El Matador – Kenny Dorham

This iconic Kenny Dorham composition, certainly ahead of its time, deserves to be better known. It’s a great example of K.D.’s style in combining relatively simple themes with subtle, fascinating details. El Matador is mostly in 5/4, subdivided 2 + 3 instead of the more common 3 + 2. This is a through-composed piece; the in melody, solo form, and out melody are all quite different though connected by the 2 + 3 groove in the piano and drums. The in head is 10 measures long, with a single melodic theme that repeats in three-measure phrases (the last phrase adds an extra measure of rest). The changes here are subtly dramatic, an extended minor II-V7-I that stays on Em7♭5 for the first six measures before resolving. The bass adds further tension here, with quarter notes on beats 1 and 2 of each measure followed by a rest until the next measure. Starting in the eighth measure, which lands on the tonic, the bass switches to longer notes.

Solos are on a two-chord vamp—not technically modal—alternating B♭7 and Dm(maj7). The bass goes between three different lines, indicated 1, 2, and 3 in our lead sheets; on the recording, bass line 1 is used at or near the start of each solo, eventually going to alternate bass line 2 or alternate bass line 3. Bass line 3 happens at the end of the last solo (piano) on the recording, so our lead sheet shows the pick up for the out melody here as well. The piano plays the same rhythmic figure and voicings throughout the solos; bass lines 2 and 3 start the first measure on E rather than B♭, so the chord here is indicated as E7♭5♯5(♯9) which would have the same notes as B♭9(13) with E in the bass.

The out melody changes meter to 3/4 for the first seven measures, with a descending theme unrelated to the in melody. This is followed by a vamp and fade on the 5/4 groove, alternating the same two chords from the solos but in reverse order (with an extra measure of D minor before the vamp). The horns play rhythmic hits with the piano here; these are slightly different from the piano figure for the solos, with a long quarter note on beat 5.

On the recording the horns play unison for the in melody, but harmonize in thirds on the out melody. Rather than separate 1st and 2nd parts, we have lead sheets which show both parts. All bass lines are also included in the lead sheet, as well as the drum intro which establishes the groove. Drummers should read the C lead sheet; separate piano and bass parts are available. The piano part shows bass cues, and vice versa. On the in melody, the piano plays the roots only on the downbeat, resting on the second beat while the bass continues.