Eric Dolphy

[BigBadZep]

Eric Allan Dolphy (June 20, 1928 – June 29, 1964) was a jazz musician who played alto saxophone, flute and bass clarinet.

Dolphy is the man; he's played with Mingus, Coleman, Coltrane and had many records as a leader. He is not quite free jazz but he's definitely highly unorthodox. That doesn't mean he isn't very listenable though. I'd recommend Out To Lunch, Tony Williams plays drums on it and the first track is just stellar. The whole album has this great quirky feel to it.

Here is a video of the Charles Mingus Sextet Live In Oslo 1964. The line-up is

# Johnny Coles - trumpet

# Eric Dolphy - alto sax, bass clarinet, flute

# Clifford Jordan - tenor sax

# Jaki Byard - piano

# Charles Mingus - bass

# Dannie Richmond - drums

Discuss.

[JethroTull]

Eric Allan Dolphy (June 20, 1928 – June 29, 1964) was a jazz musician who played alto saxophone, flute and bass clarinet.

Dolphy is the man; he's played with Mingus, Coleman, Coltrane and had many records as a leader. He is not quite free jazz but he's definitely highly unorthodox. That doesn't mean he isn't very listenable though. I'd recommend Out To Lunch, Tony Williams plays drums on it and the first track is just stellar. The whole album has this great quirky feel to it.

Here is a video of the Charles Mingus Sextet Live In Oslo 1964. The line-up is

# Johnny Coles - trumpet

# Eric Dolphy - alto sax, bass clarinet, flute

# Clifford Jordan - tenor sax

# Jaki Byard - piano

# Charles Mingus - bass

# Dannie Richmond - drums

Discuss.

This was the oldest unanswered post, up until now.

[chef free]

Zappa has a song called "The Eric Dolphy Memorial Bar-B-Que"

[Dirigible]

Dolphy was poised to be as major a voice in jazz as John Coltrane until he died of an undiagnosed diabetic condition in 1964. He was a brilliant sideman with Mingus and Trane. I think his contributions in Mingus' sextet outweighed Dolphy's inspired input with Trane though. I prefer his bass clarinet work over his alto and flute, even though they are stellar in and of themselves. Dolphy's finest LP is a session he led in 1964 entitled Out To Lunch with drummer Tony Williams. He shuffled off the mortal coil not long thereafter. Too bad, too fucking bad, the nipping-in-the-bud of that major talent is enough to make a musician weep. What music of the spheres did we miss because Dolphy ascended to an astral plane too early?

[Strider]

Yea, more Eric Dolphy fans...and thanks for posting the whole Oslo show BBZ!

Here in L.A., every year just before the Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood

Bowl, jazz film archivist Marc Cantor hosts a free screening of jazz film clips

at the Los Angeles Museum of Art's Bing Theatre...it is usually on the Thursday

before the Festival.

Anyway, part of this year's program was a clip from the Oslo show of the Mingus

Sextet doing Billy Strayhorn's immortal "Take the 'A' Train", with a knockout solo

by Dolphy.

Now, thanks to your post, I can see the whole show.

Losing Dolphy was a huge loss to the world of jazz...much like it was when Clifford

Brown at the age of only 25. What music these two cats could have given us had

they lived longer.

Okay, so now I know we have some Dolphy fans here...what about Albert Ayler?

[Dirigible]

Okay, so now I know we have some Dolphy fans here...what about Albert Ayler?

Ayler, Sonny, Trane, Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders, Wayne Shorter, John Gilmore, Bobby Keys, and later, Branford Marsalis---my guys on tenor. Ayler was a screamin' demon playing in the overtone series like Trane and Sun Ra. I have an ESP record of his called Bells, also Ghosts (not on ESP) and some other recordings. Ayler was a great talent but not as revelatory as Dolphy. I love his playing but it's best appreciated in small doses. Dolphy I can listen to all night.

Edited July 4, 2008 by Dirigible

[Strider]

Excellent list, though I don't know if I would put Bobby Keys up there with

Trane, Dolphy, Pharoah and Sonny.

I definitely would add Joe Henderson to that list...can't make it a month without

having to hear his sweet solo on Horace Silver's "Song For My Father".

Then, there are the earlier guys who I love...Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster,

Lester Young...all titans of the tenor in my book.

Edited July 4, 2008 by Strider

[Dirigible]

Excellent list, though I don't know if I would put Bobby Keys up there with

Trane, Dolphy, Pharoah and Sonny.

I had to have at least one white guy on there or people would think I was politically incorrect. Truth be told, when Bobby's on (like Live With Me) he's breathing the same rarified air as those chaps you mentioned. That's a wholly different statement than Keys is in Coltrane's or Dolphy's league. I personally enjoy Bobby more than Sonny, but I know better than to come steppin' with an outrageous statement like he's in Rollins' league. Is Keys in Pharoah's league? I think so, yeah.

In the words of Keith Moon however at Zeppelin's 6-23-77 appearance in L.A.: "But what do I know? I'm just a fuckin' drummer." Peace.

[Strider]

I guess my favourite white sax player is Paul Desmond...or maybe Gerry Mulligan.

Never gave it much thought before.

Edited July 4, 2008 by Strider