Eric Dolphy, artwork by Michael Symonds
Eric Dolphy stands alone in the jazz pantheon. There I said it! While there is no shortage of iconoclasts in the music, few turn my head like Dolphy. This piece, from his last recording just months before his tragic death, is a shining example of that uniqueness. Its more like jazz chamber music than the blues, and the choice of players and their placement really shows off his compositional genius.