Kenny Dorham – Matador Impex Records Hybrid Stereo SACD

Rare recording available on SACD for the first time ever!

Full resolution DSD audio mastered by Chris Bellman from the original analog master tapes

The new SACD of Matador by trumpeter Kenny Dorham and his quintet has the all too common distinction of being an album classic among jazz connoisseurs while virtually unknown to the casual listener. Dorham is joined here by Jackie McLean, Bobby Timmons, Teddy Smith, and J.C. Moses, all of whom deliver outstanding performances.

More than anything, this session is perhaps best known for including a stunning version of McLean’s composition “Melody for Melonae,” used less than a month earlier on his groundbreaking Blue Note LP Let Freedom Ring. For this session, though, the tune is renamed “Melanie” and, if not better, this version at least rivals the take under McLean’s leadership.

For starters, the addition of another horn adds some tonal depth to the proceedings, a situation arguably lacking in the tune’s earlier recording. Also of note is what has to be Bobby Timmons’ most intense moment on record. One rarely has the opportunity to hear Timmons dig and scrape as hard as he does during this solo, and his barely audible vocal accompaniment (…a la Bud Powell) only helps to prove this point.

Chris Bellman cut Matador from the original analog master tape (one of the few that survived the Universal warehouse fire of 2008, lucky for us) and the sound is revelatory! Tight acoustics of the Soundmaker Studios provide tightened bass, crystal-clear drums and beautifully rounded tones from Dorham’s and McLean’s horns. This is another fine example of Impex Records cutting through the fat of modern music-making to reveal the very essence of the music and the giant talents who created it. Impex is elated to bring this sadly-neglected classic back for true believers to add to their collection and (maybe more importantly) to a whole new generation to discover for the first time.