Eric Dolphy

[Milestones]

I have had a renewed interest in Dolphy. I'm sure he is not everyone's cup of tea, but even so I'm sure most regret the early death of such a distinctive talent. I've always been interested in how he attracted the attention and brought into the bands of so many great figures of the day: Mingus, Trane, Oliver Nelson, George Russell, Max Roach, Ornette, Andrew Hill. Not to mention great players on his own records: Freddie Hubbard, Roy Haynes, Booker Little, Richard Davis, Tony Williams, etc.

I had previously been into his sideman work, though I often found his playing rather strange and even uninviting--though, as I've said elsewhere, he was brilliant on flute.

These days I'm looking more at Dolphy's work as leader. I'm impressed by Out There and Far Cry. Last Date, with European players, is rather good too. I should take a listen of Outward Bound.

There must be hundreds of players influenced and inspired by Dolphy--most notably for the inside/outside approach and the ability to excel on several instruments.

Your thoughts on Mr. Dolphy...

[jlhoots]

Out To Lunch

[sonnymax]

...There must be hundreds of players influenced and inspired by Dolphy--most notably for the inside/outside approach...

Oliver Lake is the person who first comes to mind (and beautifully so to my ears).

[Milestones]

Yeah, I've really started grooving to Oliver Lake in the last couple of years.

[jeffcrom]

I couldn't believe that this was the first general thread dedicated to Eric Dolphy, but it seems to be. There are several old threads titled "Eric Dolphy," but I suspect that they all had subtitles, before those disappeared, since they all are narrowly focused on one topic. So thank you, Milestones - 'bout damn time.

Dolphy's music spoke to me right away when I first heard it, around ten years after his death. The first track with a Dolphy solo I heard was Mingus's "Hora Decubitus." It was some of the most exciting music I had ever heard - it just floored me. Far Cry, the Douglas recordings, and Out to Lunch are some of my favorite Dolphy recordings. Max Harrison has frequently written about "roads not taken" in jazz - paths that were suggested, but not followed up on by subsequent musicians. Out to Lunch seems like an example of that - it's a mysterious thing: inside/outside, with a floating pulse and an ambiguous relationship between solo and accompaniment. It seems to me that a musician could spend a lifetime following up the possibilities suggested by that album.

[jeffcrom]

And do any of you know the 1967 "third stream" album Dedicated to Dolphy on the Cambridge label? It's so obscure that I couldn't find a cover picture online. I'm listening to it for the first time in a while, and wow - it's very good. There are five pieces written for or dedicated to Dolphy, by John Lewis, Harold Farberman, Gunther Schuller, and Bill Smith. Schuller contributes two compositions, and they're the only ones of which we have Dolphy recordings - "Night Music" and "Densities I" showed up years later on Vintage Dolphy.

For a "third stream" record, the music is pretty hot at times - the "jazz" portions swing hard. Jerome Richardson and Bill Smith take the Dolphy role on various tracks, and manage to suggest ED without copying him. My favorite bass player, Richard Davis, plays on every track, and is just awesome. Among the other jazz musicians present are Joe Newman, Bob Brookmeyer, Hubert Laws, Jim Hall, and Mel Lewis. This album is probably not to everyone's taste, and I don't know how hard/impossible it is to find, but to me, it's excellent.

[StarThrower]

I'm a big fan! I find his playing irresistible whether it's alto sax, flute, or bass clarinet. Favorite alto solos are probably on Round Midnight from George Russell's Ezz-thetics, Three Seconds from Oliver Nelson's Screamin' The Blues, and Feathers from Out There. And the way he comes charging out of the gate on the opener to Mal Waldron's The Quest.

I dig Outward Bound and Last Date albums too! And the Last Date documentary film.

[Gheorghe]

Well, Eric Dolphy has a special meaning to me. See, when I was still a kid and didn´t know much about jazz, I somehow got "The Great Concert of Charles Mingus, Paris 1964". That special album, and the stuff that Dolphy plays on it, opened me up. Then I didn´t even have a Parker LP, I had heard only that Bird´s a legend, you know? So, when I heard that "Pakeriana" with Dolphy´s alto solo I thought well I haven´t heard Bird yet, but if Dolphy can do such fantastic things, Bird must be my next choice. So I got to Bird through Dolphy.

Needless to say I still had to learn to understand Dolphys musical concept, but it also helped me to dig a little more into the NewThing, to make me ready for Ornette, Don Cherry etc. .

The first album of Dolphy under his own name, which I got was the "Berlin Concerts 1961".

[brownie]

The two Paris concerts by the Charles Mingus Unit with Eric Doply of 1964 are etched in my memory as some of the very best musical events I attended.

And the Dolphy-Booker Little recordings are the some of the most mesmerizing albums I keep returning to.

[sidewinder]

I somehow got "The Great Concert of Charles Mingus, Paris 1964". That special album, and the stuff that Dolphy plays on it, opened me up.

That Paris performance of 'Fables of Faubus' on the 3LP set was the first time I heard Dolphy (it was on the radio) and I thought at the time his bass clarinet solo was astonishing (still do).

The Dolphy/Little Five Spot recordings I think of as some of the very best live jazz ever recorded. A wonderful balance of tradition and adventurous musical spirit.

Edited December 21, 2012 by sidewinder

[flat5]

Paul Stocker was influenced by Eric Dolphy.

"The Dolphy/Little Five Spot recordings I think of as some of the very best live jazz ever recorded. A wonderful balance of tradition and adventurous musical spirit."

I have to agree with that.

[erwbol]

Iron Man is also not to be missed.

Edited December 21, 2012 by erwbol

[Cyril]

Paul Stocker was influenced by Eric Dolphy.

David Murray and James Carter too. Even Han Bennink.

[Brute]

I know the OP was asking for his work as leader but I'll reccommend Oliver Nelson's "Straight Ahead" with Dolphy. Love his bass clarinet solo on the first track, Images. I'd also say check out Chico Hamilton's "The Original Ellington Suite". While not as "outside" It's still a pretty interesting take on some Ellington tunes.

[Cyril]

The first album of Dolphy under his own name, which I got was the "Berlin Concerts 1961".

Great album (with trumpeter Benny Bailey)

Other great albums:

"Looking Ahead" (with Ken McIntyre)

"Far Cry"

"The Quest" (with Mal Waldron)

"Where?" by Ron Carter (with Dolphy)

"Out There"

To name a few...

I'm a big fan of Eric Dolphy.

Have a look at this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXTij2srvQ8

Edited December 21, 2012 by Cyril

[Brute]

Oh! I forgot about "The Quest". Good call, Cyril.

Edited December 21, 2012 by Brute

[colinmce]

I couldn't believe that this was the first general thread dedicated to Eric Dolphy, but it seems to be. There are several old threads titled "Eric Dolphy," but I suspect that they all had subtitles, before those disappeared, since they all are narrowly focused on one topic. So thank you, Milestones - 'bout damn time.

Dolphy's music spoke to me right away when I first heard it, around ten years after his death. The first track with a Dolphy solo I heard was Mingus's "Hora Decubitus." It was some of the most exciting music I had ever heard - it just floored me. Far Cry, the Douglas recordings, and Out to Lunch are some of my favorite Dolphy recordings. Max Harrison has frequently written about "roads not taken" in jazz - paths that were suggested, but not followed up on by subsequent musicians. Out to Lunch seems like an example of that - it's a mysterious thing: inside/outside, with a floating pulse and an ambiguous relationship between solo and accompaniment. It seems to me that a musician could spend a lifetime following up the possibilities suggested by that album.

Re: OTL yes yes yes. There is really nothing else like it and a lot of times I think that makes it hard for people to deal with.

Dolphy holds a special place for me. Out To Lunch was one of the very first jazz records I bought seriously. I had a small few: A Love Supreme, Mingus 5, Brilliant Corners, Ornette! but I never really heard those albums, just listened to them. When I put on Out To Lunch I really knew what it meant to hear music completely. It's just an endlessly satisfying date to me, on everyone's part, and opened my eyes and ears up wide. In fact, I think I can honestly say it helped me to listen to jazz in a way that might have taken months or even years longer listening to other things. You can spend each sitting with it listening to just one player and be held rapt. In fact, I'm usually so enraptured by Williams, Hutcherson and Davis that I forget to listen to the horns. The rhythm on this date is truly something to be reckoned with.

I followed Dolphy's sideman work to Blues & The Abtract Truth, The Quest, and Ezz-Thetics; the later two certainly contain my favorite playing by him by far. A lot of critics centralize his activity around Mingus and Coltrane but I never think of him that way, probably because these are not the records I first focused on. I like his playing with Coltrane, but don't find it to be central to his legacy-- possibly even marginal. Mingus is a whole other story, of course, but I still always find myself coming back to his Prestige albums more than anything else.

It's been my contention that had Little and Dolphy lived, and had the Five Spot group recorded together for another five years or so, they'd have been as influential as Miles' Quintet on the direction of the music. But, given Out to Lunch, who's to say what direction he was headed in ...

[flat5]

I don't know why it's not talked about more as I think it's a classic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OILL0185laQ

[Guy Berger]

Out to Lunch was one of the first jazz albums I ever acquired - loved it immediately. He opened the door to Monk for me.

[Milestones]

I've had some trouble getting into Out to Lunch. It clearly has some big-time admirers, so I need to keep listening.

Count me as among those who truly enjoy Waldron's The Quest.

[king ubu]

I know the OP was asking for his work as leader but I'll reccommend Oliver Nelson's "Straight Ahead" with Dolphy. Love his bass clarinet solo on the first track, Images.

[paul secor]

I remember when I was about 20 years old and had just gotten into Dolphy and Bird. It struck my young ears that the the in between notes that Bird played as accents in his solos were almost part of Dolphy's common vocabulary. My ears are more sophisticated now and I know that's not exactly the case. But I still think that I heard some truth back then.

[sgcim]

I know the OP was asking for his work as leader but I'll reccommend Oliver Nelson's "Straight Ahead" with Dolphy. Love his bass clarinet solo on the first track, Images. I'd also say check out Chico Hamilton's "The Original Ellington Suite". While not as "outside" It's still a pretty interesting take on some Ellington tunes.

AFAIK, the Chico Hamilton record is the only really "inside" playing Dolphy did on an entire LP.

He plays an "inside" clarinet solo on the Waldron "Quest" LP, but the rest is typical Eric

[AllenLowe]

1) did someone say Paul Stocker? Incredible saxophonist - where is he? I haven't seen him since 1988 in Amsterdam.

2) DOLPHY DOLPHY DOLPHY - afer Sonny Rollins and Booker Ervin, my first musical crush. BUT - the best thing he ever did, no the best thing ever done, was Stormy Weather with Mingus. SImply the best jazz recording ever made. You could look it up.

3) Eric Dolphy in Europe, all volumes - as a matter of fact, I found them in a record store in Chicago in September 1968.

Edited December 22, 2012 by AllenLowe

[J.A.W.]

2) DOLPHY DOLPHY DOLPHY - afer Sonny Rollins and Booker Ervin, my first musical crush. BUT - the best thing he ever did, no the best thing ever done, was Stormy Weather with Mingus. SImply the best jazz recording ever made. You could look it up.

Allen,

Can't find it. On which album was it released?