The recent proliferation of reissued Eric Dolphy records has prompted Clive G. Downs to make a reappraisal of his contributions to jazz. Says Downs : "Even though he was considered by many critics as excessively Avant Garde, Dolphy's music may not appear in today's context to be all that revolutionary. The records referred to represent his periods of fairly long-term membership of bands such as those by Chico Hamilton, John Coltrane, Charlie Mingus, as well as dates with his own groups. many sidemen sessions are also included."
ERIC DOLPHY's style is one of the most readily identifiable in jazz: his tone can often be easily recognised in the reed section of a large ensemble, for instance on MDM (3). Jazz has, for much of its history emphasised virtuosity (as opposed to the ensemble), and performance (as against composition), and in this respect Dolphy, at his most characteristic, is highly idiosyncratic in most ways — tonally, rhythmically, harmonically, and melodic ally.
His tone is notable for the influence of natural sounds. Sometimes these influences are reminiscent of the human voice, such as the laughter-like effect on the opening bars of the alto solo on Butch And Butch (4). On other occasions animal noises are suggested (for example, bird-song by some flute inflections during the Gazzeloni (9) solo, and the final notes of What Love (3) which sound rather like a duck). Use of more strictly musical devices such as distortion, chords (the cadenza in Love Me (8)), harmonics and falsetto, glissandi, and so on consolidate Dolphy's apparent interest in the exploration of a dimension of music neglected in much modern jazz, but one which, after all, is important in many of its earlier forms and antecedents. Blues, in particular, has made much use of vocal imitation by instruments, and, more generally, social anthropologists have pointed to the use of 'masking', or disguising of vocal expression with various artefacts, and simulation of environmental sounds, in primitive societies during rituals, particularly of a religious nature.
Harmonically, Dolphy's finest work exhibits a deployment of remote harmonics and an overall structure which one perceives as atonal (even if it is in effect a result of very rapid modulation and frequent, complex chords) which is very different from the lyrical chromaticism of bop and most postwar modern jazz.
Melodically, his lines display unusual phrasing, fragmentation, large intervals, a lack of resolution and an arhythmic quality. Certain leitmotivs occur (of which a common one is, exceptionally, echoed by another, underrated, erstwhile altoist Graham Bond on Manumission (12)). In all, this side of Dolphy's style is conspicuous in its divergence from that kind of linear logic, the technique of variation, so obsessively used by most other post-war jazz figures. Intriguingly though, Dolphy frequently produces folksong-like, pentatonic motifs, short, diatonic march-type phrases, and nursery-rhyme quotes, in contrast. The funky, blues-derived clichés so often used by many modern soloists are generally avoided.
The versatility of Dolphy's instrumental repertoire of alto sax, flute, Bb clarinet, and the unusual bass clarinet and piccolo is additionally remarkable for the way in which extreme registers are invoked as a matter of course, and the individual features of each reed and woodwind are exploited. This attention to each instrument's unique properties distinguishes Dolphy's musicianship from that of much jazz, and especially from bop, which seemed to regard the horn as a tool to investigate melody, harmony and rhythm.
Although it must be acknowledged that Dolphy's roots are in the oppressively influential music of Parker (as is clear from his early playing on Miss Movement (1)) it is obvious that his stylistic tendencies served to isolate him conceptually from his immediate predecessors, most of his contemporaries, and, interestingly, the newer generation of jazz artists.
Critics have generally not considered a jazz musician's compositions as significant when making an appraisal of his music (with some notable exceptions). They have, rather, judged the artist by his improvisation, and assumed compositions to be only a means to an end (the "head"). In Dolphy's case however, his original themes, unlike those of most other jazz musicians, demonstrate a consistency with his approach to improvisation. This is apparent in the compositions' harmonic concepts, sense of atonality. use of peculiar rhythmic devices such as compound time and change of meter, and unusual length (for instance, Miss Ann (l l) has a 14-bar theme). Straight Up And Down (9), which has a programmatic nature in its depiction of a drunk walking, gives scope to what appears to be a mimicry of the natural sound of drunken, slurred speech, in the alto solo. Certain other devices like drone bass and alternation of two chords recur in G. W. (2) and 17 West (2) among others. Here it may also be observed that the titles The Madrig Speaks, The Panther Walks (l l) and Mandrake (8) reflect curiosity in natural sound and indeed anthropomorphism.
Dolphy's arranging skills are heard in both the informal "heads" on most small group sessions, and more profoundly in the scores for larger ensembles, namely on (6) and (8). The former are typically unison in the main, but contain some brief, tensely voiced harmonisation. The more extended charts are quite as idiosyncratic as Dolphy's solo work and share the same concerns. They are fragmented, have unusual instrumentation (two basses, alto, soprano and flute on Burning Spear (8)), and produce strange sonorities (passages in Africa (6) evoke the noises of the jungle).
Discussion of these ensembles leads one to consider the more general importance of Dolphy of the musical context in which he recorded. Jazz criticism has often taken account of the soloist and ignored the ensemble; Dolphy obviously performed with bands of various musical philosophies, and although the effect of this is confounded by Dolphy's individual development over time, it is obvious that the musical environment on (9) is by far the most suitable for him of all studio environments in which he played. Here the rhythmic and harmonic flexibility provided by the format of the group, and by individual performances, and the duration of each track, allow Dolphy to exercise to their fullest extent those features of his musical conception which were most characteristic. Dolphy's solo work on this session is far more satisfying than that in both the overtly more conventional surroundings of, say (7) and the Coltrane milieu of (5), which seem to inhibit him considerably. The conclusion must be then that his inability to express himself fully in certain musical contexts accounts for the inconsistency in the quality of his performances. One may speculate on the degree to which this mismatching of approaches is due to commercial constraints.
An aspect of Dolphy's eclecticism which emerges on (9) is an appreciation of other traditions of music. The flute solo on Gazzeloni (9), arguably his bot performance on this instrument, displays some techniques similar to those developed by the eponymous classical flautist, who can be heard on (13). In another vein, the Straight Up And Down (9) alto solo at one point appears to pastiche a motif of Charlie Parker's, distorting and slurring tortuously.
The reissues listed are some of the best and most representative of those available, which in their coverage range from the early Roy Porter period through to the so-called Last Date.
The comprehensiveness of this series invites one to trace Dolphy's development through his prolific six-year recording career. In particular, the influence on his subsequent playing of each of the groups may be identified.
Dolphy played with Chico Hamilton in the late fifties. The most striking features of the Hamilton groups were their dedication to elaborate arrangements (for small groups this has not historically been a focus in jazz) and the unusual instrumentation (cello, guitar, a variety of reeds and woodwinds), which together produced many scored passages of interesting tone and colour. The absence of piano was a feature of many of Dolphy's subsequent recordings, notably in his most fully developed work on (8) and (9). Equally the use of cello, or arco bass, to provide colour and as a solo instrument, and the use of pizzicato cello (sometimes with and sometimes without the bass) both figured prominently in later years.
In Eric Dolphy recorded for the first time with various Mingus bands. While these groups adopted divergent approaches and line-ups, they were usually as unconventional in concept as Chico Hamilton's, though for different reasons. One similarity with the latter's groups was however, the lack of piano on the Candid small group sessions (included on (3)). This format, in which Dolphy produced his best playing of the period, provided much freedom for musical experimentation. Perhaps Mingus's musical ideas were not very close to those of Dolphy. In fact it is reported that there was an argument between them which is said to be expressed in What Love (3). probably the most experimental number in the set.
The association with John Coltrane in 1961-1962 was not, for Dolphy, very productive. Although the bands, like Hamilton's and Mingus's, were noted for their radical approach, Coltrane's taste for the modal simplification of harmony, and his predilection for a line-up which usually consisted of reeds with conventional rhythm section, were simply not conducive to the most creative aspects of Dolphy's playing.
Perhaps the only influence this partnership had on Dolphy was in respect of extended pieces which allowed development of individual solos and represented a reaction against the other principal components of the Coltrane style.
Dolphy's other dates, on most of which he was a sideman, suggest that he rarely had the freedom to develop his innovatory techniques and that he either felt constrained to conventionalise his playing (as in Andrew Hill's (10), where his playing seems blunted) or else played more honestly and found himself in conflict with the accompanying personnel (as in Miss Ann (I l)).
It is probably because Dolphy's recordings are of inconsistent quality, that he has not been acknowledged as a major figure in jazz. However, it may also be true that he is sui generis to such a degree that he has been generally underrated by jazz critics.
The corollary of this is that Dolphy's conception raises interesting questions about the nature of jazz itself.
RECORDS REFERRED TO IN TEXT
1. Chico Hamilton with Eric Dolphy, Charles Lloyd and Gabor Szabo / Warner Bros. K 56239
2. Eric Dolphy / Prestige PR 24008
3. Stormy Weather / Chess CH 30053
4. Blues And The Abstract Truth / Impulse AS 5
5. John Coltrane: The Other Village Vanguard Tapes / Impulse AS 9325
6. Africa/Brass / Impulse IMPL 8015
7. Status / Prestige PR 24070
8. Jitterbug Waltz / Douglas ADLP 6002
9. Out To Lunch / Blue Note BST 84163
10. Point Of Departure / Blue Note BST 84167
11. Last Date / Mercury 6433 550
12. Riverside Giants Of Jazz / JET 1A-B
13. The New Music Vol. 3 / Victrola VICS 1313
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Simosko. V. and Tepperman, B. Eric Dolphy: A MusicaI Biography and Discography. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press. 1974
Ref : Jazz Journal International May 1978
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