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Description:
In the history of jazz, Eric Dolphy was the first innovator to
develop a strikingly original yet different voice on three instruments:
alto-sax, flute and bass clarinet. When Dolphy burst upon the
New York scene in 1960, he already had over a decade of experience.
Originally influenced most by Charlie Parker, Dolphy was part
of Los Angeles' Central Avenue scene in the late 1940s. Virtually
nothing was heard of him on records in the 1950s before he joined
the Chico Hamilton Quintet in 1958, but by then he was ready for
the big leagues. His associations with Charles Mingus and John
Coltrane along with his series of dynamic recordings for Prestige
gave him attention. His speech like solos on alto (which featured
wide interval jumps), his pioneering of the bass clarinet as a
solo instrument and his flute playing which was inspired by the
sound of birds marked him as a major innovator and a true original.
His playing was consistently emotional, often-jubilant and always
full of passion. Out To Lunch from 1964, his final studio album
before his premature death at the age of 36, has long been considered
one of his greatest statements. Not only is Dolphy heard at his
most explorative and inventive on each of his instruments but
he contributes five very original compositions including an unusual
Thelonious Monk tribute ("Hat And Beard") and the eccentric
"Straight Up And Down." Utilizing quite an all-star
group that features Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hutcherson, Richard
Davis and a teen aged Tony Williams, Dolphy maps out a future
for jazz that he would never live to experience. One can hear
bits of such future greats as Oliver Lake, Anthony Braxton, Bennie
Maupin, David Murray and James Newton in Dolphy's playing and
writing but, truth be told, there was only one Eric Dolphy. Out
To Lunch is his last masterpiece.