Una Mas

Updated on Nov 26, 2024

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Released Early January 1964 Artist Kenny Dorham Producer Alfred Lion Genre Jazz		Length 36:44 Release date 1963 Label Blue Note Records

Recorded April 1, 1963Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs Una Mas(1963) Trompeta Toccata(1964) Similar Afro‑Cuban, Trompeta Toccata, 'Round About Midnight, Kenny Dorham Quintet, Quiet Kenny

Una Mas, on the front cover titled Una Mas (One More Time), is a jazz album by trumpeter Kenny Dorham and his quintet, released in 1963 on Blue Note as BLP 4127 and BST 84127. The album would be the next-to-last studio session led by the trumpeter, since after 1964, he began to fade and disappear from the jazz scenes. Una Mas features three compositions by Dorham himself and the jazz ballad "If Ever I Would Leave You", originally composed by Loewe/Lerner for the musical Camelot.

At the time, Dorham was not yet well known in the jazz scene, and the musician felt this lacking of acknowledgement. Replying to Hentoff, he said:

The pieces

"Una Mas" is a 16-bar tune pertaining to bossa nova genre. Dorham felt positive about it: "The groove was very good. [...] You can switch to almost any kind of feeling when you're improvising on this; from bossa nova to blues." Dorham recorded "Una Mas" firstly in San Francisco, in 1961, and was published with the title "US" on Inta Somethin'. "At the time, the tune had a shuffle beat and a written introduction that is omitted here". "Sao Paolo" is dedicated to the Brazilian city, where Dorham had been in 1960, during a tour. According to Dorham himself, the piece has "a half bossa feeling and the other half is something else". " The last piece "If Ever I Would Leave You", as above-mentioned, is a composition by Loewe/Lerner. This piece was not part of the original LP release, and was issued only in 1987. According to Bob Blumenthal's notes, it was "probably omitted because it presented a different feeling from the rest of the material".