Booker Little on "The Prophet": Best trumpet solo ever

micahw · April-19th-2006, 03:04 PM

Yes. I don't post in months, maybe a year, and I come back to make this simple proclimation.

Just pick up Eric Dolphy: Live at the Five Spot Vol. 1 and be amazed.

For the longest time, I skimmed over the Prophet because when I first got the album I was still early in my Jazz education and the somewhat annoying (strongly dissonant) head put me off.

Later I listened to the whole thing and was ultimately taken in by Booker's solo (Eric's is cool too). So beautiful. Melancholy without being sappy or pretentious. Very genuine. One excellent melodic line followed by another!!!!

Gerardo A · April-19th-2006, 03:14 PM

I'd rate it in a good position after Bix's (cornet) solo on "Singing the blues".

chuckyd4 · April-19th-2006, 03:38 PM

Welcome back Micah! Any posts reminding people about how great Booker Little was are certainly welcome.

micahw · April-19th-2006, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chuckyd4

Welcome back Micah! Any posts reminding people about how great Booker Little was are certainly welcome.

Thanks. Booker was remarkable. The impact of that solo is even greater when you realize he died just a short time after that gig.

Not just on five spot, but like all his solos had this great sense of cohesion. I mean, you could look at the solo as a whole and then see every individual line sort of "fit" into one theme he was trying to convey (I guess this is true of all great solos!). A good example is "Victory and Sorrow" from Booker Lilttle & Friend . A nice hard swinging solo with a recurring little motif that occurs near the end of a lot of phrases. If you listen to it you'll know what I am talking about.

He was doing that advanced playing at like 22 or 23. Amazing.

JamesH · April-19th-2006, 04:28 PM

Booker is my favorite trumpet player bar none. And the 5 Spot recordings are some of the best live performances I've heard.

I too had a problem early on with Dolphy recordings in general. Now he's a favorite too.

Pete C · April-19th-2006, 04:40 PM

I think of Booker's sound as having an Andalucian tinge, like a great flamenco singer.

matt lavelle · April-19th-2006, 11:02 PM

booker little was so,so bad.what a sound.
booker was a fantastic trumpet player who went for it every time.
a major influence on me.the album with booker ervin is my favorite.

that,..and his shake it down on agression.

Ron Thorne · April-20th-2006, 01:30 AM

Welcome back, micahw.

Provocative and worthwhile thread.

HLJ · April-20th-2006, 10:31 AM

Whats up YoungPlayer?Booker is THE TRUTH.Got that disc and what you said is the word.Peace and all that.

micahw · April-20th-2006, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by matt lavelle

b
that,..and his shake it down on agression.

Oh yeah..don't get me started on that one. How about that "banshee wail" he does in the high register about 2:30 in the tune!

Ed Blackwell is the man on that track too.

What's up HL!!! I think I'm gonna hang around the corner a bit more these days. Got a lot to catch up on.

Cymbal groove · April-20th-2006, 09:25 PM

Booker was truly swingin, always played with great imagination. I also loved his recording on Time records with Roy Haynes when he played the tune Opening Statement.

matt lavelle · April-20th-2006, 10:24 PM

when booker was so bad,..so young....i wonder what he would have had he stayed on.what IF he joined trane as he was asked?

the same question i put to fats,clifford,lee,woody,and more.

i want to hear how all those guys would respond to ornette,..late trane.

can anyone imagine brownie,...as free as he was,..really engaging freedom?!

these are questions im trying to answer for myself.

PaintedPostDave · April-22nd-2006, 07:02 PM

I don't have Eric Dolphy: Live at the Five Spot Vol. 1 and I can't find it on Amazon and the other usual spots. There are similar looking CDs such as "Memorial Album: Recorded Live At The Five Spot" and "Live! at the Five Spot, Vol. 2" that are available. Do you have them and how do they compare with vol. 1?

Felix · April-22nd-2006, 08:11 PM

Dave, you'll find all three at Amazon (type "Dolphy Five Spot"). The Five Spot recordings were divided into three discs, Vol. 1, Vol. 2 and Memorial Album. They really go together (actually, I think if Fantasy put its mind to it, they could do a great double-CD with those sessions).

mke · April-23rd-2006, 02:39 PM

Greatest trumpet solo of all time? I don't even find it to be the best on this track. In particular, I love the early example of Mal Waldron building a solo by manipulating layers rather than spinning lines and how his low-key exploratory-ness contrasts with Dolphy's high-key exploratory-ness. As for Pete C, surely nearly any solo off "Out Front" is better? Of course, they're not as heat-of-the-moment, but more interesting. Speaking of "Out Front":

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete C

I think of Booker's sound as having an Andalucian tinge, like a great flamenco singer.

His playing on "Man of Words" kind of has that feeling, I think, although I don't know if it's so much the sound itself as how the trumpet emerges from the loneliness of the slow bass figure.

PaintedPostDave · April-23rd-2006, 06:55 PM

Thanks, Felix. Strangely, before when I searched on "Eric Dolphy live at the five spot, vol.1" it didn't work.

Pete C · April-23rd-2006, 10:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mke

As for Pete C, surely nearly any solo off "Out Front" is better? Of course, they're not as heat-of-the-moment, but more interesting. Speaking of "Out Front":

His playing on "Man of Words" kind of has that feeling, I think, although I don't know if it's so much the sound itself as how the trumpet emerges from the loneliness of the slow bass figure.

My comment about the Andalucian (or perhaps Sephardic) quality in Little's playing was a general one, and probably more appropriate to both Out Front and Victory & Sorrow (which is almost as good)--that melancholy/yearning quality is evident in many of his compositions as well as his trumpet sound.