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40 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
5 Stars for Dolphy, 2 for Prestige Records, 1 for Ron Carter, April 14, 2000
This review is from: Complete Prestige Recordings (Audio CD)
The only thing that this 9-disk box set suffers from is the fact that it was all handled by Prestige Records. Prestige has long been known to be the sloppiest and most unorganized of all the major jazz labels, disk 9 of this box set is no exception. What the booklet says is on disk 9 is not on there in the order they say it is, and the track timings are wrong as well. Mind you, Prestige are also the people who set up the AT THE 5 SPOT session. They set it up so that Dolphy can play the 5 SPOT, they know they are sending a crew to record the band "Live", and yet they never think to ask "hey, did anyone tune the house piano?". The answer: No, no one did. Mal Waldron still plays wonderfully though and the out-of-tune piano is overcome to some extent. Aside from Prestige's usual moronic blunders, this is a great box. Eric Dolphy on flute, bass clarinet, alto sax, etc... Mal Waldron, Booker Ervin, Freddie Hubbard, Ed Blackwell, Oliver Nelson, etc... Although the inclusion of Ron Carter on cello takes away from THE QUEST and the WHERE? sections of this box set. He's a master bassist, but he is not a cellist. His clunky cello solo's hurt the music, thankfully it's only on a small minority of the tracks. Disk 1 has my all-time favorite version of ON GREEN DOLPHIN STREET. It sounds very different since Eric chooses to play it on the bass clarinet. I love that whole disk actually. The whole SCREAMIN' THE BLUES stuff is great! Oliver Nelson's playing just oozes soulfulness. Booker Little proves on this box that his death was a tragedy for jazz. I wish I could buy many more cd's with him as the trumpet player. With 9 disks of music I could go on and on, but this review would get out of hand. I am a big fan of the music on this cd, but at times the way the actual packaging of this music was handled leaves something to be desired.
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's All Worth Getting, So Get It All, July 27, 2005
This review is from: Complete Prestige Recordings (Audio CD)
With nine full-to-the-brim discs (the shortest is over seventy-two minutes long) containing every note reedsman Eric Dolphy committed to tape as leader or sideman during his 1960-61 stint at Prestige Records, this is a generous boxed set indeed, and a truly worthy tribute to one of jazz's most sadly underappreciated talents. It's also a fine introduction to Dolphy's music for anyone willing to part with the hefty price, as the Prestige sessions include both Dolphy's most accessible, "mainstream" work and some of his lengthiest and most adventurous live explorations. The varied list of players, both sidemen and the numerous session leaders with whom Dolphy played during this period, also adds considerably to the appeal of this comprehensive collection.
Starting off with alto saxophonist/bass clarinetist/flautist Dolphy's debut leader album, OUTWARD BOUND, presented - as are all of the studio sessions here - in LP order, THE COMPLETE PRESTIGE RECORDINGS offers immediate and abundant proof of Dolphy's talents, and should leave no one wondering why even as a sideman he thoroughly dominated nearly every date he played on. His twisting, inside-out saxophone voicings, so utterly incomparable to the sound of any other alto player (even Charlie Parker), alternate beautifully with the resonant, vaguely haunting hum of his bass clarinet work - it is noteworthy that more than four decades after Dolphy's death he remains the only jazzman significantly associated with that bizarre instrument - and the breathtaking beauty of his symphony orchestra-worthy efforts on flute. While Dolphy's own albums, including OUT THERE, FAR CRY, IN EUROPE and the rightly legendary LIVE AT THE FIVE SPOT with trumpeter Booker Little, pianist Mal Waldron, bassist Richard Davis and drummer Eddie Blackwell, in addition to the seminal OUTWARD BOUND, contain the most adventurous music in this box, supporting performances behind Oliver Nelson, Ken McIntyre, The Latin Jazz Quintet, Ron Carter and Waldron also offer many fine opportunities for Dolphy to display his unique gifts and literally irrepressible musical personality in slightly more traditional contexts. Nelson's STRAIGHT AHEAD is a particularly good date for both men; and the inclusion of several Dolphy-less numbers on Carter's WHERE?, not to mention an entire album (TRANE WHISTLE by Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis) on which Dolphy plays no solos, provides a bit of variety in the tone and timbre of the proceedings as well as a chance to hear what else was going on at Prestige at the time. The result is both an overdue celebration of one great musician's abilities and a broad look at the New York jazz scene of the early sixties, with many famous names - Roy Haynes, Freddie Hubbard, Sam Jones, Jaki Byard and Art Taylor, just to name a few more - joining Dolphy for some of that era's most important and influential moments. I should also mention the excellent remastering, which (perhaps because it was done some ten years ago) manages to be crisp and clear without sacrificing the warmth of vinyl for the shrill artificiality of many latterday sonic touch-ups; and the packaging - stylish and solid outside with plenty of information and illustration inside. On any and all levels, this is one of jazz's must-have anthologies, and anyone with an interest in the period and/or the musicians represented herein is advised to take the plunge. Viva Dolphy!
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
9 discs of the amazing Dolphy is still not enough...., April 25, 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Complete Prestige Recordings (Audio CD)
I really can't argue with the previous reviewer's complaints about the packaging. My main beef is that the original albums are not on single discs, they almost always spill over onto 2 different discs. There are many other minor complaints, but none of these could ever detract from this music... Dolphy never ceases to amaze, each track on each of the 9 disc he is simply incredible. He was a true original, I've never heard anyone sound anything like him before or since. In all the various settings, he stands head and shoulders above all the other participating musicians. And that is certainly saying something, considering such great sidemen as Freddie Hubbard, Jaki Byard, Roy Haynes, Oliver Nelson, Booker Ervin, and the amazing trumpeter Booker Little who died tragically at the age of 23. The music from this box set will satisfy pretty much any jazz fan, conservative or adventurous. Some of the tunes are very straightahead but Dolphy and the others always make it interesting and reach outside of the traditional boundaries. The most forward-thinking moments come from the live sets at the Five Spot with Booker Little (disc 7 and part of 6 & 8), these sets make for some of the greatest live jazz ever recorded. I don't want to go on and on, but in general, the music from this box set is just great, (and it sounds great too). If you plan on collecting most of these discs separately anyway, it is definitely worth picking up this set, with some nice photos inside and lots of information about the recording sessions. Eric Dolphy and the music he created during his too-brief career truly stand apart from the crowd. Who cares about poor packaging, this music is too good to let stuff like that bother you...
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