My first exposure to Eric Dolphy was through my enjoyment of Charles Mingus, the great bassist/composer. This album, The Illinois Concert is sadly devoid of Mingus but features Dolphy playing bass clarinet, flute, and alto saxomophone. He was something of a unique character in jazz, I think, since he played all of these instruments with what seems to be a fair amount of virtuosity all the way around.
You don’t hear much from the bass clarinet in jazz, but its rich tone is quite apparent in “God bless this child.” Some might belittle the role of woodwinds in jazz, but Dolphy makes the bass clarinet feel right in step. It seems to me like the swing and classic jazz around the 1920s was full of clarinet that I definitely appreciate.
This album is also special to me because it features a young Herbie Hancock, the constantly self-redefining pianist who was but 23 years old when they gave this concert at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1963.
Like most Mingus, this album is solemnly introspective to me, as its steady rhythm section remains at the forefront alongside an eerily amelodic Dolphy that dips back into harmony on deep, beautiful notes from his bass clarinet.
