2018.11.29 Jorge Sylvester on Eric Dolphy - 1 of 3

Many artists are admired but few are elevated to the status of icons. Eric Dolphy's rich yet austere tone, his thorny compositions and especially his daring solos, with their intervalic leaps and note choices so wrong they're perfect, set him apart from the crowd even now, over 50 years after his death. The urgency and absolute sincerity that he conveyed still set a standard that few artists achieve to their own satisfaction.

Jorge Sylvester is one of the great students of Dolphy's (Unlike the case of, say, Miles Davis or Sonny Rollins, I don't know anyone who is inclined to refer to him by his first name). Like Dolphy, he is a bandleader, a composer and a multi-reed master who goes his own way.