Customer Reviews

Whistle Stop

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

mr. dorham had the unfortunate honor of being a hard-working, adept trumpeter at the same time miles davis was hitting his peak, meaning everyone else sat in the shadows. mr. dorham was often overshadowed by his fellow blue noters lee morgan and freddie hubbard, as well, all of which is unfortunate considering the grace and swing of his work, as this album attests. mr. dorham could swing with the best of them, as the cooking opener, "philly twist," shows. the tone is blues-bop, and things stay on high all the way through the title track. one note: check out the mute on "sunset." it's as good as miles. then we get a glimpse of another side of mr. dorham. like dizzy gillespie, mr. dorham explored the fusion of cuban and jazz musics and "sunrise in mexico" stands as a clear example. it's bop with salsa! the album closes with a hardbop romp ("windmill") and to give the set a club feel, mr. dorham adds a snippet of his theme to end the record. the support is solid from philly joe jones (drums), paul chambers (bass), kenny drew (piano), and hank mobley (tenor). listen to this, and you will want to hear more from this under-appreciated trumpet talent.

Trumpeter Kenny Dorham, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, and pianist Kenny Drew all have one thing in common, they spent their careers in the shadows of bigger name musicians such as Gillespie, Rollins, and Kelly that obscured their individual talent. The material recorded here, all originals penned by Dorham, allows these men the opprotunity to stand in their own light and swing out. Rounding out this classic 1961 session are two men who cast long shadows themselves, the rock solid duo of the thunderous drummer Philly Joe Jones and bassist Paul Chambers. Highlights of the album include "Sunset" which features laidback, simmering solos by Mobley, Drew, and a muted Dorham, as well as the hard swinging "Philly Twist" and the title track "Whistle Stop". The sound is wonderfully remastered as usual by Mr Rudy Van Gelder, which just adds to this underrated gem. This cd is perfect for fans of classic Blue Note hard bop as well as fans of Dorham, Mobley, Drew, Chambers, and Jones, and is highly recommeded by this listener.

Kenny Dorham's magnificent "Whistle Stop" was first released on CD in 1994 as one of the initial twelve titles in the limited edition Connoisseur series, and it quickly sold out. Now this classic hard-bop session makes a well-deserved permanent return to the Blue Note catalog as part of the RVG series. Joining KD on this January 1961 recording are Hank Mobley on tenor sax, Kenny Drew on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums. These cats are in top form, most likely because they had played together so frequently, that they had developed an outstanding musical rapport. For example, Dorham and Mobley were the original horn team for the Jazz Messengers, while the rhythm trio of Drew, Chambers and Jones had already been the rhythm backbone for John Coltrane's "Blue Train," and in a few months they would team up again on Dexter Gordon's "Dexter Calling" (see my review). This album is full of bluesy, hard swingers like "Philly Twist," "Buffalo" and the title track, but it is the more reflective pieces like "Sunset," "Sunrise In Mexico" and the brief, sublime "Dorham's Epitaph" that I find particularly enjoyable. You should definitely let out a whistle and bring this disc to a stop, right in your collection.

Kenny Dorham was the thinking person's trumpet player, a musician who eschewed the passionate romanticism of Clifford, the dramatic flare of Lee, and the brassy virtuosity of Freddie in favor of unfailing melodic logic and economical lyricism, lightened by a frequently playful, puckish approach. He lets the music come to him, using his smallish yet centered, round sound to deconstruct and then reconstruct its most essential phrases into gemlike solos. Notice how smoothly he connects the 12-bar choruses on the opening blues--his phrasing virtually erases structural markers. The title tune, "Whistle Stop," is a striking example of Dorham's deceptive technique and clean articulations along with his vocal expressiveness on the horn. "Sunset in Mexico," based on a single G minor scale, features a beautifully arranged out-chorus preceded by a simple yet ingenious Dorham solo that neither Mobley nor Drew has an answer for.

Hank Mobley was the perfect frontline companion for Dorham, employing a similar commitment to melody and to making musical sense out of the materials at hand. Neither of these guys ever played with an "agenda," which may have contributed to their relative obscurity but insured the freshness and vitality of their art. Hank, in fact, had just joined Miles Davis at the time of this recording and comes as close as I've ever heard him to overshadowing the sound of the trumpet. Listen to his opportunistic choices on Dorham's "Windmill," one of the more complex melodies based on "Sweet Georgia Brown" chord changes.

As recent or current bandmates of Hank's, Philly Joe and Paul Chambers are definitely the right choices for the rhythm section, and it's hard to think of any Blue Note session from this period on which Kenny Drew would have been a bad choice. Finally, it should be noted that "Whistle Stop" contains an all-Dorham program and, despite omitting "Blue Bossa," displays the trumpeter's compositional talents perhaps better than any other recording (besides the melodic heads, notice especially his inventive little set-ups and codas).

This is a classic 1950's hard bop Blue Note recording. It's tremendous from start to finish. One of Dorham's best recordings; Whistle Stop hosts some of the best playing by Dorham on record.

The grooving soulful sensation of Philly Twist sets the mood for this wonderful cut. Helping out Dorham is tenor man Hank Mobley, pianist Kenny Drew, of course Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums.

One of the most soulful tracks I ever heard is Buffalo. Drenched in the blues, this track is grooving in every-which-way! I just get down and groove to this tune. Philly's ride pattern just makes the piece even more hip.

The next track, Sunset is a tune with latin feel. The bebop influences wrap themselves around the latin influences, and then Dorham takes the first solo, with a mute. It's one of his best solos on the album. Everyone else's are fabulous too.

The swinging tunes, Whistle Stop and Windmill are taken up at a nice tempo. One other unique tune is Sunrise In Mexio, and the album closes with Dorham's Epitaph.

This is a classic album. With such great musicians, such great material, and such a classic label, (Blue Note) this album is a magnificent record!

If you're new to jazz and looking for something to listen to after enjoying 'Kind of Blue', then Mr.Dorham's session might be the sweet answer. Listen to 'Sunset' and see what you think of his muted workout, or try to keep your feet from tapping (or your fingers from poppin') during 'Buffalo'. This album has an accessible and uplifting feel from start to finish and sounds better with every listen.

I love this album. The compositions are all well thought out and interesting. This is by far one of my favorite jazz recordings. I'm a huge Hank Mobley fan, and he doesn't disappoint here. His tone is big and warm and he plays with fire. This was the first time I'd heard Kenny Dorham, although I'd heard some of his compositions performed on Freddie Hubbard's Goin' Up. The rhythm section of Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones holds everything together nicely, providing a solid groove. Kenny Drew is quite excellent as well. "Buffalo", "Sunrise in Mexico", and "Windmill" are standout tracks, but the whole album is top notch.

Yesterday I decided I was going to review this disc and Lee Morgan's Sonic Boom, with the full intention of giving the bigger nod to this one. Last night I was in the mood for both again so I had one last listen, and really enjoyed Sonic Boom more. Ahhhh, nothing like the subjectivity of opinions and feelings. =)

First off, this is a short one at 38 minutes. When I consider that there are a couple of the songs that I don't like very much (Philly Twist and Epitaph), it makes it even shorter.

Still though, this is a very good album and worth your time. For one thing, it has some of my favorite playing ever by Hank Mobley. He just has that whole warm, liquid silk thing going to full effect here. I love how so often he seems unexcitable. He can remain calm and weave a lovely lyrical pattern without thinking that every solo has to have a big peak or a frenzied torrent of blustery hooplah. I guess I'm saying that he was great at the art of understated beauty.

In a sense, I can say the same for Dorham's own playing. I've always liked that he wasn't as flashy and brassy as some of the more famous trumpet players.

It would have been nice if there were some alternate takes here, to hear the band think about and play a few of these tunes in other ways, just to give us a glimpse into what else could have been (as well as filling out the minutes a little more), but this is still a very nice little album. Besides that, I love Sunrise In Mexico on all counts. It's tough for me to be disappointed in a disc when there is something on it I enjoy as completely as Sunrise.

Great album. You can tell it's at the beginning of the 60's, but it still carries the style of 50's hard bop. You can't beat Hank Mobley and Philly Joe Jones!

Both of these trumpet players were overshadowed by contemporaries as was Hank Mobley. This is a classic recording sounds great in 24 bit transfers.