Blue Bossa In The Bronx: Live From The Blue Morocco

Trumpeter Kenny Dorham is captured in his hard-swinging prime on 2025s archival recording Blue Bossa in the Bronx: Live from the Blue Morocco. Transferred from tape reels recorded in 1967, the album features the legendary trumpeter leading a quartet with alto saxophonist Sonny Red, pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Denis Charles. While Dorham never officially recorded this particular group on album, he was close with each musician; having featured Chambers on his 1959 album Quiet Kenny and worked with Walton on several occasions, including appearing on the pianists own 1967 session Cedar!. This recording exists thanks to fellow engineer Bernard Drayton having produced a short-lived series of jazz nights at the Bronx nightclub and recorded the proceedings. The result is a delightfully raw-sounding, fly-on-the-wall experience that finds Dorham leading his group through a set of standards and originals, including his own classic Latin composition, "Blue Bossa," introduced several years prior on Joe Hendersons Page One. Here, Dorham stretches out on the tune, bobbing and weaving with a boxers dexterity, before landing a bold harmonic punch, his tone a clenched fist of intensity. Its a vibe he sustains the whole night, moving deftly between warm lyricism and angular harmonic exploration. The Detroit-bred altoist Red is equally impressive throughout, evoking at turns the propulsive swagger of Jackie McLean but also pushing towards the gruff edginess of Sonny Rollins, especially on his showcase rendition of the ballad "Memories of You." Its also cool to hear drummer Charles (who fell into obscurity in the 70s, before remerging in the 80s) dig into the bossa nova and hard bop grooves here. Walton is perhaps the most impressive here, conjuring a warm, bluesy sophistication on Dorhams "Blue Friday" and their urbane take on "My One and Only Love." Elsewhere, the group display their bop bona fides on "The Theme" and "Confirmation," the latter of which also features an ear-popping bowed bass solo from Chambers. Though Dorham continued to perform until two days before his 1972 death, his later life was marred by health issues, and his recordings had already become sporadic by the late 60s. Consequently, Blue Bossa in the Bronx: Live from the Blue Morocco and the few other live recordings that exist are treasured documents of his daring, artful style. ~ Matt Collar