Happy Birthday to Kenny Dorham

McKinley Howard Dorham, aka Kenny Dorham
August 30, 1924 – December 5, 1972.
 

Trumpet Dude salutes one of the best today, Happy Birthday Kenny! Yes, Kenny Dorham was one of the best voices to ever travel the trajectories of a trumpet. While his playing voice was incredible, he never received the accolades he should have from the jazz establishment, always overshadowed by the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Lee Morgan, Clifford Brown and Fats Navarro. Perhaps this is simply because he didn’t have a flamboyant personality like the others. I can only speculate, but in fact, he was referred to as ‘quiet Kenny.’ Regardless, his playing has stood the test of time and is now considered some of the best and a must listen for any aspiring jazz trumpeter today. I myself had not heard of Kenny until trumpeter Dave Scott turned me on to him some years ago, asserting that Kenny was his favorite. To this day, I am utterly amazed and challenged by the music that Kenny composed in his improvisations.
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Maynard Ferguson: “The Lost Tapes Volume 2″

For all you Maynard fans, listen up! “The Lost Tapes Volume 2″ has now been released and is available today! This has been put together and produced by Sleepy Night Records. This recording is the second in a trilogy project by Sleepy Night and you can purchase it in MP3 form through the link below. When Volume One of this series came out, I waited anxiously for its arrival. When it came, I played it repeatedly for weeks. It is awesome and so is this one. The music captures Maynard’s playing at his peak and is just incredible. Ernie Garside is the Executive Producer of this project and was a close friend, musician, promoter and manager for Maynard. He holds the rights to this music and has worked quite hard and put up a lot of money, along with producers Sean and Gary Gillies, to make this possible. The project is derived from old reel-to-reel tapes found in Ernie Garside’s house. To ensure this project’s continued success, tell everyone you know that this is available. In MP3 format this is a two-disc set and includes 10 tracks and a priceless and fantastic booklet containing rare photos and new comments from Ernie Garside, Lynn Nicholson, Adrian Drover, Brian Smith and others.
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