''So Long, Eric! – Homage to Eric Dolphy'' is an album by

Aki Takase (born January 26, 1948) is a Japanese jazz pianist and composer. Biography Takase was born in Osaka and started to play piano at age 3. Raised in Tokyo, she studied classical piano at Toho Gakuen School of Music.Ankeny, Jaso"Artist Biography".A ...

and

Alexander von Schlippenbach Alexander von Schlippenbach (born 7 April 1938) is a German jazz pianist and composer. He came to prominence in the 1960s playing free jazz in a trio with saxophonist Evan Parker and drummer Paul Lovens, and as a member of the Globe Unity Orchest ...

Background

Free jazz pioneer

Eric Dolphy Eric Allan Dolphy Jr. (June 20, 1928 – June 29, 1964) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, bass clarinetist and flautist. On a few occasions, he also played the clarinet and piccolo. Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to ...

died in Berlin in 1964. Pianists

and

organised a Berlin music festival in 2014 to celebrate Dolphy's music.

Recording and music

The album was recorded in concert in Berlin towards the end of the Dolphy festival, on June 19 and 20, 2014. The performances are of Dolphy compositions, arranged by Takase and Schlippenbach. Twelve musicians play on the album, with the number used for each track varying from two to twelve.Harris, George W. (2015
"CD Review"
''Cadence''. Volume 41, No. 2. "Out There" is played by the quartet of Schlippenbach, saxophonist Henrik Walsdorff, bassist Antonio Borghini and drummer Heinrich Köbberling.

Release and reception

''So Long, Eric!'' was released by

Intakt Records Intakt Records is an independent record label, based in Zürich. History The label was founded in 1986 by Patrik Landolt.Margasak, Peter (September 2013) "Intakt's Landolt Takes Long-Term Approach to Avant-Garde". ''Down Beat''. p. 16. In the ea ...

. The cover art is influenced by that of Dolphy's ''

Out to Lunch! ''Out to Lunch!'' is a 1964 album by jazz multi-instrumentalist Eric Dolphy. His only recording on Blue Note as a leader, it was issued as BLP 4163 and BST 84163. Featuring Dolphy in a quintet with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, vibraphonist Bobby H ...

'' album. ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

''s critic wrote that "Everything is brilliantly re-imagined, and infused with quick-witted humour. Most importantly the music-making keeps touching base with Dolphy and the tradition he sprung from, however wild and free it often becomes." ''

Down Beat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Ch ...

'' concluded that "Music is rarely this richly festooned with brilliance and hyper-real personality."

Track listing

#"Les" #"Hat and Beard" #"The Prophet" #"17 West" #"Serene" #"Miss Ann" #"Something Sweet, Something Tender" #"Out There" #"Out to Lunch"

Personnel

– piano *

– piano *Tobias Delius – tenor saxophone *Henrik Walsdorff – alto saxophone *

Axel Dörner Axel Dörner (born 26 April 1964 in Cologne, Germany) is a German trumpeter, pianist, and composer. Biography Dörner studied piano in the Dutch town Arnhem (1988–89) and at the Music Academy in Cologne (1989–1996). From 1991 he studie ...

– trumpet *

Nils Wogram Nils Wogram (born 7 November 1972) is a jazz trombonist, composer and bandleader. He began classical study at the age of fifteen. He was a member in the National German Youth Big Band, participated in classical competitions and formed his own ba ...

– trombone *

Rudi Mahall Rudi Mahall (born December 23, 1966) is a contemporary jazz bass clarinetist. While studying classical clarinet, Mahall shifted towards contemporary music, improvisation and jazz. He is, or was a member of following bands: Avantgardeband ''Die ...

– bass clarinet, clarinet *

Karl Berger Karl Hans Berger (born March 30, 1935 in Heidelberg, Germany) is a German jazz pianist, composer, and educator. Career Berger played piano in Germany when he was ten and worked in his teens at a club in Heidelberg. He learned modern jazz from v ...

– vibraphone *Wilbert de Joode – bass *Antonio Borghini – bass *

Han Bennink Han Bennink (born 17 April 1942) is a Dutch drummer and percussionist. On occasion his recordings have featured him playing soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, trombone, violin, banjo and piano. Though perhaps best known as one of the pivotal fig ...

– drums *Heinrich Köbberling – drums

References

{{Authority control Intakt Records live albums