Vintage Dolphy | |
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Live album by | |
Released | 1986 |
Recorded | March 10, 1962; March 14, 1963; April 18, 1963 |
Venue | Carnegie Hall, New York City; Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York |
Genre | Jazz |
Label | GM Recordings GM 3005D |
Producer | Gunther Schuller |
Vintage Dolphy is a live album by multi-instrumentalist Eric Dolphy. Side A was recorded at Carnegie Hall in New York City on April 18, 1963, and features Dolphy in a quartet format with trumpeter Edward Armour, bassist Richard Davis, and drummer J. C. Moses. [1] Side B contains three pieces by Gunther Schuller, with varying instrumentation, one of which ("Night Music") was recorded at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, New York with the Syracuse Friends of Chamber Music on March 10, 1962, [2] the other two of which ("Densities" and "Abstraction") were recorded at Carnegie Hall on March 14, 1963. [3] [nb 1] The remaining track is a rendition of Charlie Parker's "Donna Lee" by an all-star ensemble recorded at Carnegie Hall on April 18, 1963. [1]
The album was released on LP in 1986 by Schuller's GM Recordings, and on CD in 1987 by GM and Enja Records. [5] [6] In 1996, GM reissued the album in remastered and expanded format, adding a recording of a five-part Schuller composition titled "Variants on a Theme by Thelonious Monk". [7] This composition, along with "Abstraction", had previously appeared on the album Jazz Abstractions , in versions that featured Ornette Coleman. [8]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [9] |
The Penguin Guide to Jazz | [10] |
The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide | [11] |
The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz | [12] |
In an 1987 article for The New York Times , Jon Pareles included the album in an overview of recent Dolphy recordings, noting his "quiet resurgence," and describing his compositions as "odd-length structures with unexpected leaps that suggested a new yardstick for the distance between notes." [13]
Norman Weinstein, writing for The Boston Phoenix , stated that the tracks on Vintage Dolphy are "not so much polished, well-balanced group performances as wondrous examples of Dolphy's imagination soaring, inventing new harmonic possibilities out of note choices articulated with plenty of smears and cries and a Mozartian fluidity of ideas." [14]
Bill Shoemaker of Jazz Times noted that Dolphy's quartet performances on Vintage Dolphy help to bolster the notion that his music "provides the necessary evolutionary continuity between [Charlie] Parker's sensibility... and a wide spectrum of composer/improvisers, including Anthony Braxton, Oliver Lake and James Newton." [15]
Writer Martin Williams dedicated a chapter of his 1992 book Jazz Changes to the album, and remarked: "this album shows Eric in a number of settings, offers him... a range of challenges, and shows almost all the things he could do, all the approaches he knew how to take to improvising." [16] He concluded the chapter by stating: "At this point I should repeat the real reason for this LP: Eric Dolphy was a man born to make and communicate music, and any phrase from any of his instruments will tell you that immediately." [17]
In a review for AllMusic, Scott Yanow wrote: "This posthumous collection features the remarkable Eric Dolphy in prime form... Highly recommended." [9]
The authors of the Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings called the album "a slightly uneasy combination of jazz and Third Stream material." [10]
Duncan Heining, writing for All About Jazz , commented: "These are important recordings that amount to much more than any number of radio shots from Dolphy's European tours... In several ways, Vintage Dolphy is also a tribute to two major American musical figures—Dolphy himself, and Gunther Schuller... all too often Schuller is remembered... by reference to the term 'Third Stream.' Vintage Dolphy provides an opportunity to grasp what is meant by the term but also to understand how Dolphy might connect with it... These three sets say that there should have been, could have been so much more. But let's be grateful for what there is." [18]
Charles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians and composers in history, with a career spanning three decades and collaborations with other jazz musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Herbie Hancock. Mingus's work ranged from advanced bebop and avant-garde jazz with small and midsize ensembles – pioneering the post-bop style on seminal recordings like Pithecanthropus Erectus (1956) and Mingus Ah Um (1959) – to progressive big band experiments such as The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963).
Eric Allan Dolphy Jr. was an American jazz alto saxophonist, bass clarinetist and flautist. On a few occasions, he also played the clarinet and piccolo. Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gain prominence in the same era. His use of the bass clarinet helped to establish the instrument within jazz. Dolphy extended the vocabulary and boundaries of the alto saxophone, and was among the earliest significant jazz flute soloists.
Gunther Alexander Schuller was an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, educator, publisher, and jazz musician.
Out to Lunch! is a 1964 album by jazz multi-instrumentalist Eric Dolphy. His only recording on Blue Note as a leader, it was issued as BLP 4163 and BST 84163. Featuring Dolphy in a quintet with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, bassist Richard Davis and drummer Tony Williams, it was generally considered by critics as one of the finest albums issued on Blue Note, and widely viewed as one of the high points of 1960s avant-garde jazz. The album cover designed by Reid Miles features a photo of a "Will Be Back" sign displayed in a shop window showing a seven handed clock.
Eric Dolphy at the Five Spot, Vols. 1 and 2, is a pair of jazz albums documenting one night from the end of Eric Dolphy and Booker Little's two-week residency at the Five Spot in New York. This was the only night to be recorded. The engineer was Rudy Van Gelder.
Iron Man is an album by American jazz multi-instrumentalist Eric Dolphy, recorded in 1963 and released by the Douglas International label in 1968. The album was reissued on disc two of Musical Prophet: The Expanded 1963 New York Studio Sessions, released in 2018 by Resonance Records.
Far Cry is the third album by jazz musician Eric Dolphy, released in 1962 on New Jazz Featuring a quintet co-led with trumpeter Booker Little, it is one of the few recordings of their partnership. Pianist Jaki Byard, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Roy Haynes all return from earlier Dolphy albums. This was a busy time for Dolphy- he took part in Ornette Coleman's Free Jazz session and recorded this album on the same day, and had participated in the Jazz Abstractions project the previous day.
Conversations is a 1963 album by American jazz multi-instrumentalist, Eric Dolphy first released by the FM label and later reissued by Vee-Jay as The Eric Dolphy Memorial Album the following year. The album was reissued on disc one of Musical Prophet: The Expanded 1963 New York Studio Sessions, released in 2018 by Resonance Records.
Last Date is a live album by jazz musician Eric Dolphy released in early 1965 on Limelight Records. It was recorded on June 2, 1964 in Hilversum, North Holland, shortly after Dolphy had settled in Paris, France, following a tour with Charles Mingus. Dolphy is accompanied by the Misha Mengelberg trio on the album.. The audience was an invited group of recording executives and studio personnel.
Pre-Bird is an album by jazz bassist and composer Charles Mingus consisting of music that was composed before Mingus first heard Charlie Parker, hence the title Pre-Bird. It was released on Mercury Records in September 1961.
Beauty Is a Rare Thing is a compilation box set collecting all the master recordings made for Atlantic Records between 1959 and 1961 by the American jazz composer and saxophonist Ornette Coleman. The set was released on Rhino Records in 1993, and reissued in March 2015.
Pop + Jazz = Swing is an album arranged and conducted by Benny Golson featuring performances recorded in 1962 and originally released on the Audio Fidelity label. Record producer Tom Wilson was involved in the sessions and wrote the album's liner notes. The album utilised stereophonic sound to present a jazz group on the right channel and an 11-piece pop orchestra playing the same song or a related tune on the left channel which could be separated or mixed by the listener. The related jazz tunes are contrafacts or borrowed chord progressions where new melodies are overlaid on an existing harmonic structure.
The Complete Town Hall Concert is a live album by the American bassist, composer and bandleader Charles Mingus, recorded at The Town Hall in New York City and first released on the United Artists label in 1962 as Town Hall Concert. The album was rereleased with additional tracks on the Blue Note label in 1994 as The Complete Town Hall Concert.
Jazz Abstractions is a third stream album combining elements of jazz and classical music recorded in late 1960 for the Atlantic label.
Naima is an album by American musician Eric Dolphy, released in Europe in 1987 by the Jazzway label, and later by the West Wind label. Four of the five tracks were recorded on June 11, 1964 in a Paris studio for radio broadcast, nine days after the Hilversum session that yielded Last Date, and eighteen days before Dolphy's death. The remaining track, a duet with bassist Ron Carter, was recorded in New York City in November 1960, during a session which also produced three of the tracks released on Other Aspects.
Unrealized Tapes is an album by American musician Eric Dolphy, released in Europe in 1988 by the West Wind label, and in Japan with the title Last Recordings by the DIW label. The album was recorded on June 11, 1964 in a Paris studio for radio broadcast, nine days after the Hilversum session that yielded Last Date, and eighteen days before Dolphy's death.
Dash One is an album by Eric Dolphy consisting of alternate takes of four pieces recorded for other albums.
Stockholm Sessions is an album by Eric Dolphy. It was recorded in September and November 1961 at the Swedish Broadcast station in Stockholm, Sweden, and was released by Inner City Records and Enja Records in 1981. The album was recorded during Dolphy's second visit to Europe.
The Berlin Concerts is a two-LP live album by Eric Dolphy. It was recorded on August 30, 1961, at two separate venues in Berlin, Germany, and was released by Inner City Records and Enja Records in 1978.
Eric Dolphy in Europe, Volumes 1, 2, and 3, is a trio of live albums by jazz multi-instrumentalist Eric Dolphy. The albums were recorded on September 6 and 8, 1961, in Copenhagen, Denmark, and were released on the Prestige label in 1964 and 1965. On the recordings, Dolphy is joined by three Danish musicians: pianist Bent Axen, bassist Erik Moseholm, and drummer Jorn Elniff. Bassist Chuck Israels, who was in Copenhagen with the Jerome Robbins ballet company, also appears on one track.