Album of the day (#3473): Out To Lunch! by Eric Dolphy

[albummaster]

Today's album of the day

Out To Lunch! by Eric Dolphy (View album | Buy this album)

Year: 1964.
Country:
Overall rank: 783
Average rating: 80/100 (from 309 votes).

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Tracks:
1. Hat And Beard
2. Something Sweet, Something Tender
3. Gazzellioni
4. Out To Lunch
5. Straight Up And Down

About album of the day: The BestEverAlbums.com album of the day is the album appearing most prominently in member charts in the previous 24 hours. If an album, or artist, has previously been selected within a x day period, the next highest album is picked instead (and so on) to ensure a bit of variety. A full history of album of the day can be viewed here.

[Tha1ChiefRocka]

When I was burning CDs for myself in high school, I put Gazzelloni right in the middle of one of them to break things up. I would sometimes forget I had placed it there, and it would make me almost fly off the road.

[Fischman]

As I began expanding my jazz repertoire and heard I should check out this landmark album from Eric Dolphy, put it on not having any idea what I was in for. Nobody told me this was far out stuff! Genuine avant garde here. Forget what you think you know about melody or structure here.... you're in a completely different universe. Funny thing, like the youngster who somehow manages to accomplish the impossible because nobody told him it was impossible, my not having any preconceptions about this album, rather than shocking my unprepared ear, actually lit up happy connections in my brain. I finished listening to the album with a smile on my face, without the thought of it being part of a notoriously hard to digest genre having ever crossed my mind.

The opening cut, "Hat and Beard," is so full of crazy, but fun, melodic, harmonic, and especially rhythmic irregularities had me constantly peering deeper into the score and execution, trying to "see" its core and understand what made this crazy hodgepodge so utterly engaging. Now, to be honest, I didn't have that strong a reaction with every cut, and indeed, most of them do require an additional listen to become fully attuned to what's going on. Dophy, being accomplished on multiple instruments, gives his flute center stage on Gazzelloni and uses that flitting, fluttery capability of the flute as an additional outlet of expression without losing the essential mood of the album. The title cut starts with the closest thing to a hummable melody, but don't let your guard down--Dolphy sends that more well behaved child into the corner with his first solo. The closer, "Straigt Up and Down," is the most jarring of the bunch, sometimes mirroring the more aggressively anti-traditional trends taking place in the world of 20th century classical music. But by the time it rolls around, the rest of the album has the listener well conditioned, and prepared to enjoy it.

I have meditated on trying to find exactly what allowed me to enjoy this most angular and, if not prepared, downright awkward music. Not only do I enjoy it, it genuinely lifts my spirits and puts a big grin on my face. This is a rather surprising result as avant garde is usually so stern... so serious... so austere. Great avant garde may be acknowledged as great music, but it isn't usually associated with joy or even levity. I trace my joyous wonderment of this album to two things. First is the makeup of the ensemble. Tony Williams, scarcely 18 years old at the time of this recording, somehow manages to keep a real flow, even as the music goes through all its jarring motion. Freddie Hubbard's tone remains distinctly Freddie, meaning bright, throughout the album. Rounding out the melody instruments with Bobby Hutcherson was probably the most essential orchestration/personnel choice of all. I always find the ringing tone of the vibraphone really helps soften the edge of avant garde stylings. For this instrument, Hutcherson was the perfect pick as he would often prove to be even more expressive moving beyond the hard bop construct rather than staying within hit. He brings the ringing tone but does so while making good use of the melodic and harmonic freedom this ensemble and these tunes give him, but without ever going off the rails. The second, and even more important part of the success of this album in my ear, and my rapid absorption and appreciation of it was that, rather than being stern and foreboding, Dolphy and his ensemble are, dare I say, playful throughout. I can't help but think they were really having fun pushing these boundaries rather than just pushing them out of some sort of anger, intellectual exercise, or desire to shake up the establishment. The mood here is absolutely crucial.

Like most avant garde recordings, most new to the genre say they have a difficult time absorbing this one, and that it took them many listens to appreciate it, if they ever learned to appreciate it at all. Interestingly, this was not my experience at all, and now I think I know why. A landmark album indeed, and one which will always hold a prized position in my collection.

[Christelex]

Great jazz album! Dolphy's sound was quite unique: an interesting blend of Mingus' avant-garde style and playful, sometimes even catchy free jazz. I especially love the vibraphone sounds. Out There is an even better album.

[CharlieBarley]

I only heard this album once but it was very impressive