| Kenny Dorham's Quiet Kenny is one of the loveliest albums ever made by a trumpeter and a rhythm section. Recorded for the Prestige subsidiary New Jazz, the session is not entirely "quiet”; while ballad readings of standards cast a late-night spell, Dorham's three tuneful blues originals, plus "Mack the Knife," swing jauntily. Dorham (1924-1972) had worked as a sideman for such innovators as Charlie Parker, Max Roach, and Art Blakey before going solo. In his own sweet way, Dorham was a major figure during the 1950s and ’60s. If he was not as effervescent as Dizzy Gillespie, as mysterious as Miles Davis, or as given to skyrocketry as Clifford Brown, Dorham was an eloquent, soulful player with a beautifully understated tone. On Quiet Kenny, backed by the supple piano/bass/drums team of Tommy Flanagan, Paul Chambers, and Arthur Taylor, Kenny Dorham is at his lyrical best. |