Waltz – Kenny Dorham

A charming 3/4 song, with all the lyricism and harmonic depth that define Kenny Dorham’s unique style. The melody flows smoothly through the extended form, 44 measures total divided into eight-measure A, 12-measure B, eight-measure C and 16-measure D sections; C is the same as A. This song’s key center is clearly E♭ major, but there are many clever and unexpected passing chords; D♭ major is used not as a secondary key center but an added harmonic color before certain cadences. Our lead sheets include the four-measure piano intro from the recording, as well as the 11-measure coda which comes in on the last four measures of the out melody. This coda ultimately winds up on an E major chord. On our lead sheets the D.S. goes back to C for the out melody, which is what happens on the recording, but it could also go to A.

About the arrangement: A baritone sax second part is available, as recorded on the in head and coda. This baritone part results in a unique sound, with higher notes of the chords (7ths, 9ths or 13ths) placed quite low in the harmonic space. As it goes lower than the range of many other instruments, this part is only available transposed for baritone as well as a C treble clef edition for guitar.

We also have a Full Score for the complete quintet arrangement, taken from Kenny Dorham’s original manuscript. It’s slightly different from the recording in several places, especially in the rhythm section parts on the head. The baritone part is also different, notably adding a rest at the end of the second measure of A and moving the remainder of this countermelody a beat later from where it’s played on the recording. In overall form, however, this score does reflect the recording. After the horn solos there’s a 14-measure rhythm section interlude, which starts the same as the coda. This leads to a chorus where the piano plays a variation of the head; it’s all written out in the score, but on the recording Steve Kuhn improvises the B and D sections of this chorus. The horns play in octaves on the out head until the coda.