There’s a saying some circles: There are two kinds of music, TRAD and STAD. (S—t, that ain’t Dixieland.) If you’re a strict adherent to the former, then this review won’t appeal to you.
However, for the rest of you musically adventurous souls, this may or may not appeal to you. I was aware of Dolphy’s multi-instrumentalism and his important place as a jazz icon, but that was about the extent of my knowledge. The full title of this 3 CD set is: Eric Dolphy Musical Prophet; The Expanded 1963 New York Studio Sessions. It is released by Resonance Records and produced by Zev Feldman and flautist James Newton. The set is accompanied by a 100-page CD size booklet complete with commentary by various artists. Two of the three recordings are reproduced on CD with supplemental recordings to make an approximate one hour each. The third CD is alternate takes from the previous two recordings, previously unreleased. All are mono-track recordings.
The two recordings previously released are entitled Conversations and Iron Man. The accompanying 100 page booklet includes photographs, descriptions of how the recordings came to be made, as well as commentary from various artists about Dolphy’s life and musical artistry. Besides Dolphy, who performs on alto sax, flute, and bass clarinet, are the following: William “Prince” Lasha, flute; Huey “Sonny” Simmons, alto sax; Clifford J
