Eric Dolphy - Out To Lunch [Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series]

Recorded in a single February 1964 session at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Englewood Cliffs, Out to Lunch arrived just four months before Eric Dolphy's death at the age of 36 and stands as his most fully realized statement as a composer and bandleader. Released on Blue Note Records in March 1964, the album brought together one of the most remarkable pickup groups ever assembled for a jazz date: Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Bobby Hutcherson on vibraphone, Richard Davis on bass, and Tony Williams on drums. The instrumentation alone, with no piano and vibraphone in place of chordal harmony, signaled that Out to Lunch would operate on its own terms. This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series reissue is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray directly from the original master tapes and manufactured at Optimal in Germany on 180g vinyl.

All five tracks are Dolphy originals, each one a carefully constructed vehicle for collective improvisation that manages to sound both spontaneous and inevitable. "Hat and Beard," the opening tribute to Thelonious Monk, establishes the album's skewed rhythmic language immediately, Williams playing across the pulse in a way that keeps every soloist slightly off-balance in the best possible sense. "Something Sweet, Something Tender" is the album's sole ballad, Dolphy on bass clarinet in a quietly searching performance that reveals the lyrical center beneath his more abrasive work. "Gazzelloni," named for Italian flutist Severino Gazzelloni, finds Dolphy on flute in an intensely rhythmic showcase that builds to a collective intensity far beyond anything implied by its instrumentation. On Side B, the title track places Dolphy's alto saxophone against Hutcherson's most harmonically abstract vibraphone work on the record, while "Straight Up and Down" closes the album with a careening ensemble performance that brings every element of the session together.

Cut all-analog by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal, this Blue Note Classic Vinyl edition delivers the depth and presence that Van Gelder's original engineering deserves. The Classic Vinyl Series sits alongside the Tone Poet Series as Blue Note's ongoing commitment to high-quality analog reissues, with Kevin Gray mastering and Optimal pressing providing consistency across the catalog. Standard packaging replicates the original Blue Note artwork cleanly and faithfully.

• Format: 180g Black Vinyl LP
• Standout Tracks: "Hat and Beard," "Something Sweet, Something Tender," "Gazzelloni," "Out to Lunch"
• Pressing Details: Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series; All-analog mastering by Kevin Gray from original master tapes; Pressed at Optimal Media, Germany
• Genre/Style: Avant-Garde Jazz, Post-Bop, (bordering) Free Jazz
• UPC: 602435875026

Out to Lunch remains one of the most inventive and cohesive recordings in the Blue Note catalog, and the Classic Vinyl Series pressing does full justice to Van Gelder's original engineering.

* The Spotify track list may not exactly represent the tracks and audio of this LP edition.

Track List:

Side A:

1. Hat And Beard
2. Something Sweet, Something Tender
3. Gazzelloni

Side B:

1. Out To Lunch
2. Straight Up And Down