As a new addition to the University of Mississippi Press’s American Made Music Series, John Melendez '23 (CC '18) and has co-written the first biography of American trumpeter and composer, Kenny Dorham. The biography, co-written with Robert Pallito, traces Dorham's life from rural Texas to New York where he became instrumental in modern jazz.
Using interviews, archives, and family history research, the biography also dives into Dorham's time at Wiley College, stint in the army, and performances with other jazz musicians like Charlie Parker and Joe Henderson. Additionally, the book discusses his monumental role as a mentor to younger jazz musicians as well as his help in laying foundations for formal jazz education.
According to University of Mississippi Press, "Whistle Stop offers a vivid portrait not only of a jazz innovator, but of a Texas family whose story stretches across emancipation, migration, segregation, and cultural transformation. More than fifty years after his passing, Kenny Dorham’s music and legacy continue to inspire—his whistle stop in jazz history still echoing."
Aidan Levy, author of Saxophone Colossus: The Life and Music of Sonny Rollins, said "Kenny Dorham is one of the most influential yet underappreciated jazz artists, and this book explains why. The man they called 'Quiet Kenny' exerted an influence that was anything but quiet—a virtuoso who could scale the heights of technical mastery on the trumpet without breaking a sweat, who could evoke a texture and a mood without sacrificing harmonic development, a prime mover in the shaping of hard bop, modal, and Latin vocabularies who epitomizes the aesthetic of the cool. He was an original Jazz Messenger and Jazz Prophet in more ways than one, and in this much-needed, revealing biography, Pallitto and Melendez have shown us that the liberating message of his peripatetic life was just as prophetic as his music."
Melendez is a writer and musician based in Brooklyn. His work has appeared in Full Stop Magazine, On the Run, and Bluegrass Unlimited.
