Dolphy Eric Allan, *20 June 1928 Los Angeles, †29 June 1964 Berlin, American multi-instrumentalist (saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, flute) and jazz composer. He began music lessons as a child. From 1957 to 1958, he was active in California, playing with bands led by G. Wilson, Buddy Collette, Ch. Mingus, and Chico Hamilton, among others. In 1958, he moved to New York. He collaborated and recorded with Ch. Mingus (1959–60), G. Russell (1961), M. Roach, the orchestras of J. Lewis and G. Schuller (1962), J. Coltrane (1961, 1963), and others. In the final years of his life, he frequently performed in Europe, attempting to settle there permanently.
A leading figure in the jazz avant-garde of the mid-1960s, one of the pioneers and early codifiers of free jazz, and one of the most highly regarded performers and improvisers in the third stream music movement. He made very important discoveries in the technique of playing the saxophone and bass clarinet (extreme expansion of registers, dyads, flageolet tones, noisy and colouristic effects, articulation, etc.).
Literature: V. Simosko, B. Tepperman E. Dolphy. A Musical Biography and Discography, Washington, D.C. 1974; U. Reichardt Like a Human Voice. The E. Dolphy Discography, Schmitten 1986; B. Chmura E. Dolphy. Olbrzym w cieniu gigantów, “Jazz Forum” 1988 no. 3.
