Oscar for Oscar – Kenny Dorham
An intricate bebop blues head in Kenny Dorham's signature style. Our lead sheet reflects the first studio recording, from Kenny's debut album as a leader in 1953; a melody and solo transcription is also available.
- Recording: Kenny Dorham - Kenny Dorham Quintet
- Recorded on: December 15, 1953
- Label: Debut (9)
- Concert Key: C
- Vocal Range: , to
- Style: Swing (medium up)
- Trumpet - Kenny Dorham
- Tenor Sax - Jimmy Heath
- Piano - Walter Bishop, Jr.
- Bass - Percy Heath
- Drums - Kenny Clarke
Video
- Description
- Historical Notes
- Solos
- Piano Corner
- Bass Corner
- Drum Corner
- Guitar Corner
- Inside & Beyond
- Minus You
This bebop blues head is classic early Kenny Dorham. Both the melody and the modified blues changes display the sort of intricate detail that define K.D.'s style within a hard-swinging bop format. One of the defining features of Kenny Dorham's writing is a focus on the rhythm section. In this song, there is a pedal point on beats 2 and 4 through the first five measures, and drum figures (also accenting 2 and 4) at the "turnaround" in the repeat of the head. The last four measures are completely different in the two choruses of the head, so we show the melody as two full choruses with no repeat. After the pedal point measures, the changes in the second half of the chorus descend similarly to the classic "Bird Blues" progression, with a "Tadd Dameron" turnaround at the end.
We have lead sheets that reflect the "Kenny Dorham Quintet" recording. In this version the bass pedal point note is G, with the piano comping basic blues changes on these measures. Solos are on standard blues changes; the head is played only once out, with the ending from the second chorus. A few melody notes are different from later recordings; our lead sheet has the updated melody as it appears in those versions, but in one place, the triplet at beat 4 of the seventh measure, we also show the "as recorded" notes in a smaller size—ascending in a triad instead of stepwise as in the other recordings. The other difference between these melodies is the "and" of 4 in the fourth measure: as shown on our lead sheet it is F♯ but on "Kenny Dorham Quintet" it is E. The full melody as recorded appears in our melody transcription; click on Solos for more details about this transcription which also includes Kenny Dorham's solo.
The horns play octaves on most of the head, but the final phrase of the melody is harmonized in tenths. This harmony is shown in our lead sheets. A full quintet arrangement of this song, with detailed rhythm section parts, is available from Hal Leonard; this version reflects the 1983 recording by Johnny Coles and Frank Wess.
We have lead sheets that reflect the "Kenny Dorham Quintet" recording. In this version the bass pedal point note is G, with the piano comping basic blues changes on these measures. Solos are on standard blues changes; the head is played only once out, with the ending from the second chorus. A few melody notes are different from later recordings; our lead sheet has the updated melody as it appears in those versions, but in one place, the triplet at beat 4 of the seventh measure, we also show the "as recorded" notes in a smaller size—ascending in a triad instead of stepwise as in the other recordings. The other difference between these melodies is the "and" of 4 in the fourth measure: as shown on our lead sheet it is F♯ but on "Kenny Dorham Quintet" it is E. The full melody as recorded appears in our melody transcription; click on Solos for more details about this transcription which also includes Kenny Dorham's solo.
The horns play octaves on most of the head, but the final phrase of the melody is harmonized in tenths. This harmony is shown in our lead sheets. A full quintet arrangement of this song, with detailed rhythm section parts, is available from Hal Leonard; this version reflects the 1983 recording by Johnny Coles and Frank Wess.
"Kenny Dorham Quintet" was recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's legendary Hackensack Studio. This was K.D.'s first session with Rudy Van Gelder; in the following year, he recorded at Rudy's Hackensack studio with Lou Donaldson, Sonny Rollins and Horace Silver.
December 15, 2023, is the 70th anniversary of the "Kenny Dorham Quintet" session, K.D.'s first as a leader. An Oscar For Oscar was his only original composition from this session. The first recording of this song is a live broadcast from October 1953 by Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Kenny played on another studio recording of this song in 1961, on drummer Dave Bailey's sextet album "Bash!" We have another lead sheet for this song that reflects this later recording, which has a different rhythm section arrangement, as well as a Kenny Dorham melody and solo transcription; these are coming to jazzleadsheets.com very soon.
December 15, 2023, is the 70th anniversary of the "Kenny Dorham Quintet" session, K.D.'s first as a leader. An Oscar For Oscar was his only original composition from this session. The first recording of this song is a live broadcast from October 1953 by Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Kenny played on another studio recording of this song in 1961, on drummer Dave Bailey's sextet album "Bash!" We have another lead sheet for this song that reflects this later recording, which has a different rhythm section arrangement, as well as a Kenny Dorham melody and solo transcription; these are coming to jazzleadsheets.com very soon.
CLIP Our melody and solo transcription includes everything Kenny Dorham played on this recording. The melody shows detailed articulations for a close-up look at K.D.'s unique phrasing. He solos for three choruses, and returns for four measures to start a trading chorus before the out melody. The solo is a great example of his style at this early point of his career. Check out how he alludes to the melody in his second solo chorus; this really is not just a solo on blues changes but a solo on An Oscar For Oscar.
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Kenny Dorham
August 30, 1924 – December 15, 1972
Trumpeter/composer Kenny Dorham was very much on the jazz scene from the mid-1940s through most of the 1960s. He worked and recorded with all the major figures in the modern jazz movement, which includes the legendary Billy Eckstine big band, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Bud Powell, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk and Max Roach as well as Kenny Clarke, Sonny Stitt, Fats Navarro, J.J. Johnson and many other giants of that period. Read more...
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