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Out to Lunch

Out to Lunch

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Customer Reviews

Classic

Rating: 5/5

I just finished a review of Jackie McClean's Destination Out! which said that McClean's album was one of two "chamber" jazz albums that defined this genre in the 1960s. Right here is the second of those two.

Like 1963's Destinstion Out, Out To Lunch by Eric Dolphy contains a music that mixes complex blues changes, avant gaurde splashes, and classical elements that bridged the gap between traditional and free form jazz. The two albums even share Bobby Hutcherson, the premire vibraphonest in what was then called "the new jazz, the new thing, or the new music."

But there are differances: enter Mr. Tony Williams. With all due defferance to Roy Haynes--and there is a lot due--William's used counterrythms and came up with combinations no one else could even think of, much less play. Haynes was a hard bop drummer with a musical spirit adventurous enough to add flair to the "new" music. Williams was to the drums what Paul McCartney is to the bass. He simply plays the instrument in a whole new way, which turns out to be the BEST way.

This impacts Out To Lunch in that the numbers don't always have the solid swing bottom Haynes would provide. Listen to "Hat and Beard" from Out To Lunch. Williams works in syncopations and fills that are 100% him. No one else sounds like this. Most drummers use fills to add variation to the bottom. For Williams, the fills IMPLY the bottom, which is always there. Dolphy, Williams and the rest of the band feed off the wierd rythms created, and the music seems to float in some pulse that is otherworldly, yet completely solid. Williams and Dolphy are like boxers counterpunching.

On Destination Out! there is not so much dissonence as counterpoint: the atonal aspects spring from the compostion and not the soloing. Out To Lunch is the freer of the two albums: the chord changes are more complicated, and the players solo far outside them at times.

Out To Lunch also features Dolphy on flute-and I have to check but if I am not mistaken-bass clarinet. Freddy Hubbard also is here in usuall brillance. This adds more variation to the music, especially when Dolphy's flute playing sometimes takes on such an errie tone.

Please do not misunderstand: both albums are equally great, but McClean's for its chrystral clear writting and Dolphy's for its complications and otherworldly playing. Both provide excellent introductions to this underappreciated cornor of jazz and both are essential for their differance and their sameness.

Dolphy's last classic album

Rating: 5/5

Eric Dolphy was one of those rare musicians for he could straddle between the avant-garde jazz world and that of classical music--not even Wynton Marsalis can claim that virtue since he has outrightly put down the avant garde in print. If you're undecided about this form of jazz then do check out this album. This was one of Dolphy's last recorded U.S. effort and it's a stunner (you wonder how backward Downbeat was when they gave this a less than stellar rating). Backed by familiar co-horts such as Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hutcherson and Richard Davis, the virtuoso Dolphy demonstrates his excellence with his own tunes like the Monk-dedicated, "Hat & Beard" to a tribute to a fellow flautist, "Gazzeloni". And let's not forget the great late Tony Williams on drums--the success of this album is due to the empathy between him and Dolphy. The only regret I have about the RVG version of this classic is that in the 20 bit remastering, separation is virtually lost and the sound is very thin, tinny. If you can, do get the original issue or at worse, the European edition. I traded the RVG version for an original issue which at that time was cheaper!! Other RVG releases to avoid are "Midnight Blue" ,"Unity", and "Speak No Evil"--get the original issues. Outside of that this album is recommended.

One of the best records I've ever heard, and I've heard a lot

Rating: 5/5

An utterly inaccessible but extremely worthwhile jazz masterpiece. There's no piano here - Dolphy plays a variety of woodwinds (bass clarinet on "Hat and Beard" and "Something Sweet, Something Tender"; flute on "Gazzelloni"; alto sax on the title cut and "Straight Up and Down"); and the band includes other famous jazz figures such as Tony Williams (soon to join Miles Davis and form his own group, Tony Williams Lifetime) on drums and Freddie Hubbard (also of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, Herbie Hancock's Maiden Voyage-era band, and the Coltrane group that made Ascension) playing trumpet. But the real star of the show is Dolphy, merging Monk's innovations in odd chord progression, Coleman's love of atypical harmonies, and Mingus' experiments with song structure - often, the themes are played in odd measures, giving them a tremendously off-kilter feel (the nervy "Straight Up and Down"; Monk tribute "Hat and Beard", with an insane vibraphone part from Bobby Hutcherson). The sole ballad of the set, "Something Sweet, Something Tender", mainly a duet between Dolph and bassist Ron Davis, is beautiful in a weird way, much like some of Coltrane's very last recordings. There's also a strange pseudo-classical experiment ("Gazzelloni") that's absolutely brilliant, because there is nothing else like it. And I do mean nothing - listen to Dolph's flute. It will dispel all notions of the instrument having a pleasant, easy-on-the-ears sound. It also will dispel all notions of vibes being pleasant and easy-on-the-ears, for those looking to see notions dispelled. It's an insane piece, which is precisely why I love it. That, and it has a bass solo. Those are always good. The amazing title track is probably the worst song here, but it would've been the best on any other album - again, the bass solo really is something. I gotta say, get this right now if you like Thelonious Monk, Ornette Coleman, and/or Charles Mingus - especially if you, like me, like all three of 'em. It's not for everybody, but it's very much worth a buy.

A "sweet" and "tender" recording

Rating: 5/5

After listening to this recording, it was clear Dolphy more than successfully honed his distinct musical purpose. He created music worthy of inclusion into the musical canon. "Outward Bound" seemed like Dolphy transitioning from his Mingus days to his own style. "Out There" was a loose, fuzzy progression toward the "Out to Lunch" recording. "Out to Lunch" is much, much tighter and fully focused. There is not one unessential note on the entire cd. Dolphy's phrases are more exquisitely expressive than ever, with his juxtaposition of low and high notes and "animal sounds". Dolphy is a refreshing change from other heavyweights like Davis and Coltrane, because his does not have an intensely dramatic style. He is down to earth, someone who could describe the average joe's day in a beautiful song. His tone and technical virtuosity gets your attention, but he is not abrasive with either one, a pleasing trait very similar to Parker. As a Monk fan, I would have to say my favorite track on this album is "something sweet, something tender," largely because it is blues-laden, just like all Monk's music. And, like Monk, there is humor in his music, a kind of poking fun at grandiose melodrama, as the lazy chorus drags on "something tender, something sweet." Jocularity is also evident in the humorously uneventful title and cover. One can easily note after the first listen that "Out to Lunch" would not have been as monumental as it became without Hubbard, Hutcherson, Davis and Williams creating a moody, rich environment for Dolphy. This is an essential record.

I remember,

Rating: 5/5

The first time I heard this album, it was such a pleasant suprise. I've almost never heard a jazz record so unique and pleasant. It's a very creative album that simply sounds good. It seems like it's Dolphy at his best. At least of what I've heard of him.

I do suggest you give this album a listen before you buy it though. It seems that there are a few people who see everyone getting all excited over it, and after they buy it, they realize their taste does differ. Hopefully, though, you'll enjoy this album as much as I do. One of my favorite jazz albums yet.