condition (records/cover): NM / EX+

Gatefold sleeve. Obi included.

July 16, 1961, one night at the Five Spot: Eric Dolphy and Booker Little co-leading the band of dreams - Mal Waldron, Richard Davis, Ed Blackwell - in the residency that has become one of the sacred dates of recorded jazz, spoken of the way theatre people speak of legendary opening nights. Little, gone within months at twenty-three, plays with a lyric fire that still stops the room: the wide singing intervals, the grief and grace already inseparable; Dolphy answers with everything in his three-instrument arsenal; Waldron's dark circling chords and Blackwell's New Orleans dance hold the ground under both of them. This Japanese Prestige 2LP gathers the night's documentation in one package, properly sequenced, beautifully pressed.

If live jazz has a short list of miracles - nights when the tape ran and everything aligned - the Five Spot session is on it, permanently. Non-negotiable for any serious collection, and a joy every single time.