Musical documentary about the versatile alto saxophone and bass clarinet player, flautist and composer Eric Dolphy. Dolphy was born in Los Angeles in 1928 and died in Berlin in 1964. His music is still very much alive. The documentary is a combination of an Eric Dolphy biography, and a reconstruction of his last tour. During his last tour, a few weeks before his death, Dolphy had sessions with the trio Mischa Mengelberg, Jacques Schols and Han Bennink. They finished their tour with a radio session resulting in Dolphy’s last album Last Date, often considered to be his best recording.
The documentary focuses on the last radio recording, made in Hilversum, and is inspired by the six different tracks of the Last Date record. The prologue and epilogue are associated with aspects of Dolphy’s personality and music. He was not a run of the mill jazz musician. Dolphy had an amiable character. He would neither drink nor smoke. He was not into drugs and fatally unaware of the fact that he suffered from diabetes. A few weeks after his appearance in Holland he suddenly died in Berlin, just before a planned tour.
Apart from the documentary the Last Date recording is on the DVD. Moreover some pictures of Dolphy at work are included, and photos shot by Ton van Wageningen during Dolphy’s Hilversum session. A discography is included, as well as an interview with filmmaker Hans Hylkema about his inspiration and motive to make this documentary.
DVD9 / all-regions / 4:3 / color & balck and white / Dolby 2.0 / 92 min. + extra’s
Nederlands en Engels gesproken en ondertiteld /
extra’s: interview / photogallery/ poem by Remco Campert
discography
credits
released March 31, 2013
director: Hans Hylkema
camera: Deen van der Zaken
sound: Piotr van Dijk, Lucas Boeke
editor: Ot Louw
animation: Gerrit van Dijk
production: Marian Brouwer
The Netherlands, 1991
Musicians The Last Date
Eric Dolphy – flute, bass clarinet, altsax
Misha Mengelberg - piano
Han Bennink - drums
Jacques Schols - bas
Situationist coldwave from France that is deliciously icy, high-drama vampire vocals colliding with icy synth & guitar. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 7, 2021
French darkwave outfit Candélabre channel New Romantic pop, dousing big melodies with a healthy amount of foggy, swirling atmosphere. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 27, 2021
This Polish post-punk group has an icy edge and a new wave dancefloor pulse, and their big sound is enhanced by clear, powerful vocals. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 22, 2017