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REISSUES : In Brief

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* * 1/2 Eric Dolphy, “At the Five Spot, Vol. 2,” Prestige. This 1961 live performance--one of originally three albums that found the multi-reedman leading a quintet with trumpet great Booker Little and pianist Mal Waldron--has been justly celebrated as a landmark of extended improvisation. Here Dolphy offers rippling bass clarinet lines on Little’s “Aggression” and airy flute statements on the standard “Like Someone in Love.” The others play with fire and unhurried ease. The problem is settling for a 37-minute slice of the performance--why not a 2-CD reissue of all three volumes instead?

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