Bennie Maupin's Dolphyana At The Detroit Jazz Festival

by Becca Pulliam, WBGO

WBGO's Becca Pulliam produces the NPR program JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater, which presents highlights from live jazz concerts weekly. She was out at the Detroit Jazz Fest this Labor Day weekend, where her crew was doing a lot of recording. She's been kind enough to share with us an excerpt of reedman Bennie Maupin's Dolphyana project. If you're interested, there's a lot more where that came from. Check out more of WBGO's coverage from Detroit at the WBGO Blog. --Ed.

Though he only met Eric Dolphy once, the discovery of an unrecorded stash of Dolphy compositions spurred Bennie Maupin to create his Dolphyana band. (Becca Pulliam / WBGO)

The first and only time Bennie Maupin (born 1940) met Eric Dolphy (1928-64) was in Detroit, at a venue called the Minor Key Lounge. The younger Maupin mentioned he was studying the flute, so Dolphy --- the strong, original multi-instrumentalist --- gave Maupin an intense, 45-minute flute lesson. In that fleeting meeting, Dolphy began to live forever in Maupin's head.

In 1962, Maupin left Detroit as a saxophonist with the Four Tops. While living in New York, he bought himself a bass clarinet for $50 and played it on Bitches Brew with Miles Davis. In the 1970s, he settled in California and recorded the million-selling Head Hunters with Herbie Hancock. Ever since, Maupin has favored creative pursuits and spiritual sounds over Los Angeles session work.

When flutist James Newton inherited an small cache of previously unheard Dolphy tunes,
Maupin was inspired to form a new quintet called Dolphyana. Newton wasn't able to make this date for medical reasons, so at the Detroit Jazz Festival, the flutist was Nestor Torres, backed by Jay Hoggard on vibes and marimba, Darek Oles on bass, and Billy Hart on drums. The group painted some better-known Dolphy compositions into the night air: under a full moon, they open with "The Madrig Speaks, the Panther Walks" and continue with "Something Sweet, Something Tender."

"The Madrig Speaks, The Panther Walks":

"Something Sweet, Something Tender":

Dolphyana in Concert at the Detroit International Jazz Festival. Bennie Maupin, reeds; Nestor Torres, flute; Jay Hoggard, mallet instruments; Darek Oles, bass; Billy Hart, drums. Detroit, Mich.: Sept. 5, 2009.

The 30th Detroit International Jazz Festival brought a holiday weekend of pride and pleasure to a city that is suffering. With 28.9% unemployment in July, the city's storied musical life co-exists with a slow-motion economic plunge that threatens everyones livelihoods. Thanks to a private endowment, the entire festival was free.

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More of this concert recording is available at the WBGO Blog.

2:57 PM ET | 09-30-2009 | permalink

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