Naima (Eric Dolphy Album)
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''Naima'' is an album by American musician
Eric Dolphy Eric Allan Dolphy Jr. (June 20, 1928 – June 29, 1964) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and bandleader. Primarily an alto saxophonist, bass clarinetist, and flautist, Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gain ...
, released in Europe in 1987 by the Jazzway label, and later by the
West Wind A west wind is a wind that originates in the west and blows in an eastward direction. Mythology and literature In European tradition, it has usually been considered the mildest and most favorable of the directional winds. In ancient Greek ...
label. Four of the five tracks were recorded on June 11, 1964 in a
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
studio for radio broadcast, nine days after the
Hilversum Hilversum () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is ...
session that yielded '' Last Date'', and eighteen days before Dolphy's death. The remaining track, a duet with bassist
Ron Carter Ronald Levin Carter (born May 4, 1937) is an American jazz double bassist. His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most-recorded jazz bassist in history. He has won three Grammy Awards, and is also a Cello, cellist who has reco ...
, was recorded in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
in November 1960, during a session which also produced three of the tracks released on '' Other Aspects''. The tracks recorded that day represent the last of Dolphy's commercially available recordings. Music from the same recording session was also issued on ''
Unrealized Tapes ''Unrealized Tapes'' is an album by American musician Eric Dolphy, released in Europe in 1988 by the West Wind label, and in Japan with the title ''Last Recordings'' by the DIW label. The album was recorded on June 11, 1964 in a Paris studio for ...
'', released in 1988, ''The Complete Last Recordings: In Hilversum & Paris 1964'' (2010), and ''Paris '64'' (2018).


Background

In April 1964, Dolphy accompanied
Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz Double bass, upright bassist, composer, bandleader, pianist, and author. A major proponent of collective Musical improvisation, improvisation, he is considered one of ...
and his band on a tour of Europe organized by
George Wein George Wein (October 3, 1925 – September 13, 2021) was an American jazz promoter, pianist, and producer.
. (Performances from this tour were documented on '' Revenge!'', '' The Great Concert of Charles Mingus'', '' Mingus in Europe Volume I'', and '' Mingus in Europe Volume II''.) Prior to leaving the U.S., however, Dolphy told Mingus that he intended to remain in Europe upon completion of the tour, rather than remaining with the band. Mingus and his group returned to the U.S. in early May, at which point Dolphy moved to Paris, at first staying with an old army friend, and intending to settle down with his fiancée, dancer Joyce Mordecai. During this time, Dolphy began playing at the
Le Chat Qui Pêche Le Chat Qui Pêche is a Parisian jazz club and restaurant founded in the mid-1950s, located in a cellar in rue de la Huchette in the Latin Quarter, on the left bank of the Seine. It was run by Madame Ricard, who had been in the French Resistance d ...
club with trumpeter
Donald Byrd Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II (December 9, 1932 – February 4, 2013) was an American jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter, composer and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few h ...
and saxophonist Nathan Davis, both of whom appear on ''Naima''. (Davis recalled that he'd "never been in a band that practiced as much as we practiced ith Dolphy we had daily rehearsals and played every night from 10 PM till 4 AM".) Dolphy maintained a busy schedule over the next few months. On May 28, he made a recording in Paris for radio broadcast with a quartet that featured pianist
Kenny Drew Kenneth Sidney "Kenny" Drew (August 28, 1928 – August 4, 1993) was an American-Danish jazz pianist. Biography Drew was born on August 28, 1928, in New York City, United States, and he received piano lessons from the age of five. Feather, ...
, bassist Guy Pedersen, and drummer
Daniel Humair Daniel Humair (born 23 May 1938 in Geneva, Switzerland) is a Swiss drummer, composer, and painter. He is widely renowned and became a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1986 and Officier in 1992. He has played with many jazz perf ...
. These tracks were released on Humair's 1994 album ''Surrounded 1964-1987'', as well as on ''The Complete Last Recordings: In Hilversum & Paris 1964''. From May 29 - June 2, Dolphy visited
Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...
, where he performed with a variety of ensembles, including a big band, and where he recorded the music that would be released on the album '' Last Date''. Back in Paris, during the remainder of June, he led a number of ensembles (including the one heard on ''Naima''), and performed and recorded with Sonny Grey's big band and
Jack Diéval Jacques "Jack" Diéval (December 21, 1920, Douai – October 31, 2012) was a French jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader. Diéval's parents were also jazz musicians, who led an ensemble known as the DéDé Jazz Band. He studied music at the Doua ...
's All Stars. Immediately prior to his death in Berlin on June 29, Dolphy had been making extensive plans. He expressed an interest in reuniting with the musicians who performed on ''Last Date'', and stated that he wanted to start a band with trumpeter
Woody Shaw Woody Herman Shaw Jr. (December 24, 1944 – May 10, 1989) was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, arranger, band leader, and educator. Shaw is widely known as one of the 20th century's most important and influentia ...
, bassist Richard Davis, and drummer
Billy Higgins Billy Higgins (October 11, 1936 – May 3, 2001) was an American jazz drummer. He played mainly free jazz and hard bop. Biography Higgins was born in Los Angeles, California, United States. Higgins played on Ornette Coleman's first records, be ...
. He was also planning to join
Albert Ayler Albert Ayler (; July 13, 1936 – November 25, 1970) was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and composer. After early experience playing rhythm and blues and bebop, Ayler began recording music during the free jazz era of the 1960s. Ho ...
's group, and was preparing himself to play with
Cecil Taylor Cecil Percival Taylor (March 25, 1929April 5, 2018) was an American pianist and poet. Taylor was classically trained and was one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an energetic, physical approach, resulting in comple ...
. In addition, he was writing a
string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...
titled ''Love Suite''. The June 11 recordings are unique in that, prior to that day, Dolphy had not recorded with either Donald Byrd or Nathan Davis. In addition, ''Naima'' features the first recorded appearance of the Dolphy composition "Triple Mix", as well as Dolphy's first rendition of
John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...
's ballad "
Naima "Naima" ( ) is a jazz ballad composed by John Coltrane in 1959 that he named after his then-wife, Juanita Naima Grubbs. Coltrane first recorded it for his 1959 album '' Giant Steps'', and it became one of his first well-known works. History Co ...
", for which the album is named, outside of the context of Coltrane's band. (Dolphy's first recording of
Jaki Byard John Arthur "Jaki" Byard (; June 15, 1922 – February 11, 1999) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and arranger. Mainly a pianist, he also played tenor and alto saxophones, among several other instruments. He was known for h ...
's "Ode To Charlie Parker" appeared on ''
Far Cry ''Far Cry'' is an anthology franchise of first-person shooter games published by Ubisoft. The first game, '' Far Cry'', was developed by Crytek to premiere their CryEngine software, and released in March 2004. Subsequently, Ubisoft obtained ...
''. "G.W.", dedicated to bandleader
Gerald Wilson Gerald Stanley Wilson (September 4, 1918 – September 8, 2014) was an American jazz trumpeter, big band bandleader, composer, arranger, and educator. Born in Mississippi, he was based in Los Angeles from the early 1940s. He arranged music for D ...
, originally appeared on ''
Outward Bound Outward Bound (OB) is an international network of outdoor education organisations that was founded in the United Kingdom by Lawrence Holt in 1941 based on the educational principles of Kurt Hahn. Today there are organisations, called schools, i ...
'', while "Serene" originally appeared on '' Out There''.)


Reception

In a review for
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
, Scott Yanow wrote: "this CD finds the great Eric Dolphy... in excellent form... Although joined by a fine French rhythm section, trumpeter Donald Byrd and Nathan Davis on tenor, Dolphy is easily the dominant voice throughout the spirited set, showing listeners that he still had a great deal to say even though his time had run out. This European import is worth searching for." The authors of the ''
Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on compact disc, CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions wer ...
'' commented: "There has been controversy in the past over some of West Wind's contractual idiosyncrasies, but this is the authentic article... More than just another pick-up band, the Champs Elysees All-Stars sound well versed in the Dolphy literature."


Track listing

# "
Naima "Naima" ( ) is a jazz ballad composed by John Coltrane in 1959 that he named after his then-wife, Juanita Naima Grubbs. Coltrane first recorded it for his 1959 album '' Giant Steps'', and it became one of his first well-known works. History Co ...
" (
John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...
) – 15:12 # "Triple Mix" (Eric Dolphy) – 8:20 # "Ode To Charlie Parker" (
Jaki Byard John Arthur "Jaki" Byard (; June 15, 1922 – February 11, 1999) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and arranger. Mainly a pianist, he also played tenor and alto saxophones, among several other instruments. He was known for h ...
) – 5:28 # "G.W." (Eric Dolphy) – 5:58 # "Serene" (Eric Dolphy) – 7:38 Tracks, 1, 3, 4, and 5 recorded on June 11, 1964 in Paris. Track 2 recorded in November 1960 in New York City.


Personnel

*
Eric Dolphy Eric Allan Dolphy Jr. (June 20, 1928 – June 29, 1964) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and bandleader. Primarily an alto saxophonist, bass clarinetist, and flautist, Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gain ...
– alto saxophone, bass clarinet, flute * Nathan Davis – tenor saxophone (track 1) * Sonny Grey – trumpet (tracks 3 and 5) *
Donald Byrd Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II (December 9, 1932 – February 4, 2013) was an American jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter, composer and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few h ...
– trumpet (track 1) *
Jack Diéval Jacques "Jack" Diéval (December 21, 1920, Douai – October 31, 2012) was a French jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader. Diéval's parents were also jazz musicians, who led an ensemble known as the DéDé Jazz Band. He studied music at the Doua ...
– piano (tracks 3-5) * Jacques B. Hess – bass (tracks 1, 3-5) *
Ron Carter Ronald Levin Carter (born May 4, 1937) is an American jazz double bassist. His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most-recorded jazz bassist in history. He has won three Grammy Awards, and is also a Cello, cellist who has reco ...
– bass (track 2) * Jacky Bambou – congas (tracks 1, 3-5) *
Franco Manzecchi Franco (Gian) Manzecchi (September 10, 1931, Ravenna – March 25, 1979, Konstanz) was an Italian drummer. Biography Manzecchi's older brother Gino was also a trumpeter and drummer. He moved from his hometown Ravenna, Italy, to Bologna, then t ...
– drums (1, 3-5)


References

{{Reflist 1987 albums Eric Dolphy albums West Wind Records albums