Eric Dolphy Music

Perhaps this is slightly less adventurous than Out to Lunch, but still, this sure does sound good. Don't let to cover art or the label stop you from buying this one (and Conversations too). The music delivers and then some. Every song is beautifully written and arranged. I think the overally feel of the album is a little less eerie than Out to Lunch, and perhaps there is a looser feel to many of the tunes, which is a good thing considering the players: Jaki Byard, Clifford Jordan, Bobby Hutcherson, Sonny Simmons, Prince Lasha, and Woody Shaw. Some of the Dolphy recordings suffer slightly when he's playing with people who might be just on a different page musically (maybe older players less in tune with what Dolphy is doing). But to my ears this is not the case here. Everyone is perfectly in synch and it's hard to imagine a better group to back Dolphy.

I've noticed there are several other editions of this CD on different labels. From what some of the other reviewers have said, there are problems with the sound on at least a few of them. I haven't noticed any problems with this one on Restless Records.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this music. It's great stuff. But I'm afraid Varese records did an awful job in the tranfer (in my copy, at least). The trumpet breaks up quite a bit on the first track, and there are some unlistenable parts where the sound distorts. Therefore, get this music - for it is magnificent - but get the more expensive Jazz World reissue instead. That'll save you some grief.

If you're looking for the next best thing (in a similar genre) to "Out to Lunch," then search no further. Here you can clearly hear that Dolphy's style of both playing and composing was developing towards the music on the before mentioned legendary Blue Note recording that took place less than a year later.
Dolphy plays all his instruments with great skill as usual - alto sax, bass-clarinet and flute.

Musicians featured on the title track, "Mandrake" and "Burning Spear" are Eddie Kahn (bass,) J.C. Moses (drums,) Bobby Hutcherson (vibes,) Prince Lasha (flute,) Clifford Jordan (soprano sax,) Huey Simmons (alto sax) and Woody Shaw (trumpet.)
Richard Davis ALSO plays the bass on "Burning Spear" and duets with Dolphy on Ellington's "Come Sunday" and "Ode To C.P." (C.P. naturally abbreviating Charlie Parker.)

These 1963 performances are great and the sound quality is very good. While not AS eccentric, Avant-Garde and free as "Out To Lunch" (since it lacks Tony Williams, and since there are three other horn players aside from Dolphy) the melodies are still beautifully arranged, and differs from what mainstream jazz artists recorded in the early 60's.
A warm recommendation if you've already been out to lunch!

I rank Iron Man among Dolphy's best discs and I have listened to quite a few of them. There is one problem with this disc and it has nothing to do with the music. The Fuel 2000 version of this great album all seem to have static noises on the last tune "Ode to P.C.". I thought I had just bought a defective CD so I returned it to exchange for another copy but the new copy had the same problem. Unfortunately the static noise renders the last song unlistenable.

For me this is Dolphy's best album and one of the great albums ever. Somehow this never got the recognition that Out To Lunch and others have. It certainly should be reissued. The compositions are Dolphy's best on one single album (with Out to Lunch a close second).
I disagree with the comment that there is discordance. There is dissonance -- a beautiful and heartfelt kind of dissonance. The whole ensemble is great. (BTW, this must have been one of Woody Shaw's and Bobby Hutcherson's first recordings. Hutcherson in particular shines.) However Dolphy's solos, arrangements and compositions are the highpoints.
This album is so original and timeless even by Dolphy's standards. All tracks are moving, but "Burning Spear" is a masterpiece that gets to me everytime - it really evokes a primal state.
If you are a Dolphy fan, or want to hear music that is the opposite of generic, track this one down.

Whilst I'd undoubtedly stick Dolphy's "Out to Lunch" somewhere on a "Desert Island Discs" list, if need be, I don't think "Iron Man" would be too far behind. In fact, when push comes to shove, I think I'd have to rate this as possibly Dolphy's best ever album.
Produced by the estimable Alan Douglas (later producer/hanger-on for Hendrix, Miles, McLaughlin, Last Poets and more) in 1963, the line-up of musicians and hard-walloped SWING of this release makes it an essential listen. Sonically lying somewhere between the big band stylings of Mingus and the free-improv of Ornette or Coltrane, it's a perfect combination of density and freedom.
Highlights include the the title track, especially with Bobby Hutcherson's accompanying vibe action, and the avant-squonk of "Burning Spear", an 11+ minute journey that ranks as one of Dolphy's greatest compostions, his looming bass clarinet coming to the fore.
To state the bleeding obvious, had Dolphy lived longer than he had, we all would have been graced with so much more amazing music. Essential.

There's not much I can add to the earlier reviews. This is top-drawer Dolphy with fine support, especially from Bobby Hutcherson, Woody Shaw and Richard Davis. Dolphy was one of the great individualists, and it's no wonder that Coltrane, Ornette and Mingus all saw fit to draw on his talents. One note: as you may have gleaned from the reviews, the track listing above is actually from a different Dolphy disc, "Conversation." The correct tracks on this disc are "Iron Man," "Mandrake," "Come Sunday," "Burning Spear," and "Ode to C.P."

If you're looking for the next best thing (in a similar genre) to "Out to Lunch," then search no further. Here you can clearly hear that Dolphy's style of both playing and composing was developing towards the music on the before mentioned legendary Blue Note recording that took place less than a year later.
Dolphy plays all his instruments with great skill as usual - alto sax, bass-clarinet and flute.

Musicians featured on the title track, "Mandrake" and "Burning Spear" are Eddie Kahn (bass,) J.C. Moses (drums,) Bobby Hutcherson (vibes,) Prince Lasha (flute,) Clifford Jordan (soprano sax,) Huey Simmons (alto sax) and Woody Shaw (trumpet.)
Richard Davis ALSO plays the bass on "Burning Spear" and duets with Dolphy on Ellington's "Come Sunday" and "Ode To C.P." (C.P. naturally abbreviating Charlie Parker.)

These 1963 performances are great and the sound quality is very good. While not AS eccentric, Avant-Garde and free as "Out To Lunch" (since it lacks Tony Williams, and since there are three other horn players aside from Dolphy) the melodies are still beautifully arranged, and differs from what mainstream jazz artists recorded in the early 60's.
A warm recommendation if you've already been out to lunch!

I rank Iron Man among Dolphy's best discs and I have listened to quite a few of them. There is one problem with this disc and it has nothing to do with the music. The Fuel 2000 version of this great album all seem to have static noises on the last tune "Ode to P.C.". I thought I had just bought a defective CD so I returned it to exchange for another copy but the new copy had the same problem. Unfortunately the static noise renders the last song unlistenable.

For me this is Dolphy's best album and one of the great albums ever. Somehow this never got the recognition that Out To Lunch and others have. It certainly should be reissued. The compositions are Dolphy's best on one single album (with Out to Lunch a close second).
I disagree with the comment that there is discordance. There is dissonance -- a beautiful and heartfelt kind of dissonance. The whole ensemble is great. (BTW, this must have been one of Woody Shaw's and Bobby Hutcherson's first recordings. Hutcherson in particular shines.) However Dolphy's solos, arrangements and compositions are the highpoints.
This album is so original and timeless even by Dolphy's standards. All tracks are moving, but "Burning Spear" is a masterpiece that gets to me everytime - it really evokes a primal state.
If you are a Dolphy fan, or want to hear music that is the opposite of generic, track this one down.

Whilst I'd undoubtedly stick Dolphy's "Out to Lunch" somewhere on a "Desert Island Discs" list, if need be, I don't think "Iron Man" would be too far behind. In fact, when push comes to shove, I think I'd have to rate this as possibly Dolphy's best ever album.
Produced by the estimable Alan Douglas (later producer/hanger-on for Hendrix, Miles, McLaughlin, Last Poets and more) in 1963, the line-up of musicians and hard-walloped SWING of this release makes it an essential listen. Sonically lying somewhere between the big band stylings of Mingus and the free-improv of Ornette or Coltrane, it's a perfect combination of density and freedom.
Highlights include the the title track, especially with Bobby Hutcherson's accompanying vibe action, and the avant-squonk of "Burning Spear", an 11+ minute journey that ranks as one of Dolphy's greatest compostions, his looming bass clarinet coming to the fore.
To state the bleeding obvious, had Dolphy lived longer than he had, we all would have been graced with so much more amazing music. Essential.

There's not much I can add to the earlier reviews. This is top-drawer Dolphy with fine support, especially from Bobby Hutcherson, Woody Shaw and Richard Davis. Dolphy was one of the great individualists, and it's no wonder that Coltrane, Ornette and Mingus all saw fit to draw on his talents. One note: as you may have gleaned from the reviews, the track listing above is actually from a different Dolphy disc, "Conversation." The correct tracks on this disc are "Iron Man," "Mandrake," "Come Sunday," "Burning Spear," and "Ode to C.P."

Dolphy first album I've heard and I love him thence. He plays on bass clarinet - Epistrophy, Hypochristmutreefuzz
flute -South street exit and You don't know what love is - maybe most beautiful flute solo I've ever heard
alto sax - The Madrig speak, the Panther walks and Miss Ann - both superb. Great music. Mix of bop and free jazz. Dolphy plays with unusual feeling and emotion.
Highly recommend.

For this Dolphy fan, Last Date stands the test of time as one of his finest performances. Recommended to any jazzcat into 60's avant. Dolphy explodes on bass clarinet on his version of Monk's classic, Epistrophy. Dolphy, Epistrophy...hmmm? The drum and bass work is nothing special but the Scandanavian team does the job. The piano player (also Scandanavian) is a nice surprise with interesting melodic and rhythmic chord placements. All in all, one of Dolphy's best and one to go back to time and time again for new insights. There's even a quote from Eric after the final track. A must buy for anyone who says they're seriously into jazz.

Although previous reviewers pointed out the excellent quality of the music on this disc, and none of them mentioned the not-so-excellent sound-quality (due to studio-recordings that probably were meant for radio-broadcasting), I'm forced to comment on their reviews of the sidemen. Misha Mengelberg, Han Bennink and Jacques Schols do not just provide a NICE background; they provide an EXCELLENT basis on which Dolphy could do his thing so well. They where then, and Mengelberg and Bennink are still, part of the European Improvisation Avant Garde. Besides that, all three of them are citizens of THE NETHERLANDS, which is not a part of Scandinavia.

Now back to the music. If you like the exciting jazz-sound of the sixties, and you don't already own this album, buy it!! Dolphy will not disappoint you.

Eric Dolphy's career was tragically brief and his studio output - particularly as a leader - quite small, with the result that live albums, most of them recorded in Europe with pick-up rhythm sections, account for much of his legacy. LAST DATE, recorded in Hilversum, Holland on June 2, 1964 (twenty-seven days before Dolphy's death; in fact, it wasn't his last show, nor even his last recording, but that's beside the point) is easily the best of these that I've heard, and ranks among the best of Dolphy's albums overall. The Dutch rhythm section, especially pianist Misja Mengelberg, provides an inspired context for Dolphy's matchless blowing on all three of his primary instruments, and the track selection, uniquely among Dolphy's live recordings, consists primarily of original compositions. Three of Dolphy's own numbers are featured: the alto saxophone workouts "The Madrig Speaks, the Panther Walks" (also known as "Mandrake") and "Miss Ann," both featuring the inside-out tones, slippery phrasing and indefatigable energy so characteristic of Dolphy's alto playing; and the bright, upbeat flute piece "South Street Exit," with Dolphy far better recorded here than in the undermiked version on THE ILLINOIS CONCERT. Mengelberg contributes "Hypochristmuhtreefuzz," a very Dolphyish piece which the leader essays on bass clarinet. The two covers, each over eleven minutes in length, are both masterpieces. Thelonious Monk's "Epistrophy" features an exhaustive performance by Dolphy on bass clarinet, as well as nice, tight solos from Mengelberg and the others, underscoring both the significant influence of Monk's music on Dolphy and twhat a sorry loss it is to the jazz world that these two giants of the "outside" never recorded together. Back on flute, Dolphy gives the oft-covered ballad "You Don't Know What Love Is" far and away the most beautiful treatment I've heard; this may be the most outstanding of his performances on that most demanding of reed instruments. It's worth noting that LAST DATE is also unique among Dolphy's albums in giving the least disc time to alto sax numbers, as that is usually his most prominently-featured instrument. A final brief comment from Dolphy - the only recording of his voice I know of, in fact - closes out this extremely satisfying album from a truly great and underappreciated artist, which is also - fortunately - one of the easiest of his recordings to obtain.

Dolphy is far and away one of the most sensitive and most technically sophisticated players to ever live. His music on this date is particularly sensitive even by his standards. It gives me chills every time I listen to it. In all of Dolphy's music you can hear him stretching for something. In this album I can hear him reaching what he was always reaching for...if only just barely. His flute playing in particular is beyond words...one can almost hear his soul being set free.
It is tragic he died so young. I have heard rumors Misha is holding on to additional recordings from this meeting; if this is true I pray he releases them.

Dolphy first album I've heard and I love him thence. He plays on bass clarinet - Epistrophy, Hypochristmutreefuzz
flute -South street exit and You don't know what love is - maybe most beautiful flute solo I've ever heard
alto sax - The Madrig speak, the Panther walks and Miss Ann - both superb. Great music. Mix of bop and free jazz. Dolphy plays with unusual feeling and emotion.
Highly recommend.

For this Dolphy fan, Last Date stands the test of time as one of his finest performances. Recommended to any jazzcat into 60's avant. Dolphy explodes on bass clarinet on his version of Monk's classic, Epistrophy. Dolphy, Epistrophy...hmmm? The drum and bass work is nothing special but the Scandanavian team does the job. The piano player (also Scandanavian) is a nice surprise with interesting melodic and rhythmic chord placements. All in all, one of Dolphy's best and one to go back to time and time again for new insights. There's even a quote from Eric after the final track. A must buy for anyone who says they're seriously into jazz.

Although previous reviewers pointed out the excellent quality of the music on this disc, and none of them mentioned the not-so-excellent sound-quality (due to studio-recordings that probably were meant for radio-broadcasting), I'm forced to comment on their reviews of the sidemen. Misha Mengelberg, Han Bennink and Jacques Schols do not just provide a NICE background; they provide an EXCELLENT basis on which Dolphy could do his thing so well. They where then, and Mengelberg and Bennink are still, part of the European Improvisation Avant Garde. Besides that, all three of them are citizens of THE NETHERLANDS, which is not a part of Scandinavia.

Now back to the music. If you like the exciting jazz-sound of the sixties, and you don't already own this album, buy it!! Dolphy will not disappoint you.

Eric Dolphy's career was tragically brief and his studio output - particularly as a leader - quite small, with the result that live albums, most of them recorded in Europe with pick-up rhythm sections, account for much of his legacy. LAST DATE, recorded in Hilversum, Holland on June 2, 1964 (twenty-seven days before Dolphy's death; in fact, it wasn't his last show, nor even his last recording, but that's beside the point) is easily the best of these that I've heard, and ranks among the best of Dolphy's albums overall. The Dutch rhythm section, especially pianist Misja Mengelberg, provides an inspired context for Dolphy's matchless blowing on all three of his primary instruments, and the track selection, uniquely among Dolphy's live recordings, consists primarily of original compositions. Three of Dolphy's own numbers are featured: the alto saxophone workouts "The Madrig Speaks, the Panther Walks" (also known as "Mandrake") and "Miss Ann," both featuring the inside-out tones, slippery phrasing and indefatigable energy so characteristic of Dolphy's alto playing; and the bright, upbeat flute piece "South Street Exit," with Dolphy far better recorded here than in the undermiked version on THE ILLINOIS CONCERT. Mengelberg contributes "Hypochristmuhtreefuzz," a very Dolphyish piece which the leader essays on bass clarinet. The two covers, each over eleven minutes in length, are both masterpieces. Thelonious Monk's "Epistrophy" features an exhaustive performance by Dolphy on bass clarinet, as well as nice, tight solos from Mengelberg and the others, underscoring both the significant influence of Monk's music on Dolphy and twhat a sorry loss it is to the jazz world that these two giants of the "outside" never recorded together. Back on flute, Dolphy gives the oft-covered ballad "You Don't Know What Love Is" far and away the most beautiful treatment I've heard; this may be the most outstanding of his performances on that most demanding of reed instruments. It's worth noting that LAST DATE is also unique among Dolphy's albums in giving the least disc time to alto sax numbers, as that is usually his most prominently-featured instrument. A final brief comment from Dolphy - the only recording of his voice I know of, in fact - closes out this extremely satisfying album from a truly great and underappreciated artist, which is also - fortunately - one of the easiest of his recordings to obtain.

Dolphy is far and away one of the most sensitive and most technically sophisticated players to ever live. His music on this date is particularly sensitive even by his standards. It gives me chills every time I listen to it. In all of Dolphy's music you can hear him stretching for something. In this album I can hear him reaching what he was always reaching for...if only just barely. His flute playing in particular is beyond words...one can almost hear his soul being set free.
It is tragic he died so young. I have heard rumors Misha is holding on to additional recordings from this meeting; if this is true I pray he releases them.