An extraordinarily well-attuned, one-time-only all-star ensemble, a masterpiece of late 20th Century jazz every listener should hear.

The recording Out To Lunch, 43 minutes of music composed and brilliantly realized by multi-instrumentalist Eric Dolphy (1928 - 1964) with an extraordinarily well-attuned, one-time-only all-star ensemble, is a masterpiece, late 20th Century jazz every listener serious about music -- or just after a mind-opening experience -- should hear.And as trumpeter Russ Johnson with his superb collaborators prove on Still Out To Lunch, it's the rare work of inspired collective improvisation that rewards revival. Johnson, alto saxophonist Roy Nathanson, pianist Myra Melford, bassist Brad Jones and drummer George Schuller here approach a 50-year-old classic with reverence but also regard for an imperative Dolphy would have undoubtedly endorsed -- that if they choose to play his music they should be themselves. The players here are not Dolphy, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hutcherson, Richard Davis and Tony Williams, nor should they be. One great value of Still Out To Lunch beyond the music's surface pleasures is that Johnson and company redeem the promise of the best repertory effort. More than revive art from the past, they make Dolphy's music live as their own. The way Johnson does that, with Nathanson playing alto and soprano sax (rather than alto, bass clarinet and flute as Dolphy did), Melford playing piano (rather than vibes, Hutcherson's instrument), Brad Jones on upright bass and George Schuller drumming, serves to complement and expand a program thousands of listeners already know and love. Still Out To Lunch comprises all five songs included on the original Blue Note LP, plus two never-before-recorded Dolphy pieces and a through-composed work by Gunther Schuller, Dolphy's mentor and sponsor at the heart of jazz's Third Stream movement (as well as drummer George Schuller's father).

Additional Details

Label: Enja Records

Genre: Jazz

Run Time: 50 mins

Region: 0

Release Date: 01/01/19

UPC: 767522774726