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Robin Lynam

Blue Spring 
Kenny Dorham and Cannonball
Adderley
Riverside
In 1955, Frank Sinatra's In the Wee Small Hours ushered in the era of what came to be called the "concept album", and by 1959 the idea that an LP record should have some kind of thematic continuity was well established, particularly in jazz.
Blue Spring, by trumpeter Kenny Dorham and saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, is hardly a musical picture of the season in the Vivaldi sense, but as it was recorded in the depths of a New York winter, it's safe to say the musicians were all looking forward to warmer weather.
For the sessions at Reeves Sound Studio, Dorham chose two standards with "spring" in their titles, and composed the other four:  Blue Spring, Poetic Spring, Spring Cannon and Passion Spring.
The borrowed songs were both written by Richard Rodgers.  It Might as Well Be Spring  was composed for a 1945 movie called  State Fair with lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein ll.  Spring is Here was a product of Rodgers' earlier partnership with lyricist Lorenz Hart, and first appeared in their 1938 Broadway show  I Married An Angel.
With the exception of Blue Bossa - his best-known tune but one which first appeared on his protégé Joe Henderson's 1963 Blue Note debut Page One - Dorham's compositions tend to be overlooked. More than 40 years after his death many of them stand up very well.
He never quite got the recognition he deserved as a trumpeter either. Dorham was at his peak at a time when competition on the instrument was strong - Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard among others - and although he cut some memorable albums both as a leader and as a sideman, he didn't achieve their star status.
However, he was well respected by his peers. Dorham was a member of Gillespie's big band, he replaced Davis in Charlie Parker's group and went on to replace Brown in Max Roach's. Davis said of him: "Kenny was a hell of a trumpet player - great style all his own. And he was really creative, imaginative, an artist on that horn. He never got all the credit he deserved."
But in 1959, when Dorham recorded these tracks for Riverside, it looked as though he was poised for a commercial breakthrough. An all-star band was assembled: drummer Jimmy Cobb, bassist Paul Chambers and alto saxophonist Adderley all came from the Davis group that would record the landmark Kind of Blue album later that same year.
Spring Cannon was named in guest soloist Adderley's honour, but the saxophonist - who producer Orrin Keepnews described as "the alto star of the day" - delivered one of his greatest performances on It Might As Well Be Spring.
Blue Spring can stand shoulder to shoulder with any jazz album from 1959: apart from Kind of Blue, that year also saw the release of Dave Brubeck's Time Out, Charles Mingus' Mingus Ah Um and Ornette Coleman's The Shape of Jazz to Come, as well as the recording of John Coltrane's Giant Steps.  And that is quite remarkable.


Rewind, album: 'Blue Spring' by Kenny Dorham and Cannonball Adderley

Saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley

Lifestyle

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In 1955, Frank Sinatra's In the Wee Small Hours ushered in the era of what came to be called the "concept album".


Rewind, album: 'Blue Spring' by Kenny Dorham and Cannonball Adderley

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}In 1955, Frank Sinatra's In the Wee Small Hours ushered in the era of what came to be called the "concept album".

In 1955, Frank Sinatra's In the Wee Small Hours ushered in the era of what came to be called the "concept album".