In the mid-to-late '70s, Prestige, in their valuable series of two-LP sets, reissued virtually all of their
Eric Dolphy recordings. This particular two-fer features
Dolphy technically as a sideman in dates led by altoist
Ken McIntyre and pianist
Mal Waldron, but in both cases he quickly emerges as the most memorable soloist. On the former date,
Dolphy and
McIntyre (joined by pianist
Walter Bishop, Jr., bassist
Sam Jones and drummer
Art Taylor) perform five of the leader's challenging originals along with
George Gershwin's "They All Laughed," while the
Waldron session also features the very distinctive tenor saxophonist
Booker Ervin, Ron Carter on cello, bassist
Joe Benjamin and drummer
Charlie Persip on seven then-recent
Waldron pieces. This adventurous music makes most hard bop of the period sound dated in comparison.