Donnellon Square – Kenny Drew, Sr.
A bop-influenced head with a whirlwind melody. This comes from pianist Kenny Drew's first recording date.
- Recording: Howard McGhee - Howard McGhee
- Recorded on: January 23, 1950
- Label: Blue Note (BLP 5012)
- Concert Key: E-flat
- Style: Swing (medium up)
- Trumpet - Howard McGhee
- Tenor Sax - Brew Moore
- Trombone - J.J. Johnson
- Piano - Kenny Drew
- Bass - Curly Russell
- Drums - Max Roach
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Trumpeter/composer Howard McGhee loved good, challenging "bop" heads, so you can see why he picked this composition to record on his own session. It's a 32-measure ABAC format, full of rhythmic twists and turns and lots of "bop" vocabulary. Our audio clip starts with Kenny Drew's solo piano intro, which is also notated in the C treble clef lead sheet.
This composition is from pianist Kenny Drew's first recording date, at the tender age of 21. He was definitely prepared for the session: he got four of his own originals recorded. It had to be a thrill for him to be billed as part of the Howard McGhee All Stars alongside already well-known masters like J.J. Johnson and Max Roach.
Kenny Drew, Sr.
August 28, 1928 – August 4, 1993
Kenny Drew was born in New York City. He studied classical piano but soon turned to jazz. His recording career started in 1950 at age 22, first with Howard McGhee for Blue Note, then Sonny Stitt for Prestige. These two 1950 recordings plus a surviving radio broadcast with Charlie Parker (December 8, 1950) put him in the company of jazz greats J.J Johnson, Max Roach and Art Blakey. Read more...