Memorial Album

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ALBUM INFORMATION
EDITOR'S PICK // LIVE

Total Tracks: 2   Total Length: 31:10

eMusic Review

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John Morthland

eMusic Contributor

John Morthland has been writing about music since the days of electronically rechanneled stereo and duophonic sound. His name has darkened the mastheads of Roll...more »

04.22.11
A legend and a lesser light, bringing out the best in each other.
2001 | Label: Fantasy / Prestige

So what if Little is the unjustly forgotten Memphis trumpeter's real surname? He still counts here — boy, does he still count. This is the last of three live albums drawn from the Dolphy quintet's legendary two-week stand at the Five Spot in Greenwich Village in 1961; the music is firmly rooted in bop but just as clearly straining to break free. Little's solo work combines luminous lyricism with smears of dissonance on his own "Booker's Waltz." Playing off a slightly more frenzied Dolphy, he never seems to run out of ideas; the two men also blow rich harmonies together. Though still under the sway of Clifford Brown, Booker is getting comfortable here with his own sound; surely the history of jazz trumpet would be audibly different if the 23-year-old prodigy hadn't died of uremia less than three months later.

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Correction...

Doofy

...to staywhereyouare's great review. Looks like these 2 tracks are also on Five Spot vol 2. So all you need are Five Spot vols 1 and 2 plus the two tracks from Here and There to get the 10 tracks. Hope someone will correct me if that's wrong.

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You can never own enough Booker Little.

staywhereyouare

Hands down, this is one of the greatest line-ups of all time. The Five Spot set is actually spread out over four albums: "At The Five Spot Volumes 1 & 2"; "Memorial Album"; and two tracks which appear on "Here and There." If you are interested in hearing the concert in chronological order--or at least in the sequence as recorded by Prestige--here is the set list (according to Vladimir Simosko and Barry Tepperman's discography): 1) Status Seeking, 2) God Bless the Child (solo!), 3) Aggression, 4) Like Someone in Love, 5) Fire Waltz, 6) Bee Vamp, 7) The Prophet, 8) Number Eight (Potsa Lotsa), 9) Booker's Waltz, 10) Bee Vamp (alternate take). Ten downloads is all it takes hear this historic evening in its entirety. Plus, it's well worth your while to acquire more performances by Booker Little--pure genius!

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They Say All Media Guide

Despite its generic name, this is really the third volume of music that dates from one night in the short-lived and legendary Eric Dolphy Quintet with Booker Little. Recorded live at the Five Spot with pianist Mal Waldron, bassist Richard Davis, and drummer Ed Blackwell, this CD reissue consists of two fairly lengthy renditions of Eric Dolphy compositions: “Number Eight” and “Booker’s Waltz.” Since there is only around a half-hour of music on the set, it is unfortunate that the advanced performances (which are also available as part of Eric Dolphy’s nine-CD box set) were not combined with one of the two previous volumes. – Scott Yanow