Eric Dolphy Sound - 1963 Classic Recordings

Essential Works from a Jazz Giant

Eric Dolphy's important spring 1963 studio recordings are available in numerous forms, but this Portuguese double-disc conveniently includes all nine tracks with a full personnel list and other helpful information. Dolphy, accompanied by such like-minded spirits as trumpeter Woody Shaw, vibist Bobby Hutcherson, bassist Richard Davis and fellow reedsmen Prince Lasha and Sonny Simmons, offers a rich and varied group of performances here, including an unaccompanied alto saxophone solo on "Love Me," several haunting duets with Davis and rambunctious full-band assaults on the Dolphy originals "Iron Man," "Burning Spear" and "Mandrake." "Music Matador," a calypso-tinged number by Lasha and Simmons, and Fats Waller's "Jitterbug Waltz" are also standouts.
Aside from being Dolphy's only studio sessions under his own name from the last full year of his life, these recordings form an important link between his earlier, more "mainstream" work and the increasingly avant garde avenues he would explore in his final months, most famously on 1964's OUT TO LUNCH. The varied arrangements, strong cast of players and excellent selection of original and covered material make these nine performances an essential part of any modern jazz fan's collection, and ERIC DOLPHY SOUND is, to my knowledge, the easiest way to grab hold of them.
Reviewer:Richard B. Luhrs (Jackson Heights, NY United States) (posted on Amazon)

Tracks:
1. The Iron Man
2. Mandrake
3. Come Sunday
4. Burning Spear
5. Ode To Charlie Parker
6. Wherever I Go
7. Jitterbug Waltz
8. Music Matador
9. Love Me
10. Alone Together
11. Stormy Weather

Playing Time 92 Minutes
ogg vorbis 500kbps