Kenny Dorham: Trompeta Toccata [BLUE NOTE/EMI]

Why you'll love it

This Blue Note edition is on 180g vinyl in stereo. It was Dorham's last album as a leader, four long pieces including Joe Henderson's bossa nova "Mamacita."

This edition

• 180g vinyl
• Stereo mix
• Pressed in the EU

About the album

Kenny Dorham spent years as one of the great trumpeters in other people's bands, from Charlie Parker to Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, and his Blue Note dates are full of quiet, elegant brilliance. Trompeta Toccata, recorded on September 14, 1964, is his farewell as a leader, and he made it count.

Dorham was delighted with his band, and said of Henderson that he never failed to excite him; Albert Heath, he added, always kept the soloist sparked up. The title track is in 6/8 with an Afro-Latin feel, and Joe Henderson wrote its chords after hearing Dorham play him the melody. "Night Watch" is a bluesy, late-night mood piece, "The Fox" closes the set, and Henderson's own "Mamacita" is a 12-bar bossa nova. Tommy Flanagan's piano and Richard Davis's bass keep everything supple.

Rudy Van Gelder recorded the original session and later remastered it himself in 2006. While they were cutting "Mamacita," producer Alfred Lion and photographer Francis Wolff started moving to the rhythm, and when those two start dancing in the control room, you keep the take.

Also at Kops: more Kenny Dorham on vinyl · browse Classic Jazz

Tracklist

Listen

On Blue Note (cat# 0852549), a reissue of the 1964 album.