By the spring of 1956 Kenny Dorham had his own band, the Jazz Prophets. The Cafe Bohemia in Greenwich Village was where Blue Note had taped the Jazz Messengers, with Dorham on trumpet, the previous November. Now Alfred Lion and Rudy Van Gelder came back for him.
The night was Thursday, May 31, 1956. Leonard Feather, in the original notes, introduces a young band. J.R. Monterose, on tenor, was born in Detroit and raised in Utica, New York, and had worked for Buddy Rich and Claude Thornhill. Bobby Timmons, from Philadelphia, had been on piano for only about two weeks. Sam Jones played bass and Arthur Edgehill, a regular at Minton's, drums. After the first set Kenny Burrell, a day after finishing his own first Blue Note record, joined on guitar. The band played four sets, 23 performances were taped, and six made the record.
Feather notes that Dorham liked minor keys, and he wrote three of the six tunes. Side one opens with his "Monaco," which starts on a slow Latin beat and then doubles up for a long, quick Dorham solo, with Monterose after him. Thelonious Monk's "'Round About Midnight" follows. "Mexico City" is fast and minor, and Feather says all four soloists get a turn; Wikipedia adds that it is built on the chords of Bud Powell's "Tempus Fugit."
Side two starts with Dizzy Gillespie's "A Night in Tunisia." Then Monterose and Burrell step down and Dorham plays a ballad with the rhythm section.
Kenny announces his own solo number, Autumn In New York, one of his most eloquent and tasteful ballad performances.
Leonard Feather, original liner notes
The record ends with "Hill's Edge." Dorham got the title by turning his drummer's name around, and Wikipedia says the tune leans partly on "Tune Up." Feather's last word was about the clock:
Clearly time flies too fast around the Bohemia, especially when Mr. Dorham and his cohorts are on the stand.
Leonard Feather, original liner notes
The sleeve is a Reid Miles design with a Francis Wolff photograph. The record came out late in 1956, though The Jazz Tome dates it 1957.
The rest of the night waited. One more take of "Mexico City" went on Kenny Burrell Volume 2 (BLP 1543), and in 1984 Blue Note in Japan put out much of the remainder on two LPs. A complete edition followed on two CDs in 2002. Monterose was back at Van Gelder's five months later, leading his own Blue Note date.
