Eric Dolphy: Outward Bound To Out To Lunch Revisited

Ask any jazz aficionado for their favourite jazz albums of the '60s and the chances are that, alongside such decade-defining choices as Jimmy Giuffre's Free Fall (Columbia, 1963), John Coltrane's A Love Supreme (Impulse, 1965), Andrew Hill's Point of Departure (Blue Note, 1965) and Albert Ayler's Spiritual Unity (ESP, 1965), they will select Eric Dolphy's Out to Lunch (Blue Note, 1964). Now the Dolphy classic has been reissued on Ezz-thetics alongside one of his older recordings, Outward Bound (Prestige, 1964), with both sounding better than ever thanks to the sound restoration and mastering of Michael Brandl.

Both albums were originally recorded at Van Gelder Studio, Outward Bound on April 1, 1960, (yes!) and Out to Lunch on February 25, 1964. On the former, Dolphy played alto sax, flute and bass clarinet, and was joined by Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Jaki Byard on piano, George Tucker on double bass and Roy Haynes on drums. Of the album's six pieces, three were Dolphy compositions plus the much-covered "Green Dolphin Street," the Rogers & Hart show tune "Glad to be Unhappy," and trombonist Charles Greenlee's "Miss Toni." Throughout, the standard of soloing is high, particularly from Dolphy and Hubbard, although the rhythm section could have benefitted from loosening up a little.

In the four years between Outward Bound and Out to Lunch Dolphy was much in demand, playing and recording with Charles Mingus and John Coltrane plus others. In 1964 he signed with Blue Note, with Out to Lunch being the result. On the album he was joined by Hubbard again plus Richard Davis on bass, Anthony Williams on drums and, in a significant change, Bobby Hutcherson on vibraphone, not piano. Dolphy was undoubtedly the leader, with all five of the album's pieces being his compositions. All five players sounded relaxed, individually and collectively; the vibraphone replacing the piano contributed to a laid-back atmosphere. The first two tracks feature Dolphy on bass clarinet which was relatively uncommon at the time; the combination of it with vibes gave the album its fingerprint and helped popularize the instruments. Sadly, Dolphy never got to see that as, within four months of recording the album, he died after falling into a diabetic coma while on tour in Europe. Thanks to the album, his legend lives on and always will.