Customer Reviews

Far Cry

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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This is the first of several collaborations between Eric Dolphy & the fated trumpeter Booker Little; it was recorded in December 1960, though it was oddly released only belatedly--in fact, it has a later catalogue number than the Five Spot recordings from July 1961. (The other date recorded by Dolphy & Little was _Out Front_, recorded under Little's name for a different label, Candid.) Listening to it again, I find it hard not to meditate a bit on Dolphy's ill-starred career. He was certainly recording at a ferocious pace in 1960-61, both as a leader & sideman--this is the best-documented period of his career, aside from the 1964 concert recordings with Mingus--& yet it's hard not to feel that Dolphy never really got a chance to create a music commensurate with his talent. He was a great _soloist_: but unlike Coltrane or Coleman, he never really got the chance to develop his music as a group music. Every disc of his has completely different personnel, often containing both bop players like Haynes & Persip & nascent radicals & innovators like Little, Carter, Byard &c. (in this Dolphy's output is comparable to early Charlie Parker discs, which mixed boppers with swing-era players). Prestige was clearly not an ideal base for his talents: they were perhaps hoping to get music in the vein of the extremely popular Chico Hamilton band, of which Dolphy was an alumnus, not a player whose inclinations were to the increasingly radical experiments of the 1960s avantgarde. Dolphy's most unconstrained work on Prestige was on the live Five Spot albums; after he was dropped by the label, he recorded almost nothing under his own leadership, but did turn out his most fully-achieved album at Blue Note (_Out to Lunch_, his most experimental album) & two other interesting dates for United Artists, which are again much more robustly experimental than any of his Prestige discs. As the oeuvre stands, it is as frustratingly but enticingly incomplete as Bix Beiderbecke's or Herbie Nichols': what remains is essential & terrific music, but it could have been much more.

Anyway, back to _Far Cry_. It's an album that's oddly organized, as it's split in three (slightly overlapping) sections. Tracks 1-3 are a loose meditation on the legacy of Charlie Parker, beginning with two Byard originals, a blues called "Mrs. Parker of K.C. (Bird's Mother)" (on which Dolphy plays bass clarinet) & the ballad "Ode to Charlie Parker" (flute). Both tracks are if anything features for the brilliant trumpet of Booker Little, who gets the most solo space. The 3rd track is "Far Cry", which Dolphy in the liner notes says is a summing up of Parker's legacy & how it stood 4 years after his death. This is a brisk, angular line played on alto--curiously it's exactly the same theme as "Out There", the title track of his previous Prestige LP. Perhaps he was dissatisfied with the first version?

"Far Cry" & "Miss Ann" are closely related, as slashing uptempo numbers for alto sax, & thus might be considered the 2nd part of the album. At this point the album takes a mysterious left turn: Booker Little, who up to this point has been if anything more prominent than Dolphy, doesn't play on the rest of the album, which is turned over to three standards. "Left Alone" is given a lovely flute rendition, & "It's Magic" is given a rather exaggerated, almost satirical reading on bass clarinet. The masterpiece here--& what really pushes this album into the front rank of the Dolphy canon--is "Tenderly", a 4-minute acappella alto-saxophone improvisation. It is not given a conventional chords-based reading, but instead treated almost like a classical cadenza: Dolphy hews fairly closely to the melody, but it is stated only in tiny fragments which open up into soaring arpeggios, loops & trills. This is one of the key tracks of the 1960s. I still find it tremendously moving after years of listening.

The CD reissue also includes a version of Dolphy's blues "Serene" (again, this was recorded earlier for Prestige, suggesting Dolphy was not happy with the previously released version). It's as strong as anything on the original album, & I don't know why it was left off the first time around.

Booker Little and Eric Dolphy, two explorers in Jazz who left this world far too soon, join together for the first time on this cd. Wonderful tunes, very interesting solos, good rhythm section. This album is certainly as good as the acclaimed Dolphy & Little recordings at the Five Spot. Mal Waldron is indeed a more interesting piano player than Jaki Byard, but on the other hand Waldron's piano was way out of tune at the Five Spot. Too bad that there is on this page no sound sample of 'Tenderly', the wonderful Dolphy solo on alto.

This is Dolphy at his best with up-beat energy that blows away the dolldrums. Listeners should immediately grasp its optimistic searching outlook.

Bird's Mother is wonderfully angular with great humor. The flute on Left Alone is as bluesy as a flute can be. What a wonderful tribute to the great Billie Holiday, who as we know sang nothing but the Truth.

Booker Little is one of the tragic losses that jazz endured, an immensly talented trumpet player who died in his early 20s. You can hear some of his best work here and he was the perfect horn player to work with Dolphy. And unfortunately, Dolphy was to die tragically a few years later.

Dolphy was a positive spirit that is always valuable when represented in music.

This is music that no music lover can afford to ignore.

This creative set of "advanced hard-bop" (if this music can be characterized) has become one of my favorite jazz albums from the early 1960s. FAR CRY is mellower and more accessible than Dolphy's better known OUT TO LUNCH, recorded a few years later. It features the multi-talented Dolphy on alto sax, bass clarinet, and flute; Booker Little, one of my all-time favorite trumpeters; and a great rhythm section of Jaki Byard (piano), Ron Carter (bass), and Roy Haynes (drums). Dolphy and Little were a truly unique and wonderful front-line pair. The disc includes 8 great songs--and no alternate takes! I am enjoying this CD more with each listen. The flute and trumpet harmonies on "Ode to Charlie Parker" are delightful. Haynes's percussion is splendid throughout. An earlier reviewer suggested that the songs didn't really fit well together; personally, I don't find this a problem and enjoy the variety and contrasts on this album.

If you can find one (currently there are still a few available from Amazon 3rd-party sources), I heartily recommend the 20-Bit K2 remastered version. The older OJC (Original Jazz Classics) disc is the one listed here.

Nearly every song on this album is of 5 star caliber, but they don't seem to fit together very well. They don't seem to have any kind of connection with each other. The rhythm section is pretty good, but they are rather conservative on this album. As far as eric and booker go, this album contains some of their most wonderful playing. I think that a good way to describe eric's playing is exclamatory. It sounds like he is speaking through the horn. Sometimes it sounds almost as if he is inhaling through the horn rather than blowing. Little's blowing sounds somehow more sophisticated and intelligent than most trumpeters. All of the compositions are great. I am especially fond of "far cry" and the solo "tenderly." It's a shame that they both had to die so young.

Even Charles Mingus, a tough critic of just about everything, couldn't find anything nasty to say about Eric Dolphy, referring to him as a saint, not just as a player but as a man. Dolphy was known to be incredibly dedicated; he would frequently disappear at parties only to be found practicing one horn or another on a fire escape or other private place. His early, and completely avoidable death, has added even more shine to his halo. Today he holds a well-earned seat in the pantheon of great ones likes Coltrane, Bird, Young, and Hawkins. However, his residence there is more the result of his astonishing technical virtuosity than his contribution to moving the music forward.

Dolphy could play anything with keypads, he had an almost Faustian brilliance. But the dirty little secret about Dolphy is that often he was doing nothing more than running up and down the stairs. One might marvel at his ability without being moved. His famous rendition of God Bless The Child, on bass clarinet, is only the most blatant example of this syndrome. He touches the melody as a child touches base when playing tag, runs up and down the stairs for a few minutes, touches base again, and repeats the cycle.

When he is at his very best is when he's most lyrical, and in Far Cry he really delivers the goods. The early tracks cook; providing lots of room for Booker Little to dazzle with his own technical prowess. Then, mysteriously, it's almost as if Booker Little leaves the building and Dolphy takes center stage. From there on out, you are treated to some of the most exquisite Dolphy solos ever recorded. The flute playing is especially select, (he has no rival when it comes to jazz flute), but the alto on Tenderly is astounding and the bass clarinet on It's Magic, while overdone, showcases Dolphy's command of the instrument and ability to stretch a melody brilliantly without abandoning it. Collecting Dolphy is a hit or miss proposition, he recorded a lot and there is inconsistency in both the material and performances. Here there is only gold. Highly recommended.

Eric Dolphy's third and final Prestige album, FAR CRY, is more of a mixed bag than either of its predecessors, with the leader sharing both compositional and performing spotlights on what is probably best viewed - and heard - as a cooperative effort. Given Eric's exceptional company on this date, that's hardly a bad thing; those unfamiliar with Dolphy, however, would probably be better off looking elsewhere for an introduction.
Trumpeter Booker Little, whose death at twenty-three less than ten months after this set was recorded qualifies him as an even more tragic figure than the short-lived Dolphy, is credited right alongside Eric on FAR CRY's cover, with good reason. His soaring and inventive solos are fully up to the challenge offered by the leader's own work on alto saxophone, flute and bass clarinet, and it's both understandable and extremely fortunate that these two monolithic musicians would continue their intermittent partnership on stage and in the studio over the ensuing months. Pianist Jaki Byard, a veteran of Dolphy's debut album OUTWARD BOUND, likewise proves a particularly kindred spirit, and would work alongside Eric again in Charles Mingus' band from 1963-64. Bassist Ron Carter played a very effective cello on Dolphy's sophomore session, OUT THERE, while drummer Roy Haynes is here a third-timer behind the reedsman. One could scarcely ask for a more promising arrangement, and Dolphy almost makes the most of it.
A pair of lengthy Byard compositions, both tributes to Charlie Parker, opens FAR CRY. "Mrs. Parker of K.C. (Bird's Mother)" Features lively work from Dolphy on bass clarinet and an even more impressive turn from Little. The awkward title seems particularly out of place here, as it's a rather busy composition for a portrait, let alone one of a woman then in her sixties. A far more somber mood pervades the flute-driven "Ode to Charlie Parker," and this sad rumination on one of history's great self-immolators does indeed give the listener an idea of just how trenchantly his loss was felt in the jazz world. It's interesting that Dolphy, who as an altoist was often flatteringly compared with Bird, chooses to play both of these numbers on other instruments; but then again maybe that's the whole point.
Although Dolphy had written half the tunes on OUTWARD BOUND and more than that on OUT THERE, this rare spate of compositional prolificity would not be repeated until his very last studio album, OUT To LUNCH, in 1964. Here the leader provides only two short numbers, FAR CRY and MISS ANN, and the former is in fact a faster and briefer version of OUT THERE's title track. Both are good, brisk alto sax workouts for Eric with strong support from all his sidemen, but their jarring contrast with the Byard pieces compromises the unity of the date - and not for the last time.
A trio of covers consumes the remainder of FAR CRY, and all are markedly different not only from what has preceded them but from one another. "Left Alone" is absolutely perfect, one of Dolphy's finest and most impassioned flute performances framed in a gossamer-thin statement from the rhythm section with a lovely solo from Byard. Little doesn't play on this track, and no one but Eric himself plays on "Tenderly," an a cappella saxophone statement which rivets and rewards the attention while marking yet another sudden shift in this endlessly zigzagging collection. "It's Magic" brings back Dolphy's bass clarinet for the first time since the opening number, and while it's an admirable, witty exploration of the tune Little's inexplicable absence is a palpable drawback. Having wandered a broad range of soundscapes in its forty-two minutes, FAR CRY comes to a curiously inconclusive halt with this loping, emotive performance.
Little is back, however, for a second stab at Dolphy's "Serene," originally recorded at the OUT THERE session and here essayed with the more traditional instrumental lineup utilized on this date. It makes for an interesting comparison with the first version, certainly different if neither decisively better nor worse, and its addition to the CD reissue of FAR CRY rounds things off nicely.
While this album's inconsistencies of style and approach make it, in my own estimation, a four-and-a-half-star work, the importance of the musicians involved (especially at this juncture of their careers) and the excellent playing throughout leave me in no doubt about rounding my score upward instead of down. If you've enjoyed Dolphy's earlier - or later - recordings, FAR CRY is certainly one to add to your must-have list; if not, you're probably not listening well enough.

There will always be those who dispute which Dolphy album is the topper-most of the popper-most, and there's certainly a lot to choose from for an artist as sadly short-lived as Dolphy. I don't want to contribute to this debate by detracting from his many other projects as both leader and sideman, but I must say that this album has grown to be a personal favourite.

Dolphy's multi-instrumental prowess is well known (and with good reason), but with this album he manages to attain a confluence of virtuosic fireworks and a high degree of emotional substance and warmth. Perhaps this sentimentality comes from the loving tributes to Charlie Parker that get this album off to a fine start. Perhaps it is borne out of the sense of camaraderie which Dolphy seemed to share with his band-mates, particularly Booker Little. Perhaps it comes from Dolphy's choices as to where and when he played which instruments, ensuring that each choice was deliberate and served the emotive purpose of the song. Chances are that the balance between skill and sentiment in this album results from a combination of each aforementioned factor, and the result is indeed spectacular.

The album features a nice variety of songs and instrumentations, and even includes a solo alto sax tune with Dolphy alone. Booker Little's presence is felt less and less as the album progresses, and while I think he contributes something wonderfully unique and compatible to this session, the transition created by his gradual disappearance is very effective. As far as the sound quality of this particular release is concerned, I'm in no position to compare it with other editions, as this was the first I heard. I can however safely say that the balance, clarity and warmth of the sound is superb, and that this sounds top notch compared to other jazz recordings from this time period. If you're already a fan, there's no excuse not to have this (especially this edition if you can find it). If you're just beginning to take an interest in Dolphy, I can think of no finer place to start.

This creative set of "advanced hard-bop" (if this music can be characterized) has become one of my favorite jazz albums from the early 1960s. FAR CRY is mellower and more accessible than Dolphy's better known OUT TO LUNCH, recorded a few years later. It features the multi-talented Dolphy on alto sax, bass clarinet, and flute; Booker Little, one of my all-time favorite trumpeters; and a great rhythm section of Jaki Byard (piano), Ron Carter (bass), and Roy Haynes (drums). Dolphy and Little were a truly unique and wonderful front-line pair. This disc includes 8 great songs--and no alternate takes! I am enjoying it more with each listen. The flute and trumpet harmonies on "Ode to Charlie Parker" are delightful. Haynes's percussion is splendid throughout the disc.

I heartily recommend grabbing one of these JVC 20-Bit K2 re-mastered versions (while they last). The engineers are listed as Shigeo Miyamoto and Tamaki Beck. There is a whole series of these, which are re-issues of the older OJC (Original Jazz Classics) series. I own at least 20 of them and am very pleased with the audio quality (clear, full, natural-sounding) on each.

as beautiful as anything dolphy ever did, and booker little, one of the great lost geniuses of jazz, only intensifies the experience.