Eric Dolphy ListServe and discussion group contacts

[Juju]

Anyone interested in Eric Dolpy news might want to check out a fabulous e-mail-based discussion group.

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Also, check out a fabulous guide to the man's music and life at:

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Here's a cut-and-paste from a recent discussion topic:

"Hello all.

A few months back, I put in a "thread" discussing if Dolphy could have been
tired, or distant, during the concert on April 13th in Oslo.
(It's furthermore very strange to see a band like that play there - In the old
auditory at the University of Oslo. Many historic jazzbands, like Monk trio
and Bill Evans trio have also performed there. The place still looks the same
as on the tapes: I wonder, even if that same grand piano is at use... heard a
story of a piano tuner who was hired to tune up the old grand piano there. A
string snapped, and flew through the air - creating a deep mark in the Edvart
Munch painting on the stone wall behind the stage.)
Chris Hofgren begged to differ on my observations, but I still believe the
session to be a bit too odd. I believe something is going on.

Just recently, I managed to get my hands on a tv-studio date the day after the
Oslo concert. 14th of april, in Stockholm, Sweden. (probably well known to
many of the recipients of this list)
I think the entire mood of this session is a bit more optimistic than in Oslo,
but still - It sounds to me like somtething is going on. Perhaps the reason
for why I think that this is the case, is because Mingus is wearing some neat
sunglasses - and Richmond is wearing a hat which he repeatedly tilts to the
side, to look cool.
The band plays a version of So Long Eric - and Meditations. Mingus stops the
band at the beginning of Meditations to tune up his bass, and add harpics to
the bow and strings. During his bass grooming, he says:
"Eric, I'm gonna miss your ass over there..." [grins and chuckles -
cynically?]
"How long do you think you're gonna' stay?... 'You thought about it?"
Dolphy: "I don't know, not long..."
Richmond says something - can't quite make it out, but it's reffering to
something about "better not be too long..." and there occurs some "woooo"'ing
Mingus asks many times: "What's not long?"
Dolphy: "I don't know, maybe a year - not more than a year".

Interresting thing is - Clifford Jordan seems to be staying out of this
conversation. Perhaps he's only dreaming off on his own, but I think there's
more to it than this. Dolphy answeres reluctantly that he doesn't think of
staying more than a year, after Mingus has asked "what's not long" several
times.
I believe Mingus was quite angry for Dolphy leaving the band at this point.

Offcourse there's a more evident reason for why I believe this - This reason
comes from a book I read on the Mingus sextet's stay in Oslo. In Norway, there
was a woman named Randi Hultin - who befriended several jazz musicians from
then until recently (she passed away in 2001). She is mentioned in Francis
Paudras' Bud Powell biography "Dance of the Infidells" (Where Paudras also
mentiones that Powell was amazed that Mingus would hire such a terrible
musician as Dolphy: And Mingus was shocked by Powells remarks)
Anyway, Hultin has published a book called - Born in the sign of Jazz. In this
book she tells of many musician friends that either came by to visit her while
touring, or musicians that she met while traveling herself.
The Mingus sextet visited her house while on tour, where Dolphy and Mingus
supposedly had broken into a fight (or discussion), where Mingus expressed his
"anger" of Dolphy leaving the band.
A problem is, that it's been a while since I read that book. (But this is
about how the story went)
Dolphy did several sessions with the band after their stay in Oslo, but left
the band later on - in Germany.

I will be doing some more research on this "subject", and will hopefully be
able to dig up that book again, to catch up on details on the story.

Any thoughts?
Has anyone got that book?

Hans Martin