Jazz Articles about Bob Dorough

Bob Dorough: Eulalia

by C. Michael Bailey
February 3, 2014

Cherry Hill Township is located in Perry County about 50 miles west of Little Rock. Cherry Hill is also the birthplace of singer Bob Dorough, born December 12, 1923. Dorough left Arkansas soon after, his family moving to Texas, where he would begin his musical education that, 70 years later would bring him to Eulalia, his follow-up to last year's Duets (Self Produced). While Dorough's music smacks of East Coast sophistication, his voice retains the rural grace of his home ...

Bob Dorough: Eulalia

by Dan Bilawsky
January 22, 2014

Hipness springs eternal from the mind, mouth and hands of Bob Dorough. The cool-as-can be Schoolhouse Rock! songsmith who's worked with everybody from trumpeter Miles Davis to precocious singer-songwriter Nellie McKay may have turned ninety in December of 2013, but age hasn't slowed him down too much; his wit is still razor-sharp and he still has a way of charming and disarming with his work. This collection of music, recorded a couple years before the aforementioned milestone ...

Bob Dorough: Duets

by C. Michael Bailey
June 24, 2013

Is vocalist/pianist/composer Bob Dorough the Mose Allison of Cherry Hill, Arkansas or is Mose Allison the Bob Dorough of Tippo, Mississippi? The two are famously linked by geographic origin: the country South, time period: '50s to the present, and vocation: singing, songwriting jazzmen. The two also share timeless voices, full of Southern dry dust and humus. Jason Isbell wrote in “Outfit": ..."don't worry about losing your accent, a southern man tells better jokes." And ...

Bob Dorough & Friends: Through the Years

by Craig M. Cortello
December 6, 2006

There was a sense of familiarity when I listened to the late night jazz radio concert introduced as Three Duos and a Trio circa 1983-84. The voices seemed stunningly familiar. Upon further investigation, I came to realize that those voices had been a part of my life for years, influencing an entire generation. The voices and piano riffs were those of Bob Dorough, Dave Frishberg, and Blossom Dearie, accompanied by Bill Takas on bass. Those voices also ...

Bob Dorough: Small Day Tomorrow

by Chris May
January 15, 2006

At a party to celebrate his 100th birthday, pianist Eubie Blake, a glass of whiskey in one hand, a cigar in the other, is reported to have observed: “If I knew I was going to live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself." Way to go. (Blake died five days later--but he'd made his point.)

At 82, it sounds like Bob Dorough really has taken care of himself. He's lived in the fast lane since the ...

Bob Dorough: Sunday at Iridium

by Jack Bowers
January 20, 2005

If a singer doesn't have a great voice, he (or she) would be well-served by having a keen sense of humor. Singer/songwriter Bob Dorough doesn't have a great voice, but he has a good one, which he uses ingeniously, and as for the sense of humor--well, he once served for two years as music director for boxer Sugar Ray Robinson, and if that's not funny, I don't know what is. (Sugar Ray actually enjoyed a brief career as a singer/entertainer ...

Bob Dorough: Sunday at Iridium

by Mitchell Seidel
December 6, 2004

One of the most pleasant events in recent New York jazz history was the return of singer-pianist Bob Dorough, who performs regularly for the Sunday brunch crowd at Iridium. Mavens and middle-aged cogniscenti know him as one of the great '50s and '60s hipster singer-songwriters, while those of a slightly younger generation know him for ABC-TV's Schoolhouse Rock from the '70s and '80s. His latest Arbors release is a natural: a set of music during two of his ...