February 27, 2019 Playlist

Pledge Drive!
"Out To Lunch!" by Eric Dolphy (1964)
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Eric Dolphy "Out To Lunch!"  1964 (USA)
Since Kosmik Radiation returned to the 2am-5am timeslot earlier this year, I've been pleased to bring back "non-rock music in the final hour of the show" as a regular segment. What could be more surreal than waking up very early (or going to bed very late) to the sounds of some of the most out-there Modern Jazz ever recorded? Eric Dolphy was a shooting star in the early 1960's jazz scene, seen as a peer of the likes of John Coltrane (whom he made a few classic records with) and Ornette Coleman, at the forefront of the "New Thing" in jazz which was the grooviest scene going  before the 1960's turned on, tuned in, and dropped out. But alas, Dolphy died under controversial circumstances at the young age of 36 while on tour in Europe (the official version is he was an undiagnosed diabetic who went hypoglycemic; the more controversial one is that European doctors did not give him proper care because they assumed an American jazz musician feeling sick must be a junky, which Eric was not). His final studio album Out To Lunch! was his masterpiece as well as his swan song, and for 50 years now has been considered one of the cornerstone albums of that "sixties New Thing Modern Jazz" style. So what do we get here? Five original Eric Dolphy compositions (RIYL the idiosyncratic atonal wackiness of Thelonious Monk and Ornette Coleman) performed by a legendary band: Dolphy on saxes and flute, Bobby Hutcherson the undisputed ModJazz master of the vibraphone, Freddie Hubbard the second-most popular trumpeter of the 60's and 70's, Richard Davis (later a beloved UW-Madison music professor) on the bass, and playing drums is 17 year-old Tony Williams who had just joined Miles Davis' legendary quintet. But Dolphy is unquestionably the star here: his playing is every bit as "free" as the notorious Ornette (according to legend Dolphy used to practice sax by playing along with birds chirping outside his window), but with the top-flight chops of a Charlie Parker. It's truly intriguing to consider where Dolphy might have gone had he lived long enough to see the hippie era and electrified jazz fusion that followed: what could he have done with a wah-wah pedal and an amplifier?!?! 
(N) = New Release
(R) = Listener Request
   
Artist Song Album Year Country
The Guess WhoUndunCanned Wheat Packed By The Guess Who1969Canada
TrafficDear Mr. FantasyMr. Fantasy1968UK
Todd RundgrenCouldn't I Just Tell You?Something/Anything?1972USA
Malibu Ken
(Aesop Rock and Tobacco from Black Moth Super Rainbow)
Corn MazeMalibu Ken (N)2018 (Rhymesayers)USA
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Cyboogiesingle (N)2019 (ATO)Australia
 
 
CHVRCHES
featuring
WEDNESDAY CAMPANELLA
Out Of My Head (R)non-album single (N)2018 (Virgin)UK (Scotland)
/Japan
WEDNESDAY CAMPANELLAAme-No-Uzumi ("Blueberry")Superman2017Japan
Haru NemuriTorikobosareta Machi Kara Ai Wo Komete
("With Love From The Undiscovered City")
B-side single2017Japan
Poppy Am I A Girl?Am I A Girl? (N)2018 (Mad Decent/I'm Poppy)USA
BABYMETALTales Of The DestiniesMetal Resistance2016Japan
   
 
DMBQ No ThingsKEEENLY (N)2018 (Drag City)Japan
DMBQCounterclockwiseAnnular Music2001Japan
NecromandusGypsy DancerOrexis Of Deathrec. 1973, rel. 1999UK
The Eric Burdon BandRing Of Fire (Johnny Cash/The Animals)Sun Secrets1974UK
The Monkees
(R.I.P. Peter Tork)
For Pete's SakeHeadquarters1967USA/UK
   
 
Isaac HayesWalk On By (Dionne Warwick)Hot Buttered Soul1969USA
The Isley BrothersWhat It Comes Down To3 + 31973USA
Prince & The RevolutionWhen Doves CryPurple Rain1984USA
Sly & The Family StoneQue Sera Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be) (Doris Day)Fresh1973USA
Steely DanJanie RunawayTwo Against Nature2000USA
The Mothers Of InventionThe Eric Dolphy Memorial BarbequeWeasels Ripped My Flesh1970USA
   
 
Eric DolphyHat And BeardOut To Lunch!
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
1964USA
Eric DolphyStraight Up And DownOut To Lunch!
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
1964USA
John Coltrane (with Eric Dolphy)OleOle Coltrane1961USA
   
 
William Shatner
(with Richie Blackmore and Candice Night)
Space Oddity (David Bowie)Seeking Major Tom2011Canada (Quebec)
/UK
      
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