Eric Dolphy – At The Five Spot, Vol. 1 (LP, Analogue Productions)

After leaving Charles Mingus and company to work with John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy formed a quintet with Booker Little. This has rightly become legendary over the years and a role model for progressive jazz musicians, even though trumpeter Little died just three months after recording “Eric Dolphy At The Five Spot”. The post-bop scene admired Dolphy and Little for their dissonant and atonal sounds, which also drew critics to the scene. They were joined by pianist Mal Waldron, bassist Richard Davis and drummer Ed Blackwell. Recording engineer Rudy van Gelder captured the interplay of an extraordinary combo with his portable recording equipment on July 16, 1961 in Cooper Square.