AAA 100% Analogue This LP was Remastered using Pure Analogue Components Only from the Master Tapes through to the Cutting Head

Analogue Productions - APRJ 8225 - 180 Gram Virgin Vinyl

AAA 100% Analogue - New Jazz 8224  Prestige  

Mastered by Kevin Gray at AcousTech Mastering  

Limited Edition -  Pressed at QRP Quality Record Pressings     

Pressed at QRP with Deep groove label pressings, tip-on jackets on thick cardboard stock

I've never heard an original pressing, but this reissue by Analogue Productions — a 200-gram QRP pressing, mastered at 33 RPM by Kevin Gray — is every bit the equal of Van Gelder's Blue Note LPs from the same era: the trumpet's brash brass and bushels of air, the pluck and wood of the bass, the sizzling hi-hat and smashing snare of the trap set. ... Listen to 'Blue Friday,' and you'll be reminded of the trumpet-led passages on 'Stolen Moments,' the high point of Oliver Nelson's The Blues and the Abstract Truth. There's a similar sound, and it's no accident." — Fred Kaplan, Stereophile, Feb 2017

Originally issued in 1959, this expertly crafted and executed set of standards and originals from trumpeter extraordinaire Kenny Dorham is easily among his overall best. With pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Art Taylor in tow, the former Charlie Parker cohort and ex-Jazz Messenger is equally at home whether illuminating ballads such as "My Ideal," "Alone Together," "I Had the Craziest Dream," and "Old Folks," or chasing down the blues on originals "Blue Friday" and "Blue Spring Sjuffle," all the while infusing the materail with his cool swing and melodic genius.

"Surrounded by an excellent rhythm team of the equally sensitive pianist Tommy Flanagan, emerging bassist Paul Chambers, and the always-beneficial drummer Art Taylor, Dorham and his mates are not prone to missteps or overt exaggerations. One of Dorham's all-time best tunes "Lotus Blossom" kicks off the set with its bop to Latin hummable melody, fluid dynamics, and Dorham's immaculate, unpretentious tone. "Old Folks," a classic ballad, is done mid-tempo, while the true "quiet" factor comes into play on interesting version of "My Ideal" where Dorham gingerly squeezes out the slippery wet notes, and on the sad ballad "Alone Together." The rest of the material is done in easygoing, unforced fashion, especially the originals "Blue Friday" and the simple swinger "Blue Spring Shuffle" which is not really a shuffle."

The title of the 1959 date, Quiet Kenny, is almost redundant, less descriptive of the session than of Dorham himself, who plays no differently here than in the explosive groups of Blakey or Silver. Thoughtful, playful, lyrical but never effusive, Dorham is, as Dan Morgenstern calls him in the notes for this latest RVG edition, the most "poetic" of trumpet players.

The playing is on a level with Dorham's best work elsewhere (Whistle Stop, Blue Note, 1961; Una Mas, Blue Note, 1963), but there are two undeniable bonuses: Dorham's is the only horn, giving him more valuable time to tell his compelling stories; and the pianist is Tommy Flanagan, whose dynamically nuanced, carefully sculpted lines are the perfect match for the trumpet's exquisitely crafted statements.

A newcomer to Dorham's music might be forgiven for being decidedly unimpressed by a ballad treatment such as Dorham's reading of "Alone Together," so minimalist and naked as to appear reductive if not amateurish. Yet careful listening reveals that no other musician prepares and "cures" each note like Dorham before launching it on a lovely albeit fragile cushion of sound. And few play with so little pose and showmanship, simply trusting the substance of the music itself to make sense—intellectually and emotionally—without reliance on extraneous effects.

At times Dorham's horn sounds like one or two valves are stuck, limiting him to endless repetition of a single note. For example, on what is arguably his best all-around session, Whistle Stop, he makes an adventure out of repeating the tonic note on a blues in F ("Buffalo ). He alternates between tonguing and legato articulations; approaches the note from slightly above, then below, the pitch; varies the articulations by allowing the sound to explode one moment and implode the next; and finally relinquishes the note to the chord sequence and dances with it, via potentially "corny" emphasis on the first beat of each double eighth-note pattern, to a supremely felicitous close.

"Lotus Blossom," the opener on Quiet Kenny, has a similar approach, demonstrating not only the leader's rare economy but his ability to connect phrases in a manner that masks structural markers. Finally, Dorham's playful yet respectful treatments of the sentimental chestnut "My Ideal" and the normally fulsome-sounding Harry James' vehicle, "I Had The Craziest Dream," are so seductively guileless a listener can feel guiltless pronouncing them simply "charming. 

Part of the ultimate audiophile Prestige stereo reissue series from Analogue Productions featuring 25 of the most collectible, rarest, most audiophile-sounding Rudy Van Gelder recordings ever made! 

All titles will be mastered from the original analog master tapes by Kevin Gray. 

The 200g LPs will be cut at 33rpm at ' state-of-the-art pressing plant, Quality Record Pressings, plated by Gary Salstrom.

Deep groove label pressings, tip-on jackets on thick cardboard stock.

• 200g Virgin Vinyl LP
• Numbered, Limited Edition, Less Than 1000 Records per stamper, released in limited quantities
• Only the 1st 1,000 Copies are Numbered!
• The Original 100% Analog Master Tapes were used working with only the Best Mastering Studios!
• Mastered by Kevin Gray & Plated by Gary Salstrom
• Plated and Pressed at Quality Record Pressings on Virgin Vinyl
• Meticulous Test Pressing Evaluation and Quality Control
• Deluxe Packaging using the highest quality jackets and rice paper inner sleeves
• Officially Licensed & Authorized for release by the Record Label
• Stereo

Musicians:
Kenny Dorham
Tommy Flanagan
Paul Chambers
Arthur Taylor

Kenny Dorham Quiet Kenny 

1. Lotus Blossom 
2. My Ideal 
3. Blue Friday 
4. Alone Together 
5. Blue Spring Shuffle 
6. I Had The Craziest Dream 
7. Old Folks 
8. Mack The Knife