About

Trumpeter Kenny Dorham has been described by jazz critic Gary Giddins as “virtually synonymous with underrated.” While his albums for Blue Note and other labels contain some of the most virtuosic and lyrical playing of the 1950s and 1960s, he never gained the attention of the public in the way players like Donald Byrd, Freddie Hubbard or Lee Morgan did. Still, he made numerous sideman appearances on classic albums by Art Blakey, Andrew Hill, and frequent partner Joe Henderson, among others, and his releases as a leader hold their own with anything else in the Blue Note catalog. He made his debut as a leader for the label with 1955’s Afro-Cuban and 1956’s ’Round About Midnight at the Café Bohemia, but didn’t make another Blue Note album under his own name until Whistle Stop, in 1961.

Whistle Stop, recorded January 15, 1961, is a bluesy, swinging hard bop session featuring top-flight players: In addition to Dorham, Hank Mobley fills the tenor saxophone chair, Kenny Drew is behind the piano, Paul Chambers mans the upright bass, and Philly Joe Jones is on drums. All seven of the album’s compositions are by the trumpeter, and they allow the band to explore a variety of moods and rhythmic approaches, without ever failing to provide the toe-tapping grooves listeners were after. – Blue Note