VINTAGE DOLPHY
Jazz from ERIC DOLPHY
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The good die young, it is said. It is also said that the really gifted
artist who dies
young gains a reputation that would have taken far longer had he lived.
There can be no question that Eric Dolphy, born in 1928, dead of
complications
associated with diabetes in 1964, was a good human being. Indeed,
Charles
Mingus, who
was not without his cautions and suspicions about the motives of his
fellow beings,
called Eric "a saint".
In my own experience, Eric Dolphy greeted life as he greeted music,
with an
inquisitiveness, generosity, and enthusiasm that was as infectious as
it
was natural.
But his was not an enthusiasm born of innocence or naivetŽ. Eric was
alert,
discriminating, and selective, but he evaluated without being
judgmental,
and always
with modesty and grace.
However, Dolphy's reputation has somehow not been given quite the kind
of
posthumous
rewards one would have expected. Part of the problem, I think, had to
do
with the
comparisons that were made about his work -- comparisons to Ornette
Coleman and to John
Coltrane. It wasn't that the comparisons weren't welcome -- and Eric
worked with both
men in important contexts. It is just that they weren't always very
well
made.
Since this recording shows Eric in a number of settings, offers him
such a
range of
challenges, and shows almost all the things he could do, all the
approaches he knew to
take to improvising, it gives opportunity for some discussion of the
things he did. But
let it be said first that, matters of technique aside, any musical
phrase
here on any of
his several instruments will show you that Eric Dolphy was a man born
to
make and
communicate music.
Martin Williams
Songs
HALF NOTE TRIPLETS Dolphy
ODE TO CHARLIE PARKER Byard
IRON MAN Dolphy
DENSITIES Schuller
NIGHT MUSIC Schuller
VARIANTS ON A THEME
BY THELONIOUS MONK Schuller
ABSTRACTION Schuller
DONNA LEE Parker
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