AFRO-CUBAN
KENNY DORHAM
BLUE NOTE 1535
Original 1957 BLUE NOTE label MONO pressing, cat. BLP 1535, US.
HARD BOP AND CUBAN JAZZ MONSTER AND HOLY GRAIL COLLECTORS ITEM
MEGA-RARE, genuine 1st pressing in dreamy shape.
- 767 Lexington Ave, NY 21 address on both sleeve and labels with no Inc.
- Deep groove labels with no
- Flat edge disc, RVG etched and plastylite P
- Frame front cover on a beatiful tip-on sleeve with artwork by REID MILES.
Recorded on January 30, 1955 by RUDY VAN GELDER.
Record condition: visually between EX and NM with some hairlines on side A, side B looks perfect sound is just incredible, perfect and clean M-
Sleeve: common signs of wear on the whole spines, solid collectible VG shape both back and laminated front are beatiful and pristine.
Considered Kenny Dorham s finest recording of his all-too-short career, this album remains way ahead of the Latin-tinged and Hard Bop music that would follow. It would be difficult to assess the sextet being a step below the larger group effort, but only because it is much less Afro-Cuban. Nonetheless the unmistakable drumming of Art Blakey powers the combo through the blisteringly swinging La Villa with unison horns Hank Mobley, tenor sax Cecil Payne, baritone sax . The other easy swinging pieces K.D. s Motion, Venita s Dance, and Echo of Spring/K.D. s Car Ride display great group empathy and seem effortless, though they re not. It s the Latin-based music that really differentiates this band from all others of this era, save Dizzy Gillespie s. Payne s robust bari ignites the hip call-and-response motif of Afrodisia, while his horn in tandem with pianist Horace Silver backs the up-front horns, supplemented by trombonist J.J. Johnson, for the heated mambo-ish hard bopper Basheer s Dream. Two takes of Minor s Holiday are, curiously enough, exactly the same time at 4:24, both super cooking with Dorham s clear-as-a-bell trumpet leading the other horns, which practically act as backup singers. Percussionist Carlos Patato Valdes is the perfect spice added to this dish. The lone ballad, Lotus Flower, is remarkable in that its marked tender restraint feels on the brink of wanting to cut loose, but never does. A first-rate recording for the under-appreciated Dorham, this one should be in every collection of all true music lovers.
allmusic.com
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Lorenzo
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