Analogue Productions - CPRJ 8260 SA - SACD Hybrid Stereo

Mastered By Kevin Gray  - Hybrid SACD Plays On Normal CD Players

Mastering engineer Kevin Gray does wonders with this venerable tape. Distortion is generally low and the clarity of the transfer brings the performances into sharp focus. Rudy Van Gelder had the unenviable task of balancing Eric Dolphy, who Mingus once described as possessing the loudest projection of any saxophonist since Coleman Hawkins, against Mal Waldron's subtle, restrained playing on the Five Spot's out-of-tune piano, Richard Davis' bass, which had a lean timbre with relatively little deep resonance, Booker Little's trumpet and Ed Blackwell's close-miked drums. An enthusiastically appreciative audience adds immediacy to the recording. Sound 5/5 Music 5/5 HRAudio

 

When Rudy Van Gelder took his portable equipment down to the fabled Five Spot Cafe in New York City on July 16, 1961, he had no idea he was about to document music history in the making. Capturing the short-lived but extraordinary quintet of Eric Dolphy, Booker Little, Mal Waldron, Richard Davis and Ed Blackwell during a one-time, two-week engagement, the live material he was fortunate enough to collect that legendary evening produced enough material for not one, not two, but three albums. 

 

Volume 1 finds the group provocatively interpreting the three originals "Fire Waltz" (Waldon), "Bee Vamp" (Little) and "The Prophet" (Dolphy), with both Dolphy and Little turning in bold and innovative performances throughout. Considering the fact Little passed only a few months removed from the date and Dolphy just three years later, makes its significance and strength of the material captured that much more rare and that much more special!

 

Eric Dolphy, Booker Little, Mal Waldron, Richard Davis and Ed Blackwell had formed a cooperative group and, if Little had not died in October 1961, there is no doubt that it would have been a potent force in the music of the Sixties and beyond. Dolphy himself died in June 1964 after establishing himself as one of the important contemporary reedmen. Here his alto saxophone and bass clarinet and Little's trumpet explore three originals: "The Prophet" by Dolphy, "Bee Vamp" by Little, and "Fire Waltz" by Waldron. It's time caught in a bottle — music for the ages.

 

Part of the ultimate audiophile Prestige stereo reissue series from Analogue Productions featuring 25 of the most collectible, rarest, most audiophile-sounding Rudy Van Gelder recordings ever made! 

 

All titles will be mastered from the original analog master tapes by Kevin Gray.

 

- Mastered from the original analog master tapes by Kevin Gray

 

Eric Dolphy Eric Dolphy At The Five Spot 

 

Musicians:
Eric Dolphy
Booker Little
Mal Waldron
Richard Davis
Eddie Blackwell

 

1. Fire Waltz

2. Bee Vamp 

3. The Prophet