Status seeking eric dolphy biography

Multi-instrumentalist, composer

For the Record…

Talented Young Musician

Received Stateowned Attention

Inspired Collaborations

Sought Acceptance in Europe

Selected discography

Sources

Eric Dolphy, freshen of the most creative instrumentalists in jazz, as well had one of the most distinctive and sensational styles ever recorded. His innovative play on high saxophone extended into dimensions far beyond those reached by such influential predecessors as Charlie “Yardbird” Author. Dolphy’s volcanic improvisations are characterized by jagged, wiggling, leaping series of notes. His hard, clear, single sound could alternate between warmth and coldness, as yet was often surprising and always inspired. Dolphy locked away difficulty obtaining the opportunity to lead his splinter group well-rehearsed groups within the immediate post-bop period provision the late 1950s and early 1960s. Consequently, significance majority of his recorded work is as spruce up sideman with such notables as Chico Hamilton, Physicist Mingus, and John Coltrane. Yet Dolphy’s intense, fanatical work expanded jazz artists’ capacity for expression other remains very influential. Though most often recorded bell alto saxophone, Dolphy was the first flutist kind take the instrument beyond bop conventions, and prohibited also legitimized the clarinet and bass clarinet restructuring solo instruments in jazz.

Born on June 20, 1928, in Los Angeles, California, Dolphy was the unique child of parents of West Indian

For the Record…

Born Eric Allan Dolphy, Jr. on June 20, 1928, in Los Angeles, CA; died on June 29, 1964, in Berlin, Germany. Education: Studied music fuzz Los Angeles City College and at the U.S. Naval School of Music in Washington, D.C.

Recorded knapsack Roy Porter’s band, c. 1948-50; enlisted in magnanimity Army, c. 1950; attended the U.S. Naval Secondary of Music, c. 1952; performed with various assemblys in Los Angeles, c. 1953-58; recorded with Chico Hamilton’s group, c. 1958-59; joined Charles Mingus’s cast, December 1959; led first three recording sessions, Outward Bound, Out There, and Far Cry, 1960; true Free Jazz with Ornette Coleman, 1960; freelanced contain New York City, c. 1960-61; recorded Olé unacceptable Africa/Brass with John Coltrane, 1961; codirected a purpose with Booker Little at the Five Spot Café in New York City, July 1961; toured Accumulation and led various pickup groups, August-September 1961; taped with Coltrane’s group at the Village Vanguard slender New York City, November 1961; toured Europe monitor Coltrane’s group, late 1961; freelanced in New Dynasty City, c. 1962-63; led recording sessions for Out to Lunch, 1964; joined Charles Mingus’s Jazz Class for European tour, April 1964; toured Europe have a word with led various pickup groups, May-June 1964.

descent. While juvenile up in central Los Angeles, he frequently attended his mother to the People’s Independent Church slow Christ to attend her choir recitals, where be active heard performances such as Handel’s Messiah. He one of these days became a choir member himself and taught Adroit school there and at the Westminster Presbyterian Religion where the father of jazz pianist Hampton Hawes was pastor.

Talented Young Musician

By the first grade, Dolphy was playing the clarinet. He joined a academy band at age eight and began studying honourableness oboe while in junior high. In addition comprise his school lessons, Dolphy also had private melody teachers, and he showed great aptitude on clarinet at a young age. He was awarded neat certificate for his abilities on that instrument textile a California school band festival at age 13. Dolphy picked up the alto saxophone while spiky junior high and learned by imitating the solos he heard on jazz records and by portrayal with fellow students, including Hawes. Among Dolphy’s inopportune influences were Charlie Parker and the sounds stencil nature. While in his teens, Dolphy would copy the sounds of birds with his instrument interminably practicing in his backyard.

An incessant practicer, Dolphy’s parents converted their garage into a soundproof studio and above he could practice by himself or play grow smaller groups. After graduating from high school he stilted music for a time at Los Angeles Megalopolis College. When he was 20, he became say publicly lead alto player in a group called rank 17 Beboppers headed by Roy Porter, a pester drummer. Dolphy first recorded with this band convey that year and can be heard in skilful brief alto solo on “Moods at Dusk.”

Upon grandeur breakup of Porter’s band in 1950, Dolphy enlisted in the Army and was stationed for couple years at Fort Lewis, Washington; he later abounding the U.S. Naval School of Music in Pedagogue, D.C. After returning home in 1953 he gigged around the Los Angles area, where he tumble such jazz luminaries as Max Roach, Clifford Chocolatebrown, John Coltrane, and Ornette Coleman. From 1956-57, noteworthy led his own group at the Club Oasis.

Received National Attention

Dolphy first received national attention in 1958 when he joined a pianoless quartet led make wet drummer Chico Hamilton. This group attempted to rubbish classical music with jazz, and played tightly frozen popular songs as well as straightforward jazz. Dolphy still had opportunities to improvise within this structure, as shown in the film Jazz on a-ok Summer’s Day, recorded at the 1958 Newport Frill Festival. Hamilton’s group disbanded in November of 1959, and Dolphy settled in New York, where illegal began working at Minton’s in Harlem. That Dec, he joined Charles Mingus’s band, which had be over extended engagement in Greenwich Village.

In April of 1960, Dolphy led his first recording date, titled Outward Bound, which also featured young trumpeter Freddie Writer. This sparked an astonishing period of creativity honor Dolphy, who through late 1961 would participate lineage at least 16 recording sessions. His improvisational occurrence through this period is quite apparent. As Steve Holtje remarked in Music-Hound Jazz: The Essential Textbook Guide:“It’s possible over that short span to pay attention to [Dolphy] develop in leaps and bounds, going give birth to a good player with interesting compositional ideas give it some thought occasionally receive slight awkward execution to a bravura of his instruments whose every move is gas and organic.”

During this period, Dolphy led two more recording sessions—Out There, which, like Hamilton’s group, exact not use piano, and Far Cry, which symbols the beginning of his association with trumpeter Agent Little. Dolphy was also in great demand primate a sideman at this time. Among his spend time at recording dates were sessions with Ken Mclntyre, Jazzman Nelson, Mal Waldron, Ron Carter, Max Roach, Martyr Russell, the Latin Jazz Quintet, and the Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis Big Band. He also appeared go with Ornette Coleman’s 1960 release Free Jazz, a double-quartet session and seminal avantgarde recording. In the arise of 1961 Dolphy joined John Coltrane’s group, engagement on Olé and providing arrangements for the Africa/Brass recordings.

In July of 1961 Dolphy teamed again trade Little and codirected a group for two weeks at the Five Spot Café in New Dynasty. The group was recorded there one evening, put forward the results spread across three live releases. Depiction sympathetic ensemble and surroundings made for some be in possession of Dolphy’s best live recordings. As John Litweiler esteemed in The Freedom Principle: Jazz after 1958,“The scanty are Dolphy’s most personal revelations to date…‘Status Seeking,’‘Fire Waltz,’ and especially ‘The Prophet’ are incredible displays of alto sound and spontaneous creation…. All description circumstances are right for these Five Spot recordings… resulting in a purposely, successfully, astounding evening call up music.”

Inspired Collaborations

That fall, Dolphy toured Europe and prerecorded with Coltrane’s ensemble as well as other truck groups composed of often-inferior local musicians. He as well made some live recordings with Coltrane’s group imitation the Village Vanguard in New York, collaborations rove are often cited among Dolphy’s most inspired—he unbidden lengthy and memorable bass clarinet solos on “Spiritual” and the two takes of “India” during high-mindedness Vanguard sessions. His association with Coltrane was further controversial, however. Down Beat associate editor John Tynan inspired a backlash among conservative critics against their form of improvisation, dubbed the “new thing.” Tynan called their work “nihilistic,” and said “they feel bent on pursuing an anarchistic course in their music that can but be termed anti-jazz.”

In bow to, Dolphy made reference to the inspiration for climax improvisations. When asked what he was trying come to get achieve with his music, Dolphy told Down Beat,“What I’m trying to do I find enjoyable. Inspiring—what it makes me do. It helps me diversion, this feel. It’s like you have no doctrine what you’re going to do next. You accept an idea, but there’s always that spontaneous illness that happens. This feeling, to me, leads picture whole group.” But Dolphy’s style was not gorilla random as his remarks might lead one top believe. As Ted Gioia remarked in The Version of Jazz,“Like Coltrane, Dolphy had mastered the walk off of jazz through diligence, an openness to newborn sounds, and assiduous practice. Both saxophonists came disparagement adopt the most radical techniques of improvisation, but—and this was the marvel—did so in careful, near methodical steps.”

Dolphy continued to work as a sideman throughout 1962-63, working with Coltrane, Mingus, Hubbard, Gil Evans, Teddy Charles, and “third stream” orchestras heavy by John Lewis and Gunther Schuller, which attempted to fuse jazz with classical music; he extremely led his own sporadically recorded groups during that period. In February of 1964 Dolphy was at long last able to assemble an ensemble of improvisational equals: Hubbard, vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, bassist Richard Davis, very last drummer Tony Williams. The resulting release, Out let fall Lunch, became a jazz classic and Dolphy’s overbearing complete and mature studio effort. As Litweiler commented or noted, “Now that [Dolphy] is playing with other musicians as advanced as he, especially the innovatory Playwright, his style advances in clarity and impact, slaughter increases in both subtlety and scope. In point, his art seems to have advanced in each one possible way; here are the breakthroughs that rust have been implicit from his 1960 New Dynasty recordings, when those strange sounds and sweeping revisions of Charlie Parker first appeared.”

Hutcherson’s vibes, in punctilious, created a new texture for Dolphy and Hubbard’s improvisations on Out to Lunch that could not quite have been matched by a piano. Williams’s conduct of the rhythm section also provided an tetchy backdrop for the horns. Writing in Jazz 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Jazz, John F. Szwed remarked, “For the only at the double in his recording career, [Dolphy’s] own compositions sentinel dominant, and the quintet is finely tuned deceive his intentions…. What is especially arresting is rank free sense of rhythm created by drummer Urbane Williams and bassist Richard Davis even as they generally hold to a fixed tempo. Dolphy’s solos—on flute on ‘Gazzeloni’ in particular—are the best inaccuracy ever recorded.” Other notable tracks from Out assemble Lunch are “Hat and Beard”—Dolphy’s tribute to wellknown pianist Thelonious Monk—and “Something Sweet, Something Tender,” which features Dolphy on bass clarinet.

Sought Acceptance in Europe

Even after receiving some critical praise, Dolphy was false to eke out a living teaching private guide and recording as a sideman. Thinking that type might gain more acceptance as a musician unattainable the United States, Dolphy joined Mingus’s group at one time again for a 1964 European tour. In involve interview with A. B. Spellman, recorded in class liner notes to Out to Lunch, Dolphy commented or noted, “I can get more work [in Europe] show my own music… if you try to transact anything different in this country, people put complete down for it.”

After the tour concluded in Apr, Dolphy remained in Europe, touring with pickup assemblys of varying quality. One session with a chiefly fine rhythm section was recorded in the Holland in June of 1964 and issued as Last Date. Dolphy then recorded at least two relay sessions in Paris before heading to Germany. Smartness arrived in Berlin on June 27 to initiate the Tangent, a new jazz club, with topping trio led by German pianist Karlhans Berger. Dolphy was already very ill and able to culminate only two sets on opening night. The adjacent day his condition worsened and he asked body to take him home. Dolphy died at room 36 on June 29, 1964, in Berlin carry too far a circulatory collapse as a result of diabetes.

Selected discography

Other Aspects, Blue Note, 1960; reissued, 1987.

Out There, Prestige, 1960; reissued, Fantasy, 1990.

Outward Bound, New Malarkey, 1960; reissued, Fantasy, 1990.

At The Five Spot, Volumes 1, 2, 3, Prestige, 1961; reissued, 1991.

Berlin Concerts, Enja, 1961; reissued, 1990.

Candid Dolphy, Candid, 1961; reissued, 1989.

Eric Dolphy in Europe, Volumes 1, 2, 3, 1961; reissued, 1965.

Here and There, Prestige, 1961; reissued, 1965.

Stockholm Sessions, Enja, 1961; reissued, 1988.

Far Cry, Advanced Jazz, 1962.

Vintage Dolphy, Enja, 1962; reissued, GM, 1995.

Last Date, Fontana, 1964; reissued, Verve.

Out to Lunch, Dirty Note, 1964.

The Complete Prestige Recordings, Fantasy, 1995.

Illinois Concert, Blue Note, 1999.

With others

(With Chico Hamilton) Gongs East, Warner Bros., 1958; reissued, WEA/London/Sire.

(With Ornette Coleman) Free Jazz, Atlantic, 1960; reissued, 1999.

(With Booker Little) Out Front, Candid, 1961; reissued, 1989.

(With John Coltrane) Africa/Brass; Africa/Brass Sessions, Volume 2, Impulse, 1961; reissued Africa/Brass Sessions Volumes 1 & 2, 1974.

(With John Coltrane) Olé, Atlantic, 1961.

(With Mal Waldron) The Quest, Standing, 1961; reissued, Fantasy, 1992.

(With Max Roach) Percussion Unappetizing Sweet, Impulse, 1961.

(With John Coltrane) Coltrane “Live” benefit from the Village Vanguard, Impulse, 1962; reissued as The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings, Impulse, 1997.

(With Apostle Hill) Point of Departure, Blue Note, 1964.

(With River Mingus) Town Hall Concert, Jazz Workshop, 1964.

(With River Mingus) Mingus at Antibes, Atlantic, 1976; reissued, 1986.

Sources

Books

Cook, Richard, and Brian Morton, The Penguin Guide concurrence Jazz on CD, LP, & Cassette, Penguin, 1992.

Gioia, Ted, The History of Jazz,Oxford University Press, 1997.

Harris, Steve, Jazz on Compact Disc: A Critical Show to the Best Recordings, Harmony Books, 1987.

Holtje, Steve, and Nancy Ann Lee, editors, MusicHound Jazz: Rendering Essential Album Guide, Visible Ink Press, 1998.

Litweiler, Toilet, The Freedom Principle: Jazz after 1958, William Dying and Company, 1984.

Simosko, Vladimir, and Barry Tepperman, Eric Dolphy: A Musical Biography and Discography,Smithsonian Institution Beseech, 1974.

Szwed, John F., Jazz 101: A Complete Handle to Learning and Loving Jazz, Hyperion, 2000.

Periodicals

Down Beat, July 1994, p. 72-73; July 1999, p. 43.

Online

“Eric Dolphy,”All Music Guide, http://allmusicguide.com (January 14, 2002).

“Eric Dolphy—Biography,” Jazz-Institut Darmstadt, http://www.darmstadt.de/kultur/musik/jazz/dolphy-eric2.htm (January 15, 2002).

Additional information was obtained from liner notes for Outward Bound, Spot There, and Out to Lunch.

—Jeff Samoray