The Ep Collection

At his best, Bill Doggett's organ- and sax-driven instrumentals were languid, suggestive bits of brilliance that approached rock & roll, building a sort of tightrope tension out of strong, blues-based riffs that were as deliberate as they were infectious, while at the other end of things, at his least inspired, Doggett generated formulaic, forgettable cocktail jazz. This set, which collects the seven EPs Doggett issued during his stay with Cincinnati's King Records, includes the two-sided "Honky Tonk," a huge hit in 1956 that allowed Doggett to flirt with rock & roll without actually going there, as well as tracks like "Smokie" which work off the same template and pop-jazz arrangements of standards like Duke Ellington's "Caravan." What emerges is an accurate portrait of Doggett's approach, with both the pros and cons attached.