodigious talent deserved. Unlike Davis and Dizzy Gillespie, he never became a household name, but between 1953 and 1964 he recorded a number of excellent albums, including five for the iconic Blue Note label, that offered compelling proof of his star quality. One of his best was Trumpet Toccatathe final album of his eleven-year spell as a solo artist, which showcased a blend of astounding trumpet pyrotechnics, harmonic guile, and compositional skill.

Born in a small town in Texas, McKinley “Kenny” Dorham began playing the trumpet at ten. After leaving the army in 1942, he ventured to New York, where he eventually wound up in Dizzy Gillespie’s group. Following that, he joined singer Billy Eckstine’s band, then an incubator for bebop talent, before replacing Miles Davis in his idol Charlie Parker’s quintet. He appeared on Blue Note’s radar in 1955, releasing the album Afro Cubana pioneering meld of hard bop and Latin music. Following stints at Riverside and Prestige, Dorham returned to Blue Note in 1961. On his fourth LP for the label, 1963’s A Masthe trumpeter’s band featured Joe Hendersona young tenor saxophonist with a compelling and distinctive style. Dorham became a mentor to Henderson, with whom he collaborated on five Blue Note albums together between 1963 and 64.

Listen to Kenny Dorham’s Trumpet Toccata now.

Their last creative alliance, Trumpet Toccatawas recorded in September 1964 with Dorham, then 40, leading a stellar quintet: besides Henderson, it featured two ex-Coltrane sidemen, pianist Tommy Flanagan and the energetic drummer Albert “Tootie” Heath. Completing the band was the versatile double bassist Richard Daviswho had recently played on Eric Dolphy’s avant-garde classic, Out To Lunch.

The session begins in epic fashion. Vividly evoking images of Spain with its haunting Andalusian-style inflections, Dorham’s soaring fanfare intro on the title track offered a masterclass of trumpet virtuosity. The long-form piece evolved into an undulating, free-flowing Latin groove distinguished by Henderson’s explorative saxophone forays and Davis’ dynamically muscular bass solo.

Dorham injected a bluesy swing feel into the proceedings with the self-penned “Night Watch,” before bringing the music down to a bubbling simmer with the Henderson-written “Mamacita,” a Brazilian bossa nova lithograph. The album’s finale was “The Fox,” an agile but intricate hard bop burner. Explaining the title in the LP’s liner notes, Dorham joked: “Richard Davis was holding this one together for us, and Richard always has a fox-like look about him.”

Dorham felt optimistic about the future, according to the liner notes. “There’s more and more I feel I can do,” he told writer Nat Hentoff. “And these days, it strikes me that the sky’s the limit.” Sadly, Dorham didn’t record a great deal after Trumpet Toccata. It was his final album as a leader and thereafter, his appearances on record would be frustratingly fleeting, limited to a few sideman roles. One of the reasons for his decline was the heroin addiction he had been battling since the 1940s. Also, Dorham had no desire to sacrifice his orthodox bebop ideals by jumping on the avant-garde bandwagon or delving into fusion and jazz-rock. Unable, or unwilling, to adapt to jazz’s shifting currents, he went back to school with the ambition of teaching music to underprivileged children.

By late 1972, Dorham was in poor health and undergoing kidney dialysis treatment. His last performance was on December 3rd of that year at a benefit concert to raise funds for his medical treatment. Two days later he died, aged 48, after missing a dialysis session. Underappreciated in his lifetime, and overshadowed by the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, and Chet Baker, Dorham showed with Trumpet Toccata that he deserved to be considered their equal.

Listen to Kenny Dorham’s Trumpet Toccata now.