Kenny Dorham

The ubiquitous trumpeter Kenny Dorham is one of the unsung heroes of Jazz. He was present in every stage of the Bop revolution, from its beginnings of the 1940s to mid-‘60s Post Bop. In 1948, Dorham replaced Miles Davis in Charlie Parker's combo. In 1954, he co-founded the Jazz Messengers along with Art Blakey and Horace Silver; over the following decade, he worked with Max Roach, Joe Henderson and Andrew Hill. At the same time, Dorham maintained an excellent solo career, recording as a bandleader from 1953 to 1968. Though he was a brilliant trumpeter, Dorham never reached as wide an audience as his contemporaries Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis. Perhaps the reason was that his style was too difficult to pigeonhole. He combined the pyrotechnics of Gillespie with the understatements and rounded tone of Davis. Until his death in 1972, Kenny Dorham graced the jazz world with consistently inventive and exciting playing.