Requisites

Whistle Stop ~ Kenny Dorham | By Eddie Carter

One of the biggest pleasures I get from listening to and discussing records from my library each week is I’m able to revisit favorite albums and artists to share my thoughts with my readers. If you’re a fan of Hard-Bop, this morning’s subject of discussion is one of the best by trumpet player, Kenny Dorham. Whistle Stop (Blue Note BLP 4063/BST 84063) was recorded and released in 1961 with a stellar supporting cast: Hank Mobley on tenor sax, Kenny Drew on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums. Kenny was born in Fairfield, Texas; he played and recorded with many great jazz musicians during his lifetime. He was also a member of the orchestras of Billy Eckstine, Dizzy Gillespie, Mercer Ellington, and The Jazz Messengers. Dorham composed all seven tunes on Whistle Stop and my copy used in this report is the 2017 Music Matters Stereo audiophile reissue (MMBST-84063).

Side One starts with ‘Philly’ Twist, a driving blues that’s off to the races from the opening notes of Philly’s brief introduction into the quintet’s brisk melody. Kenny opens with a vigorously agile reading, then Hank wails convincingly on the second solo. Kenny sinks his teeth into the third performance vigorously. Paul is especially impressive on a concise statement ahead of Philly’s dazzling velocity and propulsive timing on the song’s finale. Buffalo is good soul-food cooking at midtempo with a carefree theme in unison. Mobley starts the soloing with four mellow verses. Dorham responds with a leisurely ride punctuated by the rhythm section’s groundwork. Drew keeps the laid-back feeling going with an infectiously swinging interpretation that’ll have the listener snapping their fingers and tapping their toes. Chambers wraps up everything with a short stroll anchored by only Jones into the reprise and exit.

Sunset closes the first side with the trio’s tastefully elegant introduction to one of the album’s loveliest tunes. Kenny on muted trumpet and Hank lead the quintet through a pretty mid tempo melody. Dorham remains on the mute for the opening statement, cooking easily. Hank strolls into the second performance with jaunty confidence. Kenny dips into a well of positive energy on the next reading. Paul adds the closing word with a feisty finale leading to a soft fade. Whistle Stop starts Side Two with the ensemble’s brisk melody. Mobley ignites the opening chorus with a fiery passion, then Dorham provides an electrically charged reading. Drew steps up next for a zesty performance of creative energy. Philly shares a moment with the front line in an exchange on the closing statement, before executing a lively finale preceding the climax.

Sunrise In Mexico has a soulful personality that comes alive as the day begins on the quintet’s theme. Dorham starts with a solid groove on the first interpretation. Hank demonstrates a lesson in musicality on the second reading. Kenny is as cool as the other side of the pillow on the next solo, and Paul swings softly on an effective closing statement ahead of the reprise and gentle dissolve. Windmill is an energized swinger right out of the gate beginning with a blazing melody. Dorham begins the lead solo with an aggressive fierceness, then Mobley makes searing heat on the second statement. Drew adds an abundant amount of high voltage to the third performance. Chambers walks with a happy bounce on an abbreviated reading. Jones breaks loose briefly on the finale with vivacious brushwork leading to the quintet’s high-spirited ending.

The album closes with Dorham’s Epitaph, a short, beautiful ensemble tune Kenny wrote for his passing. It illustrates his ability as a ballad composer and opens with a very gentle opening chorus by the leader complemented by the sentimental support by Hank and the rhythm section. An expanded version of this song was also written for a large orchestra and renamed Fairy Tale. Kenny Dorham continued recording excellent albums throughout the sixties that were easily the equivalent of those released by Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, and Lee Morgan, but sadly never received the recognition that might have catapulted him to stardom. He passed away at age forty-eight from kidney disease on December 5, 1972.

The mastering by Kevin Gray of Cohearent Sound and audio engineer Steve Hoffman is phenomenal and improves on the original recording by Rudy Van Gelder with a crystal-clear sound that’s demonstration class placing you in the studio alongside the musicians. Each of the MMJ reissues receives a great deal of care with attention to detail including high-definition gatefold photos, superb packaging of the covers, and 180-gram audiophile vinyl for the music. If you’re looking for a Hard-Bop album that’ll excite your ears, I invite you to audition Whistle Stop by Kenny Dorham. It’s a delightfully rewarding album by one of the best trumpet players in jazz that merits multiple listens and is worth adding to any jazz library!

© 2021 by Edward Thomas Carter

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Leslie Anthony Joseph Thompson was born on October 17, 1901 in Kingston, Jamaica where  as a child he studied music at the Roman Catholic Alpha Cottage School. When he was 16, he joined the West India Regiment and played in their band locally in Kingston movie palaces in the 1920s.

Moving to London, England in 1929 and studying at Kneller Hall. During this time he played euphonium and cornet. In 1930 he began playing with Spike Hughes, where he played trumpet, trombone, and double bass until 1932. Thompson toured Europe with Louis Armstrong, then formed his own band, intended to be all-black although initially with two white trombonists who blacked up. with the help of Ken “Snakehips” Johnson, who himself took over control of this band in 1936. Jiver Hutchinson was one of his sidemen.

In 1936–37 Leslie played with Benny Carter, and later played double bass with Edmundo Ros. He served in the Royal Artillery on the south coast during World War II. He had been unable to become a bandmaster in the army because of rules preventing black soldiers becoming officers. He was active in dance halls and nightclubs after the war, but stopped playing music professionally after 1954 and later became a parole officer.

His autobiography was first published by Rabbit Press in 1985, and was reissued as Swing from a Small Island – The Story of Leslie Thompson by Northway Publications in 2009. Trumpeter Leslie Thompson passed away on December 26, 1987 in London, England.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Lenny Hambro was born on October 16, 1923 in the Bronx, New York, the younger of two children. As a teenager, his brother-in-law introduced the 15 year old to woodwinds, giving him a soprano saxophone and introductory music lessons and taking every music class in which he could enroll. While in high school he took private lessons from Bill Sheiner, one of the leading music teachers and session musicians in New York City. During his later high-school years, Hambro played alto sax, tenor sax, clarinet, and flute in an assortment of teen dance bands, including a summer in the Catskills.

During the Second World War, at just 18, Hambro auditioned and got the empty seat in Gene Krupa’s band in 1942. However, he left the band in December of that year for the Army, there joining Ivan Mogul, Shorty Rogers and approximately 40 other musicians from the Bronx who had agreed to man the 379th Army Service Forces Band in Newport News, Virginia, where he stayed for three years. Post war he worked and recorded with Billy Butterfield and Bobby Byrne, before rejoining Gene Krupa as lead alto sax and featured jazz soloist through 1950.

He would go on to play and /or record with the Latin jazz ensembles of Vincent Lopez, Pupi Campo, Machito and his Afro-Cuban Orchestra, Ray McKinley Band. the Chico O’Farrill Orchestra, tour with The Gene Krupa Orchestra, Charlie Ventura’s Orchestra and Joe Loco’s band. He did studio work, worked as a music copyist, and taught private lessons.

In 1954 he formed the Lenny Hambro Quintet, and in 1955 he again played in and managed the Ray McKinley Band, and toured the United States routinely during this period as well as England, Poland, Iron Curtain Europe, and North Africa in 1957 and 1958. He was a booking agent, opened up an advertising company, then returned to music. He recorded his final tracks at the Clinton Recording Studio at 653 10th Avenue in New York City in February, 1995 for Chico O’Farrill’s album, Pure Emotion for Milestone Records.

Lenny Hambro, who played alto, baritone and tenor saxophone, flute, and clarinet, passed away of a blood clot following open heart surgery on September 26, 1995, at Shore Memorial Hospital, Somers Point, New Jersey, a month shy of his 72nd birthday.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Nellie Rose Lutcher was born on October 15, 1912 in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The eldest daughter of the 15 children, her father was a bass player and her mother a church organist. She received piano lessons and her father formed a family band with her playing piano. At age 12, she played with Ma Rainey, when her regular pianist fell ill and had to be left behind in the previous town. Searching for a temporary replacement in Lake Charles, one of the neighbors told Rainey that there was a little girl who played in church who might be able to do it.

At 15, Lutcher joined her father in Clarence Hart’s Imperial Jazz Band and in her mid-teens also briefly married the band’s trumpet player. In 1933, she joined the Southern Rhythm Boys, writing their arrangements and touring widely. 1935 saw her moving to Los Angeles, California where she began to play swing piano, and also to sing, in small combos throughout the area. At this point she began developing her own style, influenced by Earl Hines, Duke Ellington and her friend Nat “King” Cole.

Not widely known until 1947 when she learned of the March of Dimes talent show at Hollywood High School, and performed. The show was broadcast on the radio and her performance caught the ear of Capitol Records scout Dave Dexter. Signing to the label she made several records, including The One I Love (Belongs to Somebody Else) and her first hit single, the risqué Hurry On Down.

In 1950, Lutcher duetted with Nat “King” Cole on For You My Love and Can I Come In For A Second. The same year, her records were released in the UK and were actively promoted by radio DJ Jack Jackson. She headlined a UK variety tour, emceed by Jackson, with great success, later returning there to tour on her own.

With an orchestra for the first time, Lutcher recorded The Birth of the Blues and I Want to Be Near You in 1951, but losing her appeal with the record-buying public and was dropped by Capitol the following year. She went on to record, much less successfully, for other labels including Okeh, Decca and Liberty, and gradually wound down her performance schedule.

In 1952, Lutcher was contacted to perform on a happy new years television special, however, after she finished her song it was revealed that she was on the set of and the honoree on a This Is Your Life episode.

Pianist and vocalist Nellie Lutcher, most recognizable for her diction and exaggerated pronunciation and was credited as an influence by Nina Simone among others, passed away in Los Angeles on June 8, 2007, aged 94.

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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager

The pandemic rages on as I continue to keep myself well by wearing my mask and social distancing. In my own space I pull down from the shelves my copy of Kenny Drew Trio. The album was recorded on September 20 & 26, 1956 at the Reeves Sound Studios in New York City. It was produced by Orrin Keepnews and Bill Grauer and was released the same year on the Riverside Records label.

The album features Drew’s tribute to jazz patron Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter Blues for Nica. It is the only song he contributed to the album. This band was also the rhythm section the following year on sessions for John Coltrane that yielded Blue Train.

1. Caravan (Duke Ellington, Irving Mills, Juan Tizol) ~ 4:56
2. Come Rain Or Come Shine (Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer) ~ 6:08
3. Ruby, My Dear (Thelonious Monk) ~ 5:46
4. Weird~O (Hank Mobley) ~ 4:04

1. Taking A Chance On Love (Vernon Duke, John Latouche, Ted Fetter) ~ 4:42
2. When You Wish Upon A Star (Leigh Harline, Ned Washington) ~ 5:19
3. Blues For Nica (Kenny Drew) ~ 5:31
4. It’s Only A Paper Moon (Harold Arlen, E.Y. “Yip” Harburg, Billy Rose) ~ 6:25

• Kenny Drew ~ piano
• Paul Chambers – bass
• Philly Joe Jones – drums

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