Compositions of Jazz Virtuoso Discovered

[Hardbopjazz]

I wish I could attend this festival.

Several works by the late seminal jazz saxophonist Eric Dolphy are making their premiere 50 years after his death in late May at a festival in Montclair, NJ.

Dolphy died young at the age of 36 without having a chance to perform or record these pieces. The story goes that the sheet music for these works were sitting in Dolphy’s closet at the time of his death.

The music is a big departure from where the late virtuoso left off with his seminal bop album "Out to Lunch" and thus begs the question: What could have been if Dolphy had lived longer?

Although the world will never know what the future held for the hard bop icon, the premiere of these pieces will give an idea of what that direction may have been.

You can listen to this program here.

http://www.wnyc.org/story/compositions-jazz-virtuoso-discovered/