I like Criss's playing a lot; I keep meaning to get Sonny's Dream which I'm told is the best of the Prestige sides. Of those I have I prefer This Is Criss, which is consistently fine. Portrait of... is nice but for me "Wee" is ruined by the incredible amount of reed-squeaks, & Walter Davis's originals don't do much for me; it's the ballads that are best. Pity both albums are so short--barely over 30 minutes (Prestige wasn't big on retakes or other expensive stuff, which I guess explains the lack of extra session material on the CD reissues & also the lack of a retake of "Wee"). The Beat Goes On is surprisingly good, considering the material--the title track is quite effective.
I find myself enormously admiring Criss's playing while thinking the albums themselves could be a bit routine for one reason or another. Out of Nowhere is again nice enough, despite a grade-B rhythm section that's none too subtle--there's a good "Brother Can You Spare a Dime", of all things. "Late masterpiece" is stretching it a bit. Mr Blues Pour Flirter is slightly odd in that I gather there's a second album of material from these sessions (breiefly mentioned in the liner notes) which includes the title-track, which isn't present on the recent reissue I have. It's nice, if again not a world-beater, with a lovely "Day Dream" which suggests how much he learned from Johnny Hodges. Arvanitas sounds good on it, too.