The great unsung trumpeter Kenny Dorham was a vital part of the early Blue Note story appearing as a sideman on bebop dates by Thelonious Monk and Art Blakey as well as foundational hard bop sessions with Horace Silver and as a founding member of The Jazz Messengers. In fact, just six months after The Jazz Messengers cut their landmark namesake live recordings at the Cafe Bohemia, Dorham brought his own sextet into the fabled NYC jazz club in May 1956 to record his maiden live recording date under his own name. Presented in full on the 3-LP Tone Poet Vinyl Edition of The Complete ‘Round About Midnight At The Cafe Bohemia the sublime set features the trumpeter with J.R. Monterose on tenor saxophone, Kenny Burrell on guitar, Bobby Timmons on piano, Sam Jones on bass, and Arthur Edgehill on drums for an inspired collection of originals by Dorham, Monk, and Dizzy Gillespie, as well as choice Great American Songbook standards.
Produced for release by Joe Harley, the vinyl is all-analog and cut directly from Rudy Van Gelder’s original master tapes by Kevin Gray. Pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI, the three LPs come packaged in a deluxe tip-on trifold jacket which includes a booklet with never-before-seen photos by Francis Wolff and an in-depth essay and track-by-track analysis by Syd Schwartz.
