Twelve Classic Albums: 1959-1962

American jazz alto saxophonist, flautist and bass clarinetist, Eric Dolphy was also fluent in clarinet, piccolo and baritone saxophone. Born in 1928, he was one of a select few multi instrumentalists to gain huge popularity among jazz enthusiasts in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Although Dolphy's work is sometimes classified as free jazz, his compositions and solos were often rooted in conventional, if highly abstracted, tonal bebop harmony and melodic lines that suggest the influences of modern classical composers Béla Bartók and Igor Stravinsky. After playing in the bands of Chico Hamilton and Charles Mingus and performing on classic albums by Ornette Coleman, Freddie Hubbard and a range of other jazz greats, Dolphy recorded and released his first record as leader in 1960, the much praised Outward Bound, for New Jazz, the first of 12 such records, all of which are collected in their entirety on this 6 CD set. Across a relatively short career, that was tragically ended in 1964 when Eric Dolphy passed away following complications from diabetes, this master musician was a pioneer and is still of course remembered fondly among Jazz fans as one of the finest brass players the genre has produced, and as a versatile and imaginative performer and composer of huge and continuing influence.