Having paid homage to
Alec Wilder in 1996, guitarist
Vic Juris sets his sights on a very different musical icon,
Eric Dolphy. Like
Dave Douglas has done with
Booker Little,
Wayne Shorter, and
Mary Lou Williams,
Juris not only plays
Dolphy's music, but presents a batch of original pieces "inspired by" him. He begins and ends with two of
Dolphy's exceedingly complex free bop lines, "Miss Ann" and "Out There," giving himself quite a workout. He also includes "Something Sweet, Something Tender," a haunting piece from Out to Lunch, and "South Street Exit," a blues that finds saxophonist
Dick Oatts switching from alto to flute, as
Dolphy often did himself. Standouts among the originals include the swinging, multi-meter "He Me" and the lyrical "Tone Rose" (a pun on "tone rows").
Oatts contributes "Emphasizing Eric," a slow grooving piece with a difficult melody that has
Juris sounding quite a bit like
John Scofield. Bassist
Jay Anderson and drummer
Jeff Hirshfield have a way of making this arduous music sound easy and fun.