Booker Little

Louis Smith was a talented, but underrecorded, straight-ahead bop trumpeter who led two dates in the '50s before retiring to teach at the University of Michigan and the nearby Ann Arbor Public School system. For most of his career, he remained a teacher, making a brief comeback in the late '70s before returning to education. It wasn't until the mid-'90s that he began a recording career in earnest, turning out a series of albums for the Steeplechase label. A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Louis Smith began playing trumpet as a teenager. He graduated high school with a scholarship to Tennessee State University, where he studied music and became a member of the Tennessee State Collegians. Folllowing his college graduation, Smith did a little graduate work at Tennessee before transferring to the University of Michigan, where he studied with professor Clifford Lillya.

At The Five Spot Vol. 1 (1961). 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…

Frank Strozier - The Fantastic Frank Strozier (1997) {Vee Jay VJ-012 rec 1959-1960}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 453 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 173 Mb
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© 1959-60, 1997 Vee Jay / Blue Moon | VJ-012
Jazz / Hard Bop / Saxophone

Altoist Frank Strozier's first session as a leader has been reissued on this Vee Jay CD with the original six selections joined by five additional and previously unreleased performances, only one of which is actually an alternate take. The altoist's quintet consists of Miles Davis' rhythm section of the time (pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Jimmy Cobb), along with the late, great trumpeter Booker Little. The music, mostly comprised of Strozier originals, is advanced hard bop, and the music is both enjoyable and (due to Little's presence) somewhat historic.

Eric Dolphy - At The Five Spot, Vol. 2 (1961) {Prestige VDJ 1525, Japan Early Press}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 256 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 100 Mb
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© 1961, 1985 Prestige / Victor Japan | VDJ 1525
Jazz / Hard Bop / Flute / Bass Clarinet

The historic Eric Dolphy/Booker Little quintet that helped to change the face of mainstream modern jazz has a second volume of their legendary live performances at the Five Spot Cafe issued, including two previously unreleased bonus tracks from the original LP. This release is further proof why this ensemble was an important stylistic bridge between the Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane quartets. The incredibly visceral, extroverted sound Dolphy extracts from his alto sax, flute, and especially bass clarinet is something to behold, while the rest of the group follows suit in supporting the wayward notions of their leader while not standing in perhaps the shock and awe of him, as were the patrons in attendance must have been that night.