ERIC DOLPHY – The Great Concert Of Eric Dolphy, 1961 (P-34002 / 3LP-1974)

Label: Prestige ‎– P-34002

Format: 3 × Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Remastered

This Box Set includes an insert, triple gatefold / Country: US / Released: 1974

Style: Free Jazz, Modal, Free Improvisation

Recorded live at the Five Spot Cafe, New York City, 16 July 1961.

Art Direction, Photography By [Cover Photo] – Tony Lane

Engineer [Original Recording Engineer] – Rudy Van Gelder

Remastered At – Fantasy Studios / By – Brian Gardner

Liner Notes – Joe Goldberg, Ira Gitler, Robert Levin

Supervised By [Original Recording] – Esmond Edwards

Sides 1 / 2 originally released as "Live At the Five Spot Volume 1" (P/NJ-8260)

Sides 3 / 4 originally released as "Live At the Five Spot Volume 2" (P/NJ-8288)

Sides 5 / 6 originally released as "The Eric Dolphy Memorial Album" (P-7334)

Matrix / Runout (Label Side A): P-34002-A

Matrix / Runout (Label Side B): P-34002-B

Matrix / Runout (Label Side C): P-34002-C

Matrix / Runout (Label Side D): P-34002-D

Matrix / Runout (Label Side E): P-34002-E

Matrix / Runout  (Label Side F): P-34002-F

Disributed by Fantasy Records, Tenth and Parker, Berkeley, Ca. 94710

side 1:

    A1 - Fire Waltz  (M. Waldron) ............................................................................. 13:10

    A2 - Bee Vamp  (B. Little) ................................................................................... 12:11

side 2:

     B  -  The Prophet  (E. Dolphy ............................................................................ 21:06

side 3:

     C  -  Aggression  (B. Little) ................................................................................ 16:35

side 4:

     D  -  Like Someone In Love  (J. Van Heusen-J. Burke) .................................... 19:29

side 5:

     E  -  Number Eight / Lotsa Potsa  (E. Dolphy) ................................................... 15:25

side 6:

     F  -  Booker's Waltz  (E.Dolphy) ........................................................................ 14:30

Personnel:

Eric Dolphy – alto saxophone, flute, bass clarinet

Booker Little – trumpet

Mal Waldron – piano

Richard Davis – bass

Eddie Blackwell – drums, percussion

ERIC DOLPHY / The Great Concert Of Eric Dolphy (1974. US, 7-tracks, triple LP box set with insert, repackaging the albums 'Live At The Five Spot' & the 'Eric Dolphy Memorial Album', all recorded live on July 16th 1961 in New York, engineer – Rudy Van Gelder.

© 1974 Prestige Records / Printed in U.S.A.

After having left the ensemble of Charles Mingus and upon working with John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy formed a short-lived but potent quintet with trumpeter Booker Little, who would pass away three months after this recording. Despite all of the obstacles and subsequent tragedy, this quintet became legendary over the years -- justifiably so -- and developed into a role model for all progressive jazz combos to come. The combined power of Dolphy and Little -- exploring overt but in retrospect not excessive dissonance and atonality -- made them a target for critics but admired among the burgeoning progressive post-bop scene. With the always stunning shadings of pianist Mal Waldron, the classical-cum-daring bass playing of Richard Davis, and the colorful drumming of alchemistic Ed Blackwell, there was no stopping this group. Live at the legendary Five Spot Café in New York City, this band set the Apple, and the entire jazz world on their collective ears. "Fire Waltz" demonstrates perfectly how the bonfire burns from inside the soul of these five brilliant provocateurs, as Dolphy's sour alto and Little's dour trumpet signify their new thing. Dolphy's solo is positively furious, while Blackwell nimbly switches up sounds within the steady 3/4 beat. "Bee Vamp" does not buzz so much as it roars in hard bop trim. A heavy tandem line breaks and separates in the horn parts like booster rockets. Blackwell is even more amazing, and Dolphy's ribald bass clarinet set standards that still influences players of the instrument. Where "The Prophet" is a puckery blues, it is also open armed with minor phrasings and stretched harmonics. This is where Waldron and Davis shine in their terra cotta facades of roughly hewn accompaniments to Dolphy and Little's bold flavored statements.

A Group also shows a compositional thrust in very dissonant thematic material really stretching out during long versions of Little's "Aggression" and the standard "Like Someone in Love." Dolphy's playing -- whether on alto, bass clarinet, or flute -- always defied categorization, while Little was the first new voice on the trumpet to emerge after Clifford Brown's death in 1956.

The vast majority welcomes this incredible concert, as music that changed the jazz world as much as Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane's innovative excursions of the same era. All forward thinking and challenged listeners need to own these epic club dates.

(Review by Michael G. Nastos)

I love to pull this one out when I’ve got the house to myself and a few hours with nothing much to do, and that’s today. It was originally released as three separate albums (Live at the Five Spot Vol. 1 and 2, and Eric Dolphy Memorial Album), and then Prestige put out this version in the 70s. It unfortunately leaves out a wonderful version of “God Bless The Child” that was also played at this show, which is available elsewhere. Regardless, if you stumble across this 3LPs, it is well worth picking up – it’s a remarkable piece of jazz history and tremendously enjoyable. An excellent set that records what may have been Dolphy's finest group ever, as well as one of that era's best working bands.

E n j o y !!!

If you find it, buy this album!