Home > Austin Music Source > Archives > 2007 > September > 02 > Entry
Dorham’s “Epitaph”
After this article ran Aug. 27, I received an e-mail from UT Jazz Ensemble founder Dick Goodwin, who said he received a phone call from Kenny Dorham in early 1972. The tumpet great, who co-founded the Jazz Messengers in 1954, told Goodwin he was planning to move back to his hometown of Austin and he asked if he could play in the Jazz Ensemble. Dorham said that he knew he shouldn’t compete in college jazz competitions but thought he might have something to offer! “Indeed, it would have been a great experience for our students and for the community to have had him involved in the program,” Goodwin wrote. Unfortunately, kidney disease took Dorham a few months later and he was unable to return.
But Dorham lived on in the Ensemble in one of his most beautiful compositions, “Epitaph,” which was played at a number of times in concerts and at festivals.
Follow Austin Music Source on Facebook and Twitter.
Permalink | |
