Afro-Cuban is an album by American jazz trumpeter Kenny Dorham

Kenny Dorham

McKinley Howard Dorham was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and composer born in Fairfield, Texas. Dorham's talent is frequently lauded by critics and other musicians, but he never received the kind of attention from the jazz establishment that many of his peers did...

. The first release of the album dates back to 1955 on 10" Vinyl, featuring only four tracks and having a different cover artwork. Two years later, Blue Note decided to add three tracks and issue an LP (see below for details). After publishing a 2003 RVG edition which featured two additional pieces and a different track listing, Blue Note remastered and recompiled Afro-Cuban in 2007, restoring the original track order.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Michael G. Nastos awarded the album 5 stars and stated "A first-rate recording for the under-appreciated Dorham, this one should be in every collection of all true music lovers".

10" Vinyl, BLP 5065 (1955)

1. "Afrodisia" – 5:06
2. "Lotus Flower" – 4:17
3. "Minor's Holiday" – 4:27
4. "Basheer's Dream" (Gigi Gryce
   Gigi Gryce
   Gigi Gryce was an American saxophonist, flautist, clarinetist, composer, arranger, educator, and big band bandleader.His performing career was relatively short and, in comparison to other musicians of his...
   
   ) - 5:03

LP, BLP 1535 (1957)

1. "Afrodisia" – 5:06
2. "Lotus Flower" – 4:17
3. "Minor's Holiday" – 4:27
4. "Basheer's Dream" (Gigi Gryce
   Gigi Gryce
   Gigi Gryce was an American saxophonist, flautist, clarinetist, composer, arranger, educator, and big band bandleader.His performing career was relatively short and, in comparison to other musicians of his...
   
   ) - 5:03
5. "K.D.'s Motion" - 5:29
6. "La Villa" – 5:24
7. "Venita's Dance" - 5:22

RVG edition (CD, 2007)

1. "Afrodisia" – 5:06
2. "Lotus Flower" – 4:17
3. "Minor's Holiday" – 4:27
4. "Basheer's Dream" (Gigi Gryce
   Gigi Gryce
   Gigi Gryce was an American saxophonist, flautist, clarinetist, composer, arranger, educator, and big band bandleader.His performing career was relatively short and, in comparison to other musicians of his...
   
   ) - 5:03
5. "K.D.'s Motion" - 5:29
6. "La Villa" – 5:24
7. "Venita's Dance" - 5:22

Bonus tracks

8. "Echo of Spring" (aka "K.D.'s Cab Ride") – 6:12
   
9. "Minor's Holiday" [Alternate Take] – 4:24
   

Tracks 5-8 recorded on January 30, 1955; tracks 1-4 and 9 on March 29, 1955.

Personnel

• Kenny Dorham
  Kenny Dorham
  McKinley Howard Dorham was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and composer born in Fairfield, Texas. Dorham's talent is frequently lauded by critics and other musicians, but he never received the kind of attention from the jazz establishment that many of his peers did...
  
   – trumpet
• J. J. Johnson – trombone
  Trombone
  The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
  
   (tracks 1-4 and 9)
• Hank Mobley
  Hank Mobley
  Henry Mobley was an American hard bop and soul jazz tenor saxophonist and composer. Mobley was described by Leonard Feather as the "middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone", a metaphor used to describe his tone that was neither as aggressive as John Coltrane nor as mellow as Stan Getz...
  
   – tenor saxophone
• Cecil Payne
  Cecil Payne
  Cecil Payne was a jazz baritone saxophonist born in Brooklyn, NY. Payne also played the alto saxophone and flute...
  
   – baritone saxophone
• Horace Silver
  Horace Silver
  Horace Silver , born Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silva in Norwalk, Connecticut, is an American jazz pianist and composer....
  
   – piano
• Percy Heath
  Percy Heath
  Percy Heath was an American jazz bassist, brother to tenor saxophonist Jimmy Heath and drummer Albert Heath, with whom he formed the Heath Brothers in 1975...
  
   (tracks 6-9), Oscar Pettiford
  Oscar Pettiford
  Oscar Pettiford was an American jazz double bassist, cellist and composer known particularly for his pioneering work in bebop.-Biography:...
  
   (tracks 1-4 and 9) – bass
  Double bass
  The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
  
  
• Art Blakey
  Art Blakey
  Arthur "Art" Blakey , known later as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer and bandleader. He was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community....
  
   – drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  
• Carlos "Patato" Valdes – conga
  Conga
  The conga, or more properly the tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum with African antecedents. It is thought to be derived from the Makuta drums or similar drums associated with Afro-Cubans of Central African descent. A person who plays conga is called a conguero...
  
   (tracks 1-4 and 9)
• Richie Goldberg – cowbell (tracks 1-4 and 9)