Eric Dolphy
Alto Sax Solo on
Butch And Butch

About

Eric Dolphy's alto saxophone solo is the third of four improvisations on this recording, following solos by Nelson and Hubbard. Taking three choruses of the 12-bar blues in G at 209 BPM, Dolphy injects his singular voice into the proceedings with the angular, unconventional approach that made his playing instantly recognizable. His wide intervallic leaps and rhythmic unpredictability create a marked contrast with the more conventional bop vocabularies of his colleagues, adding a dimension of harmonic and melodic daring to the performance.

Eric Dolphy was 32 to 33 years old at the time.