Search - Eric Dolphy :: Cool & Latin

Excellent and Necessary Collection of Rarities

Richard B. Luhrs | Jackson Heights, NY United States | 03/09/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of those obscure, offbeat hodgepodges which so often make the patchwork discographies of underappreciated jazz artists more interesting than the better known and more easily accessed work of mainstream legends. Gathering together the bulk of Eric Dolphy's final sessions with his original bandleader Chico Hamilton from 1959 and most of the 1961 album on which the reedsman joined the largely unknown Latin Jazz Quintet (not to be confused with CARIBE, a 1960 set by a completely different Latin Jazz Quintet on which Dolphy also played), minus those numbers from both dates on which Dolphy didn't solo, HOT, COOL & LATIN is a fine and varied collection of tunes as well as a perfect introduction to the more accessible side of one of modern music's superlative individualists.

The first eight tracks here were Dolphy's last recordings under Hamilton, whose quintet's unusual instrumentation (with guitar, cello and bass supporting a single all-purpose reeds player and the leader himself on drums) offered hauntingly evocative soundscapes against which an explosive blower like Dolphy could and did truly shine. The short, tight numbers, with Dolphy focusing mainly on alto saxophone, show just how much Hamilton had learned from his own former frontman Gerry Mulligan, and each is a compact, completely realized jewel of style and atmosphere. "Lady 'E,'" the only Dolphy composition ever recorded by this group and to my knowledge the first one recorded anywhere, adds curio value and some nice flute work.

The LJQ pieces are at least as effective, with Eric now fronting a vibes/piano/percussion ensemble which swings easily between classic jazz and Latin overtones, giving the Maestro a range of colors well-suited to his boundless invention on bass clarinet as well as flute and alto sax. "You're the Cutest One" is a masterpiece of infectious, head-shaking cool; one listen and it'll stay in your chromosomes for life. "April Rain," the longest number here, is a flute showcase set to a backdrop of such beauty and restraint as to be almost ghostly (in the most romantic sense of the word). These two tracks are probably the disc's most outstanding, but the remaining covers keep up the standard with tough, tasteful playing and surprising modulations.

Whether you're curious about Dolphy or an old fan accustomed to the blazing performances the man would later release under his own name, HOT, COOL & LATIN is an extremely well-spent fifty minutes in the company of a true jazz original, and more than lives up to the promise of its title."