So Long Eric

Happy birthday, Eric Dolphy. In memory of you, here's a clip from 1964 of Dolphy in Mingus's group. I believe this blues was composed because Dolphy was leaving Mingus's group, and it's a fascinating example of how Dolphy, despite being part of the "New Thing" in jazz, was always aware of jazz tradition. Jaki Byard is fascinating as usual, capable of playing in all the various jazz styles from stride to modern 1960s styles. Clifford Jordan's astonishingly soulful here. 

Essential Jazz Jam of the Day: Fuschia Swing Song

There's something about this song and the album of the same name that marks it as great post-bop jazz of the 1960s. Sam Rivers, who has played with brilliant forces in jazz such as Andrew Hill and Bobby Hutcherson on the latter's Dialogue, repeats the trend with accompaniment from Tony Williams, Ron Carter, and Jaki Byard, each great musicians on their own who recorded with titans such as Miles Davis and Charles Mingus. Rivers soars, honks, runs, and just about everything else in his swinging, blazing solo. One of my favorite moments in recorded jazz history, yes! Williams, the excellent young drummer, keeps things moving forwardly nicely and swings hard, as if the world is counting on it. His solo is sweet  As for Byard's solo, leans to the past (the standards and bebop), yet contains glimpses of the "in" music. 

What I love about this period of avant-garde and post-bop explorations of the jazz idiom is music's debts to hard bop, seen in the song's debts to bebop, tonal structures with an underlying current of freedom and exploratory heights in the saxophone solo of Rivers. Much like Eric Dolphy, Rivers bridges the gap between "the new thing" between hard bop and avant garde, "progressive" jazz. Check out "Beatrice" for another great example of the brilliance of Sam Rivers. It's a ballad, showing the softer side of Rivers and the gang. Nothing short of breathtaking, particularly Byard, who at times resembles Bill Evans. Gotta love Carter on bass, too. 

Eric Dolphy's Far Cry

Opening with a blues tribute to Charlie Parker, this number does not match the transitional character of the album, straying from avant-garde trends that Dolphy was closely connected to. This is bop, fun, and Roy Haynes on drums sounds like he’s enjoying himself, as is Jaki Byard. Fortunately, Dolphy’s solo, with his unique voice of honks, squeals and leaps, gives it that singular stamp of Dolphy individuality. Unlike Byard and the other soloists, he is stretching beyond Parker and the blues, a feat he brilliantly accomplished while using the blues form while recording “Stolen Moments” with Oliver Nelson, or his collaborations with Mingus and Coltrane. Of course, one cannot overlook Ron Carter’s funky cello solo, which sounds so earthy and almost country, famously sampled by a West Coast hip-hop group in the 1990s, Del the Funkee Homo Sapien’s “Catch a Bad One.” The subsequent track, a ballad with Dolphy pulling out his flute, “Ode to Charlie Parker,” is another beautiful tribute. Dolphy’s typical balladry comes out of his flute, tastefully done and Booker Little’s trumpet blows softly and beautifully with the flute. Dolphy’s flute solo is beyond reproach, one of those rare instances where jazz flute is not only bearable, but enjoyable, too. At times the sweet melody takes on a dark, depressing turn and at times sounds like the James Bond theme, yet for more subtly done and with expert flute additions.

The next track, “Far Cry,” is the more “out there” material Dolphy penned, with an angular head, rooted in bop while sounding otherworldly. The song is too short, alas, but fun to listen to, especially Booker Little and Dolphy. “Miss Ann” is similarly “out there” in terms of Dolphy’s sax solo, uptempo, and disjointed at times while Dolphy’s one of a kind voice blows away. “Left Alone,” a soft ballad featuring Dolphy on flute, is another tribute, to Billie Holiday this time, quite moving. During his solo, with excellent accompaniment from Byard and Haynes, he plays in his not quite free but not bop either style, ensuring another appreciable case of jazz flute.  Ron Carter’s bass solo is also a nice addition, one of those bass solos that is short, melodic, and not just random strumming of deep notes. Moreover, “Tenderly” represents another “out there” number, though a standard. It’s hauntingly beautiful in Dolphy’s introductory statement, almost as breathtaking as his solo in “Round Midnight” from Ezz-Thetics but only featuring himself. Things end out well with the pretty standard, “It’s Magic,” a midtempo delight featuring Dolphy’s unique, voicelike blowing again. As an album, this is far more conventional and accessible than Out to Lunch, and Dolphy’s take on standards is impeccable, as well as the Byard piano solo, for its beauty. Something about the song under Dolphy’s interpretation, though a standard, sounds like something from another universe. Finally, the added track, “Serene,” is a serene blues-inflected piece with strong Dolphy overtones in the head, making this a very, though under Dolphy’s unique leadership, traditional blues-oriented and ballad-based album. As a personal lover of jazz that veers between hard bop and avant-garde (Sam Rivers, Andrew Hill, some Jackie McLean and Lee Morgan, and a few other jazz artists from the early to mid 1960s accomplished this quite well), this phase in Dolphy's work is my favorite, as well as his work with Charles Mingus (Listen to the Town Hall Concert!).