Far Cry

About

Eric Dolphy made weighty contributions to the music of Charles Mingu, Oliver Nelson, and John Coltrane, among other, but he left only a few studio dates as a leader before his tragic death from diabetes at 36. That’s all the more reason to treasure <i>Far Cry</i>, one of three albums that Dolphy made in 1960. (<i>Outward Bound</i> and <i>Out There</i> were the others; all three featured master drummer Roy Hayne.) On <i>Far Cry</i>, as on other session, Dolphy is the very model of a jazz multi-reeds player, performing with equal fluidity and inventiveness on alto sax, flute, and bass clarinet. Alongside him is trumpeter Booker Little, who would die of kidney failure at age 23 less than a year later. <i>Far Cry</i> thus constitute, along with Dolphy’s two-volume <i>At the Five Spot</i>, a crucial piece of the Booker Little discography, documenting a vibrant musical relationship cut short. Little’s trumpet had a vitality and unpredictability that complemented Dolphy. Much the same could be said of pianist Jaki Byard, who played on <i>Far Cry</i> as well as <i>Outward Bound</i> and would go on to join Dolphy in one of the all-time great Mingus ensembles shortly before Dolphy’s death. Completing the <i>Far Cry</i> lineup is bassist Ron Carter, whose cello had given <i>Out There</i> such a texturally unusual twist six months earlier. Carter was just a few years away from making history with Miles Davi, achieving a sturdy and supple feel with Haynes on drums—intriguing in contrast to his far more famous and extensive work with Tony Williams in the Davis quintet. (William, not incidentally, played on Dolphy’s 1964 masterpiece, <i>‘Out to Lunch!’</i>.) <i>Far Cry</i> leads off with two Jaki Byard compositions: “Mr. Parker of K.C. (Bird’s Mother)” is an alert swinger with Dolphy on bass clarinet, while the ballad “Ode to Charlie Parker” finds him simply radiant on flute (this full-band version is markedly different from the flute/bass duo with Richard Davis on Dolphy’s posthumous <i>Iron Man</i>). There are two standards: “Tenderly,” for solo alto saxophone, and “It’s Magic,” a ballad with some of Dolphy’s most stunningly agile bass clarinet on record. “Left Alone” is by pianist Mal Waldron, who would appear the following year on Dolphy’s <i>Five Spot</i> album, while “Far Cry” and “Miss Ann” are shining examples of Dolphy’s own writing—springy, swooping melodic lines with a certain edge in timbre and tonality (he plays alto sax on both). .

via Apple Music

The Clerk says

Start your shelf to read the full take →