Editing Booker Little (section)

=== 1960-1961: Eric Dolphy and final recordings ===

In 1960, Little rejoined Roach's band and recorded 14 albums from April 1960 to September 1961.<ref name=":2" /> Following his return, Little took on a bigger role being music director and composing more music for the group.<ref name=":1" /> The first album Roach recorded with Little as trumpeter was ''[[We Insist!|We Insist! - Freedom Now Suite]]''.<ref name=":0" /> Little continued to work with Roach but soon met [[Eric Dolphy]]. The combination of Little and Dolphy presented the possibility of the dawning of a new sound of music.<ref name=":2" /> At the beginning of their newfound association, Dolphy recorded ''[[Far Cry (album)|Far Cry]]'' with Little on trumpet.<ref name=":0" /> In addition, Little also recorded his third album as lead ''[[Out Front (Booker Little album)|Out Front]]''.<ref name=":2" /> This album ''Out Front'' was a result of his work on ''We Insist!'' Following the recording of ''We Insist'', Little was hired by [[Nat Hentoff]] to write for [[Candid Records]].<ref name=":1" />

With Dolphy, he co-led a residency at the [[Five Spot]] club in New York in June 1961, from which three albums were eventually issued by the [[Prestige Records|Prestige]] label titled ''Eric Dolphy at the Five Spot Volumes 1&2'' and the ''Memorial Album''.<ref name=":2" /> It was during this period that he began to show promise of expanding the expressive range of the "vernacular" bebop idiom which originated with [[Clifford Brown]], his most immediate influence as a performer.<ref name=":2" /> Booker Little recorded his final album with Roach in August 1961 titled ''[[Percussion Bitter Sweet]]'' with Dolphy on sax and recorded his last and final album as leader entitled ''[[Booker Little and Friend]]'' (also known as ''Victory and Sorrow'').<ref name=":0" />

After years of physical pain, Little died of complications resulting from [[uremia]] on October 5, 1961, in [[New York City]] at the age 23. He was survived by his wife, two sons Booker T. III and Larry Cornelius, and two daughters Cornelia and Ana Dorsey.<ref name=":1" />