Jazz and Blues Lounge

A Link to Eric Dolphy

by balaspa on March 12th, 2008

When it comes to jazz you run across certain names and they are usually whispered by fans with a kind of awe.  For me, as you may already know, that name is Miles Davis.  For my brother, it is Charlie “Bird” Parker.  For some it is John Coltrane.  One of the names you hear whispered a lot by people who want to be jazz afficianados is Eric Dolphy.  I wanted to provide you a link HERE to a great article I have found about Mr. Dolphy.

For me, I have never been a huge fan of Mr. Dolphy.  Mostly this is due to ignorance.  Much of my jazz training came from working at that all-jazz radio station I worked at when I was in college.  We had a lot of Miles and Parker and Mingus and others, but we had little if any Eric Dolphy.  As such, I have not really had much of a chance to listen to him.

I do know that his name is mentioned when other people talk about true jazz innovators.  Of course, I have also heard his name mentioned in the same breath as Ornette Coleman, who happens to be a guy I just cannot stand.  Mr. Coleman may have been a very nice gentleman, and I appreciate anyone attempting to take a chance with music and his art, but to me his stuff sounds like noise.  If I put on an Ornette Coleman album and the needle just screeched across the record, I probably would not know the difference between that and his music until someone called into the station.

I don’t believe Dolphy was quite that way.  Now, the article comes from AllAboutJazz.com which is a great website for jazz lovers.  It is a great place to find music reviews and just about everything you can want to know about up-coming releases.  They also have some great and informative articles, and today this one about Eric Dolphy caught my eye.

I am not sure it has convinced me to seek out any Eric Dolphy, but I do always want to expand my jazz horizons.  I do believe everyone should take a chance with music even if that chance turns out to be a failure.  Just getting comfortable with things like art and music is a dangerous thing, I feel and can lead to the death of your imagination.

So, enjoy the article.  If you happen to be a fan of Eric Dolphy and have some information you would like to add here, or recommendations for albums of his, PLEASE leave those comments.  I love hearing comments and recommendations from you guys and have come to trust your tastes.  Thanks!

POSTED IN: Bands, Chicago, jazz, records