Eric (Allan) Dolphy - Life

Jazz musician, born in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an influential multi-instrumentalist who played with Chico Hamilton, John Coltrane, and Charles Mingus, before his death from a brain tumour.

Eric Dolphy
Drawing of Eric Dolphy by Ansel Butler, 1962
Background information
Birth name	Eric Allan Dolphy
Born	June 20, 1928
Origin	Los Angeles, California
Died	June 29, 1964
Genre(s)	Jazz, Avant-garde jazz
Occupation(s)	bandleader, composer, sideman
Instrument(s)	alto saxophone, flute, bass clarinet
Years active	1949 – 1964
Label(s)	Verve Impulse! Prestige Blue Note Mercury

Eric Allan Dolphy (June 20, 1928 – June 29, 1964) was a jazz musician who played alto saxophone, flute and bass clarinet.

Dolphy was one of several groundbreaking jazz alto players to rise to prominence in the 1960s. Although Dolphy's work is sometimes classified as free jazz, his compositions and solos had a logic uncharacteristic of many other free jazz musicians of the day;

Life

Early life

Dolphy was born in Los Angeles and was educated at Los Angeles City College.

Early Partnerships

Dolphy wasted little time upon settling in New York City, quickly forming several fruitful musical partnerships, the two most important ones being with jazz legends Charles Mingus and John Coltrane, musicians he'd known for several years. Dolphy was held in the highest regard by both musicians - Mingus considered Dolphy to be his most talented interpreter and Coltrane thought him his only musical equal. Although Coltrane's quintets with Dolphy (including the Village Vanguard and Africa/Brass sessions) are now legendary, they provoked Down Beat magazine to brand Coltrane and Dolphy's music as 'anti-jazz'.

The initial release of Coltrane's stay at the Vanguard selected three tracks, only one of which featured Dolphy.

As A Leader

Dolphy's recording career as a leader began with the Prestige label.

Dolphy's first two albums as leader were Outward Bound and Out There.

Dolphy would record several unaccompanied cuts on saxophone, which at the time had been done only by Coleman Hawkins and Sonny Rollins before him.

20th century classical music also played a significant role in Dolphy's musical career, having performed and recorded Edgard Varèse's Density 21.5 for solo flute as well as other classical works, and participated heavily in the Third Stream efforts of the 1960s.

Numerous recordings were made of live performances by Dolphy, and these have been issued by many sometimes dubious record labels, drifting in and out of print ever since.

Last Year

After Out to Lunch and an appearance as a sideman on Andrew Hill's Point of Departure, Dolphy left to tour Europe with Charles Mingus' sextet(one of Mingus' most underrated bands and without a doubt one of the most exciting) in early 1964.

On the evening of June 28, 1964, Dolphy collapsed on the streets of Berlin and was brought to a hospital.

Dolphy would die the next day in a diabetic coma, leaving a short but tremendous legacy in the jazz world, which was immediately honored with his induction into the Down Beat magazine Hall of Fame that same year.

Influence

Dolphy's musical presence was deeply influential to a who's who of young jazz musicians who would become legends in their own right. This part of the second great quintet is an ironic footnote for Davis, who was not fond of Dolphy's music yet absorbed a rhythm section who had all worked under Dolphy and created a band whose brand of "out" was unsurprisingly very similar to Dolphy's.

In addition, his work with jazz and rock producer Alan Douglas allowed Dolphy's unique brand of musical expression to posthumously spread to musicians in the jazz fusion and Rock environments, most notably with artists John McLaughlin and Jimi Hendrix. Frank Zappa, an eclectic performer who drew some of his inspiration from jazz music, paid tribute to Dolphy's style in the instrumental "The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue." Cool Latin (1959) Wherever I Go (1959) Status (1960) Dash One (1960) Outward Bound (1960) Here and There (1960) Looking Ahead (1960) Fire Waltz (1960) Other Aspects (1960) Out There (1960) The Caribe with the Latin Jazz Quintet (1960) Candid Dolphy (1960) Magic (1960) Far Cry (1960) Eric Dolphy (1960) The Quest (1961) The Great Concert of Eric Dolphy [live] (1961) Live! 3 (1961) Copenhagen Concert [live] (1961) Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise (1961) Quartet 1961 (1961) Vintage Dolphy (1962) Conversations (1963) Iron Man (1963) Jitterbug Waltz (1963) The Illinois Concert [live] (1963) Out to Lunch (1964) Last Date (1964) Naima (1964) Unrealized Tapes (1964)

Chico Hamilton

The Original Ellington Suite (1958)

Charles Mingus

Mingus Revisted [aka Pre-Bird] (1960) Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus (1960) Mingus at Antibes (1960) Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (1963) Town Hall Concert (1964) The Great Concert of Charles Mingus (1964) Revenge! (1964)

Ornette Coleman

Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation (1960)

Oliver Nelson

Screamin' the Blues (1960) The Blues and the Abstract Truth (1961) Straight Ahead (1961)

John Coltrane

Olé Coltrane (1961) Africa/Brass (1961) Live at the Village Vanguard (1961) Impressions (One Track, "India") (1963)

Makanda Ken McIntyre

Looking Ahead (1960)

Andrew Hill

Point of Departure (1964)