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Being retired allows the occasional opportunity to lay around and revisit favorite music.  Today was such a day…

My key takeaway from today is a reminder that the late trumpeter Kenny Dorham’s music absolutely smokes!  For evidence of this, revisit his 1961 album Whistle Stop (including Hank Mobley on tenor) which jazz critic Gary Giddins calls “one of the great jazz albums,” and Una Mas from 1963, featuring the recording debut of tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson.

In the midst of all this listening, I ran across a colorful and short web biography of Dorham, a native of Austin, Texas.  Written in the late-2000’s by Michael Corcoran and posted on the “Austin’s East End Cultural District” web site, “BeBop Royalty from East Austin” describes Austin’s mid-century jazz scene and Dorham’s key place within it…You can read it by clicking here.