from ‘Far Cry’ New Jazz
That’s got to be Eric Dolphy - nobody else could sound that bad! The next time I see him I’m going to step on his foot. You print that. I think he’s ridiculous. He’s a sad ____________.
L.F. Down Beat won’t print those words.
M.D. Just put he’s a sad shhhhhhhhh, that’s all! The composition is sad. The piano player _____ it up, getting in the way so that you can’t hear how things are supposed to be accented.
It’s a sad record, and it’s the record companies fault again. I didn’t like the trumpet players tone, and he don’t do nothing. The running is all right if you’re going to play that way, like Freddie Hubbard or Lee Morgan; but you’ve got to inject something, and you’ve got to have the rhythm section along; you just can’t keep on playing eighth notes.
The piano player’s sad. You have to think when you play; you have to help each other - you just can’t play for yourself. You’ve got to play with whomever you’re playing with. If I’m playing with Basie, I’m going to try to help what he’s doing - that particular feeling.
Editor’s note : Neither John Coltrane or Ornette Coleman agreed with Davis’ assessment of Dolphy’s talents. He collaborated with both these legendary musicians during the early sixties before forming his own group.