Kenny Dorham

McKinley Howard (Kenny) Dorham (August 30, 1924 - December 5, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and composer born in Fairfield, Texas.

Dorham was one of the most active bebop trumpeters. He played in the

McKinley Howard (Kenny) Dorham (August 30, 1924 - December 5, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and composer born in Fairfield, Texas.

Dorham was one of the most active bebop trumpeters. He played in the Dizzy Gillespie and Billy Eckstine orchestras, Kenny Clarke's Be Bop Boys, the Lionel Hampton and Mercer Ellington orchestras, the Charlie Parker quintet, and the original Jazz Messengers. He also backed Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins, and replaced the recently deceased Clifford Brown in the Max Roach Quintet. A curiosity from this period is a 1958 session featuring Cecil Taylor and John Coltrane, artists with a style quite different from Dorham's. In addition to sideman work, he led his own groups, including the Jazz Prophets (formed shortly after Art Blakey took over the Jazz Messengers name). The Jazz Prophets can be heard on the 1956 Blue Note live album Round About Midnight at the Cafe Bohemia.