Only five years after the premature death of trumpeter Clifford Brown from a tragic automobile accident, the world lost another young trumpeter who considered Brown an influence and who shared his appreciation of a warm tone with which to express beautiful music. Booker Little died of uremia within a month or two of the date of this, his last recording. Released in 1961 by Bethlehem and re-issued in 1984 by Affinity, the LP's title was changed from Booker Little And Friends to Victory And Sorrow. It was then released on CD in 1995 by Bethlehem with the current title, and includes 9 tracks, two of which are alternate takes. Complete discographical and biographical information may be found on Alan Saul's insightful web page at http://farcry.neurobio.pitt.edu/Discographies/Booker.html.
The liner notes point out that Booker Little attended the Chicago Conservatory of Music to study theory, composition, orchestration and piano, then left school at the age of 19 to work with Max Roach. Little's classical background shows up in both his attainment of a pure, natural trumpet tone and in the sudden thematic changes of his compositions. Much like the work of Charles Mingus, Little's compositions offer consistent changes in tempo, meter, and mood. Writers over the years have expressed an association between the trumpeter's compositions and the dissonance found in the free jazz movement; one example of such dissonance, which today seems like a mere example from the mainstream, comes in the head melody of "Forward Flight." What a shame this young lion had to die so young; each member of this sextet was between 23 and 26 years of age at the time of this recording in late 1961. With trumpeter Booker Little are tenor saxophonist George Coleman, trombonist Julian Priester, pianist Don Freedman, bassist Reggie Workman, and drummer Pete La Roca.
The seven tunes presented at this session show the trumpeter's warm tone and allow for an articulation that is somewhat loose and removed from any classical teachings. "Victory and Sorrow" combines a middle-Eastern harmonywith changes in the rhythm. "Forward Flight" and "Molotone Music" provide drama and excitement with ample opportunities to hear solos from each artist. Coleman and Priester lay out on the ballad "If I Should Lose You." Using a vibrato and playing differently on the ballad, Little shows why he's been compared to Clifford Brown. Driving in a fast three, Little's "Calling Softly" contrasts with the laid-back "Booker's Blues," which includes his best solo outing of the session.
As Alan Saul points out in his web site discography, production errors have created several misunderstandings: track 3 is titled "Molotone Music," but the real title is "Looking Ahead." Furthermore, tracks 8 and 9, are misidentified: they are actually alternates of "Looking Ahead," track 3.