Recording: The Jazz Messengers - At The Cafe Bohemia, Vol. 1
Recorded on: November 23, 1955
Label: Blue Note (BLP 1507)
Concert Key: B-flat
Vocal Range: , to
Style: Swing (uptempo)

Trumpet - Kenny Dorham
Tenor Sax - Hank Mobley
Piano - Horace Silver
Bass - Doug Watkins
Drums - Art Blakey

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Kenny Dorham - N.Y. Theme (Jazz Messengers At The Cafe Bohemia)

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N.Y. Theme is the classic “rhythm changes” riff used as a set closer on countless gigs and jam sessions. Our lead sheets and parts reflect the original Jazz Messengers recording, which is slightly different from how it’s usually played. At the end of A (but not at C) the melody goes down to the tonic while the harmony and bass have the more familiar ascending line. The bridge here (on both head and solos) is different from a standard “rhythm changes” bridge and instead starts with a II-V7 to E♭. The melody on this bridge is a bit of classic bebop lyricism, focusing on the flat 5ths (sharp 11ths) of the chords.

About the arrangement: Condensed Score and 2nd parts are available; rhythm section players should read the C lead sheet. The A section riff is harmonized in sixths, while the bridge is mostly octaves with the end of each phrase in tenths and ninths. Our alto sax 2nd part is written up an octave for the bridge (unison, thirds and seconds with the melody).

Transcriptions are available of Kenny Dorham’s and Hank Mobley’s solos; click on Solos for more details.

On “At The Cafe Bohemia” and countless other releases, the title of this song is The Theme and it is often incorrectly attributed to Miles Davis. Miles did have his own “rhythm changes” set closer copyrighted as The Theme, but this is not the same song As Kenny's. Miles’ first studio recording of The Theme from the album “Miles” (recorded a week before “The Jazz Messengers At The Cafe Bohemia”) features a variation of the N.Y. Theme riff as an intro, but goes into a different melody as a send-off for the solos. The correct title N.Y. Theme was first used for Kenny Dorham’s “‘Round About Midnight At The Cafe Bohemia” album; this version is largely the same arrangement as on the Jazz Messengers recording.

For more Kenny Dorham songs from this Jazz Messengers album check out Minor’s Holiday and Prince Albert.

Kenny Dorham CLIP and Hank Mobley CLIP play three choruses each. These solos are iconic examples of early hard bop and the Messengers sound, full of intricate eighth-note lines interspersed with playful melodic riffs. Both transcriptions have detailed articulations for a detailed look at Kenny’s and Hank’s phrasing. Hank quotes two other “rhythm changes” heads at the end of his first and third choruses: respectively these are K.D.’s own Fool’s Fancy and another set closer, Thelonious Monk’s 52nd Street Theme. Both of these had been recorded on a 1949 Bud Powell session—perhaps Bud was in the audience at the Cafe Bohemia? He was in NY in 1955.

N.Y. Theme – Kenny Dorham

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