Eric Dolphy

AMG Review of Eric Dolphy

Scott Yanow
All Music Guide

Eric Dolphy was not only a very original stylist -- no one has ever sounded like him, before or after -- but a talented instrumentalist as well, able to develop his own styles on alto, bass clarinet, and flute. This two-LP set contains a pair of his best sessions from the busy year of 1960. Dolphy is teamed in a relatively conventional quintet with the young trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, pianist Jaki Byard, bassist George Tucker, and drummer Roy Haynes for half of the two-fer. Highlights of this date include Dolphy's "G.W." (named for bandleader/arranger Gerald Wilson), "Glad to Be Unhappy," and the exuberant "Miss Toni." The other session is more unusual, with Dolphy (who takes a rare solo on B flat clarinet) in a quartet with cellist Ron Carter, bassist George Duvivier, and drummer Roy Haynes. His ferocious bass clarinet solo on the well-titled "Out There" sounds very conversational, almost like a verbal argument, and Carter's cello is often quite eerie on these atmospheric pieces. Highly recommended music.