Customer Reviews

At the Five Spot V.2

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This cd is the second of three that chronicles Eric Dolphy's legendary concert recorded in 1961 at New york's Five Spot cafe. Dolphy' clarinet and flute lead Mal Waldron on piano, Richard Davis on bass, Eddie Blackwell on drums, and the near forgotten trumpet great Booker Little. If the fact this disc only has two tracks makes you hesitant to buy it, fear not both tracks are deep and reward multiple listenings. Little's "Aggression" opens the disc, and is exceptional because it is one of the few times on record when Dolphy does not outshine the other soloists. Little takes the first solo, and simply burns. His brilliant faculty and fertile imagination are on full display as he manages to wrend sounds and effects rarely hear from a trumpet, all the while keeping his musical acrobatics logical and his tone clear and bright. Dolphy follows with his distinctive bass clarinet. His solos on the seemingly awkward solo instrument are always among his most inventive and interesting. Keeping with this standard Dolphy dives into a burbling squealing exploration of the instrument's lower register. Waldron follows with a solo seemingly sparked by Dolphy and Little. His left hand laying down block chords under his nimble right hand runs. Richard Davis shows off his awesome technique by performing one of the clearest, most flawless, uptempo bass solos I have ever heard. Eddie Blackwell finishes the soloing with an extended rapid fire burst of tight snare rolls and bombed out tom fills. Easily one of the highlights of the entire live set. Dolphy switches to his flute for the second and last of the disc's extended works, the slower and somewhat more convetional standard, "Like Someone In Love". For his solo, Dolphy ranges from puckish to lyrical to more avante garde overblowing and and percussive tone exploration. Little adopts a more melancholy laidback tone and constructs a soulful, lyrical solo. Waldron swings into a laidback blues flavored solo colored by switches in tempo in its second half. Davis has another dexterous, expressive solo he truly is one of the masters of the jazz bass solo. This music is not only important as a document of one of Jazz's greatest live performances, but because both Little and Dolphy would pass away within the next three years, Little three months after this date at 23. I recommend buying vol. 1 first, this cd and the final collection "Memorial Album" last, but the music stands alone and sounds fresh almost fourty years later. Highly recommened music.

This is a great CD. Aggression is 16 minutes long and has great soloing from everyone. Richard Davis' walking bass solo is so fast it's amazing. Like Someone in Love is nearly 20 minutes long and some of the most expressive jazz I've heard. Eric's flute is contrasted beautifully with Booker's trumpet. Only two songs, you say? Yeah, but each song is an improvised symphony in terms of emotional content. Get this CD and feel the music!

I bought this back in 1978, when I was 16, and it still remains one of my favorite disks, even over "Out To Lunch" or "Berlin Concerts". Dolphy's bass clarinet is a revelation-- I can't add much to the other reviewers, they are spot on, but I will say that he can wring some amazing emotions out of the unwieldy beast. He can go from sweetly lyrical to jarringly paranoid in only a few bars.

I am not sure what happened here: years ago you could get this whole show on a set called The Great Concert of Eric Dolphy, and that was on vynal. It is stupid to have this music fragmented over two albums in the CD age.

But the music is anything but stupid. If you listen to these early 1960s gigs, you can hear Dolphy may have had more potential than any of his free jazz cohorts, except for John Coltrane.

What stands out particularly about these tracks is, Dolpy's ability to play "out" but use music around him that is not only reletively straight, but also unique. A lot of tracks here are waltzs, and at times take on a Eastern Euopian flavor: lots of minor tonic. They could be Bulgarian or Polish dance numbers, but played with a jazz swing.

Dolpy's style here is interesting: he is interested in clustering as many swaks and strange rhythm patterns as he can against the backup band. He is not fixed on playing "with" or "against" the chords. He is not detached from the music, but seems to invent slightly above it. Maybe it is becuase his alto tone is lighter and faster moving than a tenor, which so many where than using.

This was, of course, reletively early in the free jazz game: Dolphy was taking on a grander mutation of this style when he did Out to Lunch, his last major work before he died in 1964. Had he hit the crest with his cohorts in 1965-66, with free jazz cresting, it is curious to see what he would have done with a style so based on chords.

We'll never know, and that is tragic, but if we can't find what would have been, here is a fantastic slice of what was.

I can only say wow!! I would encourage you to get this pt2 of a wonderful concert date. please don't be afraid to get this due to the number of tracks. I would have gotten this one for "like someone in love" by itself. what an awesome cd.

This is good but having the selections (without the alternate takes) from the two volumes on one disc would have been better.