Eric Dolphy Time

One of jazz’s best kept secrets, this landmark 1961 release by saxophonist and arranger Oliver Nelson boasts the superstar lineup of Freddie Hubbard, Eric Dolphy, Bill Evans, Roy Haynes and Paul Chambers. The record explores the limitless boundaries of the blues and introduced the world to one of the jazz genre’s most performed standards, “Stolen Moments”.

The Blues and the Abstract Truth is an album by American composer and jazz saxophonist Oliver Nelson recorded in February 1961. It remains Nelson's most acclaimed album and features a lineup of notable musicians: Freddie Hubbard, Eric Dolphy, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers and Roy Haynes. Baritone saxophonist George Barrow does not take solos but remains a key feature in the subtle voicings of Nelson's arrangements.

One of the greatest jazz masterpieces of all time, "Africa/Brass" frames Coltrane’s lyrical improvisation in explosive horn arrangements that include legendary trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and free jazz innovator Eric Dolphy. Pianist McCoy Tyner, drummer Elvin Jones, and bassists Reggie Workman and Art Davis underpin the orchestrations with propulsive energy that makes for one of the most exhilarating listens in jazz history. AFRICA BRASS shows the legendary tenor player at one of his greatest artistic heights and is an absolutely essential addition to any jazz-lover’s library.

The recordings made by John Coltrane and his band at the Village Vanguard over four nights in early November 1961 had to be divided up over two LPs at the time, collectively ranked by All About Jazz at number two on its list of the 10 best live jazz records. For these performances Coltrane expanded his usual lineup to include Eric Dolphy on alto saxophone and bass clarinet, which brought new possibilities to the front line and to the music performed during the four nights. Live At The Village Vanguard has gone on to become one of Coltrane's most successful releases.

Miles Davis had publicly called him a madman. Leonard Bernstein found him, for his part, completely awesome. Few were those that didn’t have a definitive opinion on Ornette Coleman. Some kind of outlaw who preferred playing his own compositions rather than jazz classics, the American saxophonist also developed harmolodics, a theory uniting harmonics and melody. This box of ten discs compiles one of the most important era in the career of his author. Between 1959 and 1961, he released six studio albums for the Atlantic label. Six albums that are present here and spiced up with alternative takes and various bonuses, all of this of course impeccably remastered by John Webber. Albums included: The Shape Of Jazz To Come (1959), Change Of The Century (1959), This Is Our Music (1960), Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation (1960), Ornette! (1961) and Ornette On Tenor (1961), and the compilations The Art Of Improvisers (1970), Twins (1971), To Whom Who Keeps A Record (1975) and The Ornette Coleman Legacy (1993).

The second of trumpeter Freddie Hubbard's two Impulse albums features the 25-year old in three separate settings. He is heard along with a tenor-saxophonist backed by strings ("Skylark," "I Got It Bad" and "Chocolate Shake" are all given beautiful treatments), with a 16-piece band and in a septet with Eric Dolphy and Wayne Shorter. This well-rounded and highly recommended showcase shows why Freddie Hubbard was considered the top trumpeter to emerge during the early '60s.

"Impressions" contains two studio tracks paired with two live songs left over from the same November 1961 recordings that yielded John Coltrane's very successful "Live At The Village Vanguard". There was too much material for one LP so the music had to be divided up, with this second album coming a year after the first.

The Complete 1962 Birdland Broadcasts (2009) is a remarkable collection that captures live performances by the John Coltrane Quintet at New York City's Birdland club in 1962, featuring the legendary Eric Dolphy on alto saxophone, bass clarinet, and flute. This set is significant because it represents a pivotal moment in the evolution of Coltrane's sound during his transition from hard bop toward the avant-garde and modal jazz that would define much of his later work.