JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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Eric Dolphy in Europe, Vol 1 (reissued on the Original Jazz Classics label) is an unusual release in a number of ways. Eric Dolphy’s main instrument was alto saxophone, but on this release, he sticks to bass clarinet and flute. Since Dolphy’s on the road, he’s playing with a Danish pickup group instead of a regular band. He doesn’t play any originals, but instead plays either standards or mainstream contemporary bop tunes.
The result is an unusually accessible date for Dolphy. Those befuddled by his dates as a leader should definitely check out Eric Dolphy in Europe, Vol 1.
Eric Dolphy tends to be lumped in with avant guarde players, but in his improvisations, he doesn’t so much abandon chordal improvisation as extend it. There is almost always a relationship to the chordal structures in the tunes, however distant. The problem is that, on his solo releases, his compositions can often be quite advanced harmonically. When you put that together with his wild and woolly improvisational style, it can seem like too much of a good thing. Lesser mortals like myself can get lost or overwhelmed, and then you stop hearing from Dolphy’s doing.
However, on Eric Dolphy in Europe, Vol 1, since the tunes are relatively conventional, that gives us regular folk an opportunity to appreciate Dolphy’s eccentric solos in a safer context. We have a better chance of hearing the harmonic relationship of his improvisations to the chordal structure of the songs. That’s even true of of Dolphy’s unaccompanied bass clarinet rendition of the Billy Holiday standard God Bless The Child, which is probably my favorite version of this tune. We know what God Bless The Child is supposed to sound like, so we unconsciously interpolate that under what Dolphy is playing. When it comes to Dolphy, I’m grateful for all the help I can get.
Eric Dolphy in Europe, Vol 1 has a short but well-chosen program. In addition to God Bless The Child, there’s Randy Weston’s attractive and bouncy High-Fly, the rarely heard Hart and Rodgers tune Glad to Be Unhappy, and the bop chestnut Oleo.
Now, we’ve all heard Oleo any number of times, but when you hear Dolphy take a whack at it, it’s like you’re hearing it for the first time.
Personally, I never get tired of listening to Eric Dolphy in Europe, Vol 1. It’s lively music, I can follow the tunes, and if I strain really hard, I can just begin to make out the undiscovered country where Dolphy is trying to take me.