Echo Of Spring – Kenny Dorham

This medium swinger has a classic early hard bop sound, with plenty of Dorham trademarks. In keeping with this album's concept and title, the bridge on the head has a Latin groove. The A section melody manages to be largely diatonic despite a bit of harmonic trickery underneath. The changes begin quite similarly to Woody'n You with descending minor II-V7s starting on G, and though this resolves to D♭ as in that song, this one is not so direct. In the fifth and sixth measures, a minor II-V7 that would go to B♭ instead resolves to Gm7♭5, a particularly Monkish technique. The first ending has three II-V7s that lead by tritone substitution and chromatic approach back to Gm7♭5.

Also like Woody'n You (another song that frequently has a Latin groove on the bridge), the bridge of Echo Of Spring modulates to G♭—but then to E as the lyrical melody descends. The end of the head brings another surprise, with the final melody note, the tonic D♭, as the third of an Amaj7 chord. This chord is not used in the solos, but on the out head it is replaced by D♭m7—after the major key quality of the song this is essentially a "reverse Picardy 3rd."

There is a rhythmic intro with two drum fills leading into the head. Our Concert Condensed Score shows a counter melody on the bridge, played in this recording by the tenor and baritone. The latter also has a brief contrapuntal figure on the fourth measure of the A section.

"Afro-Cuban" was recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's legendary Hackensack Studio.

This song was not issued on the original LP of "Afro Cuban." When it was released on CD as a bonus track, it was given the title K.D.'s Cab Ride; later producer Michael Cuscuna discovered the original, correct title from Blue Note owner Alfred Lion's session notes.

The rhythm section on this session first recorded together on a 1952 Lou Donaldson session which was also trumpeter Blue Mitchell's first truly jazz recording—though Mitchell had recorded alongside John Coltrane on some Earl Bostic R&B sessions earlier that year! Silver, Heath and Blakey also recorded as a trio in 1953 and with Miles Davis in '54; they reunited in January 1957 for some of Milt Jackson's album "Plenty, Plenty Soul," which, like "Afro Cuban," had Oscar Pettiford on bass on some of the other tracks.