Being an M-provisational quilt maker and loving jazz music tends to go hand in hand;as well as go a long way in motivating me since the subject of "jazz" has deep roots in our family traditions .Have you ever discovered a family secret that was so wonderful that you had to pinch yourself over and over to make sure that you were indeed not dreaming? Well that has happened to me. How many quilters can have the blessing of being raised in a family that features six generations of quilters that create jazzy M-provisational quilts and then turn around and discover that those quilts have a true-to-life jazzy counterpart in the midst of their historical setting.I truly don't know how many and... I'm sure that there are some out there somewhere....but I guess the Texan in me just wants to brag and shout from the roof tops about a member in our family (the Edward "Ned" Titus family lineage that is...) who was quite a notable Jazz musician. He wasn't the greatest...mind you...but he played side by side with the big guys of high calibre Jazz Musicians. And as far as our family lineage is concerned, that makes him one of the great ones.... in our eyes at least. Who in the world am I going on and on about.....Well its no other than our "CUZ" McKinley Howard Dorham, or as the world of Jazz knows him, "Kenny Dorham."

Kenny and Eva Lois

Kenny came from a musically inclined family and he specialized in Jazz music.His sister, Eva Lois Dorham-McILveen was am English teacher at Dogan High School, right here in Freestone county,Texas, who played a mean piano, created and directed the Black School's Choir; which choir won many UIL competitions.This choir amounted to the only semblance of a musical department back in the 1950's and 1960's at our all black school. It was Mrs. McILveen's effort to try and expose the Black students to something culturally significant. She was in high demand by both Blacks and Whites locally, to feature her choir at their special events.Eva Lois was also in high demand at local weddings.

She was older than her brother, Kenny, so one can't help but think that she, being the perfectionist teacher she was known to be....probably had a great influence in encouraging her brother to pursue a musical career.

That being said...Kenny during his short life span was a Jazz Trumpter, a singer and a composer. I have included in this post information from Wikipedia that explains his full musical career. ENJOY!!!

I am so elated to be able to share with you our family's notable, real life Jazz Musician:

Kenny Dorham

Kenny Dorham
Kenny Dorham at the Metropole Hotel in Toronto, 1954.
Background information
Birth name	McKinley Howard Dorham
Born	August 30, 1924, Fairfield, Texas
Died	December 5, 1972 (aged 48), New York
Genres	Bebop Mainstream jazz Hard bop
Occupations	Bandleader, Composer
Instruments	Trumpet
Associated acts	Kenny Dorham Quartet Kenny Dorham Quintet

McKinley Howard (Kenny) Dorham (August 30, 1924 – December 5, 1972) was anAmerican 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. For this reason, his name has become (in the words of writer Gary Giddins) "virtually synonymous withunderrated." He also composed the jazz standard "Blue Bossa," which first appeared onJoe Henderson's album Page One.

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[edit]Biography

Dorham was one of the most active bebop trumpeters. He played in the big bands of Billy Eckstine, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton and Mercer Ellington and the quintet of Charlie Parker. He was a charter member of the original cooperative Jazz Messengers. He also recorded as a sideman with Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins, and he replaced Clifford Brown in the Max Roach Quintet after Brown's death in 1956. In addition to sideman work, he led his own groups, including the Jazz Prophets (formed shortly after Art Blakeytook over the Jazz Messengers name). The Jazz Prophets, featuring a young Bobby Timmons on piano, bassist Sam Jones and tenorman J. R. Monterose with guest Kenny Burrell on guitar, recorded a live album 'Round About Midnight at the Cafe Bohemia in 1956 for Blue Note.

In 1963 Dorham added the 26-year-old tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson to his group, which later recorded Una Mas (the group also featured a young Tony Williams). The friendship between the two musicians led to a number of other albums, such as Henderson's Page One, Our Thing and In 'n Out. Dorham recorded frequently throughout the sixties for Blue Note and Prestige Records, as leader and as sideman for Henderson, Jackie McLean, Cedar Walton, Andrew Hill, Milt Jackson and others.

Dorham's quintet originally consisted of some very well known jazz musicians, being Tommy Flanagan (piano), Paul Chambers (double-bass) and Art Taylor (drums). Their recording debut was Quiet Kenny for the New Jazz label, an album which featured mostly ballads. An earlier quartet featuring Dorham as co-leader with alto saxophone player Ernie Henry had released an album together under the name "Kenny Dorham/Ernie Henry Quartet". They produced the album 2 Horns / 2 Rhythm for Riverside Records in 1957 with double-bassist Eddie Mathias and drummer G.T. Hogan. Today the album is being released under the name "Kenny Dorham Quartet", though this is due to marketing and is not technically correct.^[1]

During his final years Dorham suffered from kidney disease, from which he died on December 5, 1972, aged just 48.