Eric Dolphy was a reedman whose unexpected death in Berlin at the age of 36 while on tour with Charles Mingus cut short what might have been one of the most significant careers in jazz.  As it is, he is remembered with reverence, and the music he recorded in his short lifetime is still studied and appreciated by the generations of jazz musicians that have followed.

Dolphy was born in Los Angeles in 1928 and his early playing career was spent with west coast groups like those led by Gerald Wilson, Buddy Collette and Chico Hamilton. He moved to New York in 1958 and worked with Charles Mingus, Max Roach and George Russell as well as leading his own groups and touring Europe in the early 1960s.

“Last Date in Hilversum” is an album recorded live on June 2, 1964 in The Netherlands and released posthumously in 1965 on Limelight Records. He is accompanied by Misha Mengelberg at the piano, Jacques Schols on bass and Han Bennik playing the drums.  The set includes Theonious Monk’s Epistrophy, Miss Ann and an eleven minute rendition of You Don’t Know What Love Is. Despite the title, this was not Dolphy’s final performance, but only 27 days after this recording was made Eric Dolphy died from undiagnosed diabetes.

Here is a link to Miss Ann, the closing track on “Last Date in Hilversum:”

"MISS ANN"