The late Eric Dolphy, who passed away in 1964 at the age of 36 from an undiagnosed diabetic condition, was a complex musician whose legacy is one of the pillars of contemporary improvised music. This re-issue of two masterful sessions, one recorded live at the Five Spot in New York City by Rudy Van Gelder in 1961, the other a studio session recorded in 1968 and released on the Douglas Label, show the master in full fight with inspired contributions from his acolytes.

Aside from the historically significant documentation of the Dolphy style, both of the albums on this reissue feature extraordinary young trumpet players who had already formed a distinctive style: the conservatory-trained and superbly articulate Booker Little and the dexterous Woody Shaw, whose language was shaped by his time with Dolphy. The Five Spot session features Booker Little sharing the frontline duties with Dolphy, while Shaw does the same on the studio-tracked Iron Man. Contributing to the Five Spot session are pianist Mal Waldron, bassist Richard Davis and drummer Ed Blackwell. The Iron Man session has a bigger roster, with a core made up of Dolphy, Shaw, Bobby Hutcherson on vibes and J.C Moses on drums, with Richard Davis and Eddie Kahn sharing the bass duties, but also including, on selected tracks, Garvin Ushell on bassoon, William "Prince" Lasha on flute, Huey "Sonny" Simmons on alto, and Clifford Jordan on tenor sax.

Dolphy's youthful ambitions were to find employment in a classical symphony orchestra, but things being what they were in those days into terms of hiring based on racial preconception and stereotypical biases, Dolphy, like many a talented African American instrumentalist found his footing in the jazz world. We are thankful for it, as he brought a modern, avant-gardist sensibility and aesthetic to the table, changing the language of jazz forever. These sessions are testimony to his compositional style as well as his unique language, made up of wide interval leaps and an energetic flow of ideas that draw from the European, African and other traditions in impressively masterful ways.