1961 Booker Little “Booker Little And Friend” on Bethlehem Records

One of my favorite all-time covers and fits the music like a glove. Little was insanely talented, a wheeler and dealer of both bop and complex harmonies, and something of a compositional genius. Which makes it all the crazier and more melancholy that he died at 23, in fact just months after this was released. For the briefest of moments, he was the standard bearer for the also tragically lost Clifford Brown, and then was gone as well. There is so little recorded evidence of Booker Little’s lovely phrasing, either as a Roach sideman or leader, so these handful of titles are beyond grails regardless of rarity or worth, but for once for the only reason that matters: unfettered access to the purity of the music alone. The record is rooted in tradition, as you would expect in 1961, but you can hear the desire to venture out of the envelope, barely kept at bay, especially in the six dynamic originals. That tension leads to a lovely sonorousness throughout, a layer of complexity probably not evident to the casual listener. There is such grace in this slight pre-dissonance!

But then, my friends, there is the MASSIVE lineup to consider. If you’ve read my posts previously you know what a huge George Coleman fan I am. The same can be said for the totally unexpected addition of the MIGHTY Julian Priester! That alone makes this cornerstone wax, but oh, let’s add Pete LaRoca on drums, Don Friedman on piano, and Reggie Workman on bass. Wow. Every single note, phrase, and rotation is pure pleasure, and it easily makes my Top Ten Most Essential Jazz Record list. Own it on oxidized Maxwell High Bias II or zip drive if you have to, just make sure you have it in your life. Oh yea.

*For conspiracy theorists, Don Friedman is the friend….