Album Reviews

Billed as “The Expanded 1963 New York Studio Sessions”, Resonance Records’ Black Friday offering Eric Dolphy Musical Prophet is anything but one of those RSD repackaged assemblages of cast off secondary material meant for fanatical completists. The phrase “connective tissue” kept running through my head as I listened to the 3 LPs and read “mouth agape” the vital annotation that threaded together the confused recorded history.

For some jazz enthusiasts Eric Dolphy begins and ends with Out to Lunch (Blue Note ST 84163/MM BST-84163 2 45rpm LPs), recorded in February, 1964, not long after these July 1st and 3rd, 1963 sessions for Alan Douglas’s FM Records produced Conversations and Iron Man (the latter not released until four years after Dolphy’s death at age 36, June, 29th, 1964).

It’s considered Dolphy’s best album, so who can blame listeners for failing to sort through the confused tangle of previous Dolphy posthumous releases?

As a young “budding” jazz fan in the early ‘70s I tried. I bought the poorly annotated 1973 Prestige “two-fer” Copenhagen Concert (PRST 24027) culled from Volumes 1 and 3 of Eric Dolphy in Europe (what happened to Vol. 2?) and was blown away by the exotic sound of his solo bass clarinet take on “God Bless the Child”.

The 1971 Prestige “two-fer” simply titled Dolphy (PR 24008), reissues of Out There and Outward Bound with annotation by a State University of NY College at Old Westbury professor (Ken McIntyre) proved equally un-illuminating though we did learn that he met Dolphy in 1960 and was impressed with his “all around musicianship” and through Freddie Hubbard he got to sit in with Dolphy at Minton’s and that Dolphy guested on his Prestige recording session. This kid didn’t learn much of anything about Eric Dolphy other than what the music taught (which was plenty).

At another point I picked up (used) the 3 LP set The Great Concert of Eric Dolphy (P-34002), which was a live session recorded in 1961 at The Five Spot and features trumpeter Booker Little, who also died young (23). This set had notes (probably useful) by Ira Gitler, but they were missing from the used set I’d bought. At one point I picked up a used copy of the 1968 release The Eric Dolphy Memorial Album on Vee-Jay (LP 2503), which features some of the tracks that this Resonance reissue finally puts in context and includes more truly dumb annotation. So after all of this (pre-Internet ‘70s era) album searching I still knew next to nothing about Eric Dolphy other than that I was mesmerized by his music—particularly by the extremes of flute and bass clarinet.

But wait! There’s more! At a San Francisco thrift store last year I picked up for $2.00 Eric Dolphy Jitterbug Waltz a two LP set issued by the late Neil Bogart’s Casablanca Records label with a “Douglas” imprint. Casablanca is best known for Kiss, Disco, Donna Summer and The Village People, but I bought the record anyway, “just because” of the musicians listed (Richard Davis, Bobby Hutcherson, Clifford Jordan, Woody Shaw and a few others. And I noted the recording engineer, the late Bill Schwartau (who apparently died penniless as a drug-addicted “street person” , though he was at one point a brilliant engineer [Peter, Paul and Mary, etc.].

When I got home I read the annotation (more superlative-laced drek and of course “died at 36”) I discovered that the 1976 “two-fer” consisted of (Conversations and Iron Man released together for the first time (not that I’d heard of either record at that time, though some of the tracks were on the Vee Jay album). The mastering was by Allen Zentz in stereo and the sound is spectacular.

This new Resonance release is in mono because the producers say the stereo tapes have disappeared and they say that some of the stereo reissues were from “needle drops”, but the Casablanca/Douglas two-fer clearly was not. That said, as with many early ‘60s recordings a great case can be made (and I make one here) for why the mono release is preferable.

But before getting back to this Resonance “connective tissue” release, will someone please find the tape and reissue this crazy 1962 record?

On the left channel you get a “pop” section of violins (including The Left Banke’s Michael Brown’s father Harry Lookofsky), some flutes and horns, while on the right channel you get a jazz group featuring Freddy (sic) Hubbard, Bill Hardman, Curtis Fuller, Grachan Moncur, Wayne Shorter, Bill Evans, Ron Carter, Paul Chambers, Charlie Persip, Jimmy Cobb and Eric Dolphy!

Orchestrations by Benny Golson. If you play just the left channel you get a “pop” album. Play the right you get “jazz”, with different tunes on each channel. Play both together and it works as a complete stereo arrangement! Oh, and just to top it off, the record was produced by Tom Wilson (Bob Dylan, Frank Zappa, etc.)!

Here’s “How High the Moon” on the left channel and “Ornithology” on the center/right played by Eric Dolphy and Bill Evans!

How High The Moon/Ornithology

(perhaps otherwise known as "How High Was Charlie Parker")

Now Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Review

Resonance has done far more here than put together a three LP set that includes both Douglas-produced LPs (Conversations and Iron Man) and a third album of outtakes culled from the two original sessions (along with “A Personal Statement” a rare “bonus” track recorded at an Ann Arbor radio station in March of 1964 featuring Bob James [best known as an innovator of the much reviled “smooth jazz” sub-category]).

What’s most significant, at least for me, is the indespensible annotation that finally (at least for record collectors—I’m sure there are books that do this but who reads when you can listen?) puts together a coherent Dolphy narrative that covers everything from the source of these mono tapes (great story) that produced 159 minutes of music, to truly illuminating essays and interviews beginning with an appreciation by James Newton (both a distinguished flautist [ ie: Suite for Frida Kahlo (Audioquest AQ 1023)] and Professor of Music) that is both a historical overview and a musical analysis filled with head-spinning (for non-musicians) musical terms, followed by a more detailed chronicle of the events surrounding the recording of the two LPs and musical analysis more easily grasped by “civilians” by Robin D.G. Kelley (Professor of American History).

Following that essay are Dolphy remembrances by John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Ornette Coleman and Charles Mingus culled from books and previously published interviews as well as a recent interview (July, 2018) with Sonny Rollins conducted by producer Zev Feldman.

That’s followed by a fascinating reputation burnishing look at enigmatic producer Alan Douglas whose relationship with Jimi Hendrix and some of his recorded output was, to put it mildly, “controversial”. More musician interviews follow including ones with Richard Davis, Sonny Simmons, Joe Chambers and others. There’s more within the full sized booklet’s 20 pages, but one of my favorites is David Murray’s response to Zev Feldman’s question about an allmusic.com Murray bio. Feldman quotes the bio and then asks if the quote is “…in any way a fair representation of yours (Murray’s) and Dolphy’s style?”

Murray responds: “No. I think those are the words of some idiot professor who’s trying to sound intelligent. Fucking idiot.” Murray then explains why, but you’ll have to read that for yourself. I also enjoyed Murray’s discussion of how he got into Dolphy’s flute playing through James Newton: “James tightened up my Fauré”. Musician shop talk.

If you’re unfamiliar with Dolphy’s music and think you’re going to encounter “darkness and difficulty” you couldn’t be more wrong. Fats Waller’s oft-covered joyful “Jitterbug Waltz” opens the set and from there you are “in”. But if you want to start with something more moving, sublime and extraordinary, I suggest the spare cover of Ellington’s “Come Sunday” on Side “C”. Just arco (bowed) bass and bass clarinet. That’s all I’ll say about the music not wanting to risk having David Murray call me a “fucking idiot”.

While the stereo tapes have disappeared the mono masters were obviously in very good condition. The stereo versions mastered by Allen Zentz on the Douglas/Casablanca 1976 “two-fer” sound great and do not sound like “needle drops”. However, the “stereo” is of the “left/right” variety as if they were intended to be folded down to mono. There’s no great thrill hearing on “Come Sunday” Richard Davis all the way on one side and Dolphy on the other. That track and most of the tracks work better in mono, especially since the transfers and restoration work was so well done and the equalization (or lack thereof) so tasteful. Bernie Grundman cut lacquers and it appears that RTI pressed.

This set is limited to 3000 copies. Even if it costs $100 plus thanks to the Black Friday goniffs, it’s worth it! Highly recommended.