Strictly Confidential – Kenny Dorham & Bud Powell

First recorded by Bud Powell, Strictly Confidential is a bebop classic. Besides our lead sheet, we have a piano melody part with some of Bud’s comping voicings.

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Recording: Bud Powell - Strictly Confidential
Recorded on: February 23, 1949
Label: Mercury (11047)
Concert Key: E-flat
Vocal Range: , to
Style: Swing (medium)

Piano - Bud Powell
Bass - Ray Brown
Drums - Max Roach

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Kenny Dorham & Bud Powell - Strictly Confidential

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Originally recorded by Bud Powell, Strictly Confidential is a classic example of the romantic side of bebop. The melody has a particularly rich and warm sound with its lines that arpeggiate the changes and focus on upper extensions such as sharp and flat 9ths. The changes of this 32-measure AABC song are quite straightforward, diatonic in E♭ on the A section while the bridge modulates down through A♭, G♭ and then a chromatic approach II-V7 back to E♭. There’s an eight-measure intro, over a descending series of II-V7s with a bass solo break at the end. Because the melody goes quite low particularly in the intro, we also have a guitar lead sheet up an octave.

In addition to our lead sheets, a piano melody part is available. This edition shows some added implied chords from Bud’s comping, as well as his left-hand voicings where he fills in around the melody in the bridge.

Strictly Confidential comes from Bud Powell’s first recording session as a leader. For another collaboration between Bud and Kenny Dorham check out Fool’s Fancy.

The authorship and original ownership of both Fool's Fancy and Strictly Confidential is documented at the US Copyright Office in an assignment from Walter Gilbert Fuller and his company, Monogram Music, to John J. Robbins dated December 17, 1947. This document shows both compositions as being co-written by E. Powell (Earl Bud Powell) and K. Dorham (Kenny Dorham). Second Floor Music became the renewal publisher for Kenny Dorham's share in 1984. This is the same Walter (Gil) Fuller who became mostly known as an arranger closely associated with Dizzy Gillespie and others.

Kenny Dorham

August 30, 1924 – December 15, 1972

August 30, 2025, is Kenny Dorham's 101st birthday: jazzleadsheets.com has added many new K.D. compositions. Jazz At Lincoln Center has dedicated three late-night sets to Kenny's music, played with love by young musicians who want his music to live on. Join in, play K.D. music! Read more...

77 songs available.

Bud Powell

September 27, 1924 – July 31, 1866

One of the giants of jazz piano, Earl "Bud" Powell set the standard for bebop on his instrument. Focusing on linear right-hand melody, with rhythmic punctuations of chords in the left hand rather than steady time-keeping comping, as a soloist he essentially adapted Charlie Parker’s vocabulary to the piano (although he developed parallel to “Bird”). Powell was also a prolific composer, and many of his songs have become jazz standards, such as Bouncing With Bud, Celia, Dance Of The Infidels, Hallucinations, and Oblivion. Read more...

3 songs available.

Strictly Confidential – Kenny Dorham & Bud Powell

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