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Booker starts this recording with a solo trumpet rubato introduction. The melody also starts on solo trumpet, but in tempo, and the rhythm section is cued for their entrance (hear our recording excerpt). Booker often liked to spin his melodies over different forms than the standard 32-measure AABA form. Minor Sweet is an elongated 40-measure ABA form: A = 8 + 8; B = 8 ("broken time"); A (C) = 8 + 8.
The album "Booker Little" on Time Records was Booker's only quartet date as a leader. The track Minor Sweet is Booker all the way, showing his strength and endurance as he sets up the melody with a solo trumpet rubato intro, then the melody, five solo choruses and the melody out—over five and a half minutes of all Booker!
A tragic loss to the world of jazz at age 23! Hearing is certainly believing: in Booker's short life, he still was able to leave us with recordings and compositions that are guaranteed to astonish and captivate. His effortless-sounding virtuosity ranks him as one of the greatest trumpet players. He was also a gifted composer, who obviously took composing very seriously, as his recording output shows. Booker began on trumpet when he was 12 and played with Johnny Griffin and the MJT + 3 while attending the Chicago Conservatory. He worked 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. Booker Little led four sessions before his tragic early death. Read more...
