* En anglais uniquement
The first trumpeter emerging after
Clifford Brown's death to gain his own sound,
Booker Little had a tremendous amount of potential before his premature death. He began on trumpet when he was 12 and played with
Johnny Griffin and
the MJT + 3 while attending the Chicago Conservatory.
Little was with
Max Roach (1958-1959) and then freelanced in New York. He recorded with
Roach and
Abbey Lincoln, was on
John Coltrane's
Africa/Brass album, and was well-documented during a July 1961 gig at the Five Spot with
Eric Dolphy.
Little had a memorable melancholy sound and his interval jumps looked toward the avant-garde, but he also swung like a hard bopper.
Booker Little led four sessions (one album apiece for United Artists, Time, Candid, and Bethlehem), but died of uremia at the age of 23, a particularly tragic loss. ~ Scott Yanow