Despite Gerry Mulligan's success with it, the pianoless, guitarless jazz combo has remained a rare entity. The reason is clear; few musicians are comfortable with the idea of being without the explicit harmonic support of chords, of having no place to hide. Kenny Dorham, being one of the most harmonically enriched of jazzmen, had no such worry when he made this album in 1957. Nor did his companion, the brilliant young alto saxophonist Ernie Henry, who died not long after this session. Each hornman, in fact, inspired the other, with the result that 2 Horns/2 Rhythm has some of their best recorded solos, which stand out in bold relief because of the simplicity of the setting. Dorham went on to many more years of productive work, but this remains one of his finest albums.

with Ernie Henry, Eddie Mathias, Wilbur Ware, G.T. Hogan