Please note this is an old page and Fly Global Music has now moved. Please follow this link and search for the entry in the new site.

The mixture of hard bop, free jazz, modal post-bop by the “heir apparent” (see Eric Dolphy — The New King, Already Dead) is the very thing that has kept his name from becoming more recognized by the general public at least.

The classic Out To Lunch (also engineered by Rudy Van Gelder) was to follow a few years later with a different line-up; except for Freddie Hubbard with whom he had a special Parker/Gillespie type relationship with.

Dolphy was a member of Charle Mingus’ band and already a master of the alto saxophone, bass clarinet and flute and this album is a delightful mix of his skills in a variety of styles.

The popular standard ‘On Green Dolphin Street’ is contemporary to the period and ‘Miss Toni’ is of its time, workmanlike, but Hubbard is on fine form and the backing band of Jaki Byard (piano), George Tucker (bass) and Roy Haynes (drums) all get a piece of the action.

Surprisingly, the downtempo Rodgers and Hart song ‘Glad To Be Unhappy’ is a highlight due to Dolphy’s flute playing as is the bonus track, ‘April Fool’. The blues tracks, ‘Les’ and ‘245’ are good but what this album is best known for is the horn battle introduction to the opening track ‘G.W.’ The alternative take included on the CD is a little long in parts and not long enough at others.

The title of Outward Bound went on to be the name of German label that is dedicated to the life and music of Eric Dolphy and well worth checking out.

A fine album to explore before or after Out To Lunch and I’d also recommend another Blue Note album, Andrew Hill’s Point of Departure and the recently re-released classic, Oliver Nelson’s The Blues and the Abstract Truth.

Eric Dolphy (June 20, 1928 — June 29, 1964)

Hectic Mix nomination: ‘G.W.’, ‘Glad To Be Unhappy’, ‘245’

Reviewed: Eric Dolphy — Outward Bound (Prestige) Cat.No. 0888072300835 Released: 06 Nov 2006 — Part of the “Rudy Van Gelder Remasters” Series. “I remember the session well, I remember how the musicians wanted to sound and I remember their reactions to the playbacks. Today, I feel strongly that I am their messenger” — Rudy Van Gelder Original recording at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 1st April, 1960.Released as New Jazz 82367, 8 & 9 Bonus tracks

Tracklisting:
1 G.W. (7:57)
2 On Green Dolphin Street (5:44)
3 Les (5:12)
4 245 (6:49)
5 Glad To Be Unhappy (5:26)
6 Miss Toni (5:40)
7 April Fool (4:10)
8 G.W. (Alternate Take 1) (12:09)
9 245 (Alternate Take 1) (8:10)

Links:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Dolphy
www.myspace.com/theericdolphysolowebsite
jazzdisco.org/dolphy
www.outward-bound.de