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Out to Lunch | 
| Artist: Eric Dolphy
Label: Blue Note
Category: Music
List Price: £4.99
Buy New: £3.98
You Save: £1.01 (20%)
New (31) from £3.61
Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 2620
Format: Original Recording Remastered
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 98793
UPC: 724349879324
EAN: 0724349879324
ASIN: B00000I8UK
Release Date: May 3, 1999
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Tracks:
| • | Hat And Beard | | • | Something Sweet Something Tender | | • | Gazzellioni | | • | Out To Lunch | | • | Straight Up And Down |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
Eric Dolphy was among the most daring, impassioned and technically assured improvisers to come of age in the 1960s and Out to Lunch! represents his most fully realised vision. From his ground-breaking work with Chico Hamilton and Charles Mingus, through his catalytic stint with John Coltrane, and all through his brilliant solo recordings for Prestige, this reed innovator defined the best elements of the swing and the bebop traditions, from Benny Carter through Bird, while extending on the rhythmic, melodic and harmonic freedom of Monk. Dolphy is an emotional shaman with a keen comic edge, as is evident in the rhythmic sauntering, drunken gait of his theme to "Straight Up and Down," and Monk's influence is clearly discernible in Dolphy's witty dissonances and vocalised blues phrasing throughout Out to Lunch! (his only Blue Note recording, completed shortly before his untimely death). Rhythm masters Richard Davis, Bobby Hutcherson and Tony Williams suspend time at will, sculpting in open space, while deconstructing the harmony and superimposing cubist rhythmic displacements--periodically regrouping around Freddie Hubbard's bumblebee trumpet and the leader's vocalised bass clarinet (his Monkish "Hat and Beard"), wailing alto (the martial parodies of the title tune), and exhilarating flute (the lyric, swinging "Gazzelloni"). --Chip Stern
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
Way ahead of it's time November 24, 2006
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
Make sure you do some reading up on Eric Dolphy before you buy this. Don't expect to hear anything resembling the winning Blue Note hard bop formula characteristic of the fifities and sixties. As far as Jazz goes this is way ahead of it's time, those who know the contemporary Jazz scene will know that there are plenty of acts out there who try and sound exactly like what you hear on this record.
OK, it's not easy listening. For me Dolphy's compositions are no way near as compelling as some of Ornette Colman's for example. It's quirky, mysterious, it has you scratching your chin trying to figure it all out. "Gazzelloni," starts off as very accessible before disappearing into some great flute loops. Add to that William's nuerotic sounding drums and it makes for interesting listening. Freddie Hubbard holds the record up in terms of his melodic contribution. Hutcheron's style of playing naturally leads to what Dolphy was trying to achieve on this record, the music heads down plenty of alleyways. I'm not going to tell lies, I only dig this out now and again when nobody else is around and give it a listen. It's challenging and gives an indicator of what would happen a lot lot later.
 Playful playing. December 9, 2004
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
I have to admit my jazz collection is quite slim and most of it predates the 1950's but I love the music on 'Out To Lunch'. Like others have contested, this is not free-jazz, much of the music opens with a melody line no matter how angular and dissonant before each member gets a chance to improvise. The opening 'Hat and Beard' (a tribute to Thelonious Monk) sets the tone for the rest of the album, the track roots itself in its synchopated beginning before leaping off into some interesting solos including a great one by vibist Bobby Hutcherson. Rhythm section Davis and Williams aren't so 'free' here maintaining an elegant groove. On 'Something Sweet, Something Tender', Hubbard sounds almost conservative, his playing evoking memories of 50's bop. There's some wonderful improvised bass by Richard Davis (also heard on Van Morrison's criticaly acclaimed 'Astral Weeks') and then Dolphy enters flouting all his exhuberance on clarinet. 'Gazzelloni' begins like the movie theme from an architypal 60's film, with a foot-tapping rhythm that again challenges the notion that this is a free-jazz album. There's some remarkable interplay between Hutcherson and Williams as they flow behind Dolphy's flute and Hubbard's trumpet. Hubbard comes to the fore again on 'Out To Lunch' where his trumpet runs like a bumble bee after Dolphy's bird-flying alto-sax solo. For a moment the rhythm breaks into a pounding monotone, then a bass flourish before the drums take us back to the original melody. Then comes the final drunken swagger of 'Straight Up And Down' where Hubbard's playing is almost conventional above the rhythm section indulging themselves, while Hutcherson goes on another flamboyant run, demonstrating what this album encapsulates most, an unrestrained sense of playfulness.
 Difficult going. January 14, 2004
4 out of 15 found this review helpful
I came to this music on the strength of the recommendations which it recieved. When I listened to it about four times and discarded it initially I thought that it was very thin on melody or much in the way of preconcieved quality music. Certainly, I could hear nothing to warrant the extreme praise which I have seen it recieve.
Returning to it months later, I began to warm to the first two tracks, the second of which being my favorite at present. Perhaps it was simply because I was not initially used to Dolphy's style that it took so long for me to get used to it.
It occured to me then that, if like me you are new to this huge genre, then there are so many high quality records which don't require so much effort, why not chose them instead?
Challenging and massively rewarding music June 2, 2001
26 out of 28 found this review helpful
Out to Lunch! is one of the most important jazz albums of the 1960s. The clarity of the recording, the individual space accorded each instrument, the meticulous attention to the nuances, the refined texture of the overall sound, the sheer presence of each recorded moment - these were the hallmarks of its sound.The coming together of Eric Dolphy, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hutcherson, Richard Davis and Tony Williams on Out to Lunch! was a momentous event. Dolphy had made a clutch of records for Prestige in the years leading up to this record, the most significant probably being the famous Five Spot live sessions with Booker Little that would promise so much but be cut short by Little's death from uraemia. Out to Lunch! was to be his single, most unsettling masterpiece. It's not an easy album to become fond of. It insinuates melodies before it cuts them short, it ruthlessly breaks up harmony into fragments and it stretches the limits of tonality to extremes, but perhaps its triumph is that it brings swing into a new era. By giving Davis and Williams space and freedom, Dolphy let swing become a by-product of interaction, not a conscious contrivance. The rhythmic complexity of the record knew no precedent.
A Masterpiece January 14, 2001
22 out of 22 found this review helpful
I have to redress the balance of the other review and bump up the star ratings. This is a CLASSIC and unmissable album, whose sound is still unique today. Despite the 'free'ish jazz, there is a very tight structure and plan to each track. This contradiction is what draws me to Dolphy's music. The second track 'Something Sweet, Something Tender' includes a brilliant inter-change between Dolphy and a bowed bass. This is music of the very highest standard and show-cases the individuality of Dolphy as a composer and soloist. It doesn't fall into any known category, so is as likely to appeal to a modern classical fan as a jazz fan.
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