Released 1964 (1964) Length 42:31 | Recorded February 25, 1964 Label Blue Note Records | |
Studio Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey Genre Avant-garde jazz, Third Stream | ||
'Out to Lunch!' was Eric Dolphy's only recording for Blue Note Records as a leader and was originally issued as BLP 4163 and BST 84163. Today it is generally considered one of the finest albums in the label's history, as well as one of the high points in 1960s avant-garde jazz and in Dolphy's discography.
Contents
Tony Williams had turned 18 a few months (75 days) before this recording, and is listed as "Anthony Williams" on the album cover.
A few months after recording this album, Dolphy went on a European tour with Charles Mingus. He died shortly thereafter of a diabetic shock.
Music
The title of the album's first track, "Hat and Beard", refers to Thelonious Monk; the song contains a famous percussive interlude featuring Tony Williams and Bobby Hutcherson. "Something Sweet, Something Tender" includes a noteworthy duet between Richard Davis on bass and Dolphy on bass clarinet. The third composition, "Gazzelloni", was named after classical flautist Severino Gazzelloni, but is otherwise the album's most conventional, bop-based theme. The second side features two long pieces for alto saxophone: the title track, and "Straight Up and Down", intended, according to the original liner notes, to evoke a drunken stagger. In late 2013, two previously unissued performances were released on Toshiba EMI TYCJ-81013 in Japan. These are alternate takes of the two bass clarinet tunes "Hat and Beard", and "Something Sweet, Something Tender". No explanation for why these two tracks were not previously released is provided by Cuscuna in his brief notes.
Critical reception
The Penguin Guide to Jazz selected this album as part of its suggested "Core Collection" and awarded it a "crown", stating, "If it is a masterpiece, then it is not so much a flawed as a slightly tentative masterpiece." The album was identified by Chris Kelsey in his Allmusic essay "Free Jazz: A Subjective History" as one of the 20 Essential Free Jazz Albums.
Track listing
All compositions by Eric Dolphy.
- "Hat and Beard" – 8:24
- "Something Sweet, Something Tender" – 6:02
- "Gazzelloni" – 7:22
- "Out to Lunch" – 12:06
- "Straight Up and Down" – 8:19
Bonus tracks on 2013 Japanese limited SHM-CD:
- "Hat and Beard (alt. take)" - 8:35
- "Something Sweet, Something Tender (alt. take)" - 5:42