Windmill – Kenny Dorham

This medium-up swinger stands out as one of the most intricate and subtle of Kenny Dorham's compositions. As with many others of Dorham's, the rhythm section parts are essential to this song and create a second layer of activity complementing the melody. The melodic material draws on both bebop and simpler hard-bop vocabulary.

The intro (which is 10 measures long) and the A and C sections of the head all begin with rhythm section pedal points on beats 2 and 4. These and other rhythm section figures, as well as the melody's varied phrase lengths, make the song's harmonic basis not obvious: it is an ingenious line over Sweet Georgia Brown changes. In the last eight measures of the melody, the relation is somewhat clearer; the melodic direction starts to recall that of Sweet Georgia Brown, but then shifts harmonically in a totally different direction to get back to the A♭.The intro reappears as a coda, which winds down to an unexpected B♭7(♯9) chord.

Don Sickler: The basic quintet second parts we're making available comes from my recording with Jimmy Heath, and is my synthesis of the two parts Kenny created for his two trumpet/tenor sax quintet arrangements. The first one with Hank Mobley, and the uptempo swing arrangement with Clifford Jordan. The Tenor Sax parts as recorded for each of these two arrangements are available on the individual pages for each of these recordings.

If your goal is to play Windmill as it was recorded on this album, you'll need Hank Mobley's part, shown here as Tenor Sax 2nd part (Whistle Stop), to go along with our B-flat lead sheet (the 1st Trumpet part) and the Piano, Bass and Drum parts.

To play Windmill with alternate instrumental parts:
Alternate 1st parts are found under "The K.D. Challenge" album cover above right.
Alternate 2nd parts are found under "The Music Of Kenny Dorham" album cover above right.

Considerably faster than the first version, this recording sacrifices none of the song's complexity and subtlety. All rhythm section figures are the same as on the first recording, though bassist Wilbur Ware plays some different notes in the intro and coda.

The tenor sax second part is slightly different; much of the B section is in octaves instead of unison. A separate second part is available for this arrangement. This version adds an extra note in the melody, a concert F♮ on the "and" of beat 4 in the last measure of the B section. It is harmonized in the tenor part with a D♭. Hank Mobley plays a D♭ here on the original recording, but Kenny holds the melody note A♭ out for the whole measure. In our second part for this Clifford Jordan version, the first part with the extra note is shown for this measure.

If your goal is to play Windmill as it was recorded on this album, you'll need Clifford Jordan's part, shown here Tenor Sax 2nd part (Starting Time), to go along with our B-flat lead sheet (the 1st Trumpet part) and the Piano, Bass and Drum parts.

To play Windmill with alternate instrumental parts:
Alternate 1st parts are found under "The K.D. Challenge" album cover above right.
Alternate 2nd parts are found under "The Music Of Kenny Dorham" album cover above right.

This version is approximately the same tempo as the original recording. The tenor sax second part combines features of the arrangements from the Kenny Dorham and Clifford Jordan recordings, with some of the A section in octaves but not the B section. As with the other versions, a bass transcription is available; click on the Bass Corner tab for more details.

If your goal is to play Windmill as it was recorded on this album, you'll need Jimmy Heath's part, shown here as Tenor Sax 2nd part (Music Of KD), to go along with our B-flat lead sheet (the 1st Trumpet part) and the Piano, Bass and Drum parts.

To play Windmill with alternate instrumental parts:
Alternate 1st parts are found under "The K.D. Challenge" album cover above right.
Alternate 2nd parts are available here.

Our "K.D. Challenge" version is a quartet take without the two-horn arrangement. The tempo is very close to that of the original Kenny Dorham recording on Whistle Stop. Our rhythm section parts, unlike on many of the "K.D. Challenge" songs, show the melody with figures notated under the staff instead of on a separate staff.

First parts for all instruments, rhythm section parts and Minus You tracks are available here. For second tenor sax parts, click on the appropriate album cover (Hank Mobley, Clifford Jordan, Jimmy Heath); alternate second parts, click on "The Music Of Kenny Dorham" album cover.

The challenging part of Windmill is not the solo section: the solos are on Sweet Georgia Brown changes. Kenny's intro, head and coda, however are intricate and challenging.

Besides our full track with solo choruses, we have three other tracks available that contain only the intro, head, and coda. These tracks are for practicing the melody and rhythm section figures at slow, medium, and fast tempos and are available in the same Minus You formats as the full track. The fast version approaches the tempo of the Clifford Jordan recording. Click on the next album cover ("The K.D. Challenge Practice Tracks") for details and audio clips (under that album's Minus You tab).

These practice tracks contain only the intro, melody, and coda; these are labeled by tempo and are great for practicing locking in with the rhythm section. As you'll see if you try them, different tempos create different challenges.

Click on the Minus You tab to hear samples of each.