Lyrics | Artists | Eric Dolphy

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Eric Dolphy

Despite his death at a young age, Eric Dolphy was a pioneering free-jazz star whose wild, expressive reed-playing took be-bop down thrilling new avenues in the 1950s and '60s and influenced generations that followed. Born in Los Angeles to immigrants from Panama, he started playing the clarinet at the age of six and became obsessed with jazz after discovering Fats Waller, Duke Ellington and Coleman Hawkins while playing in high school orchestras. He earned a music scholarship to the University of Southern California when he was just 13, before studying at the City College unde...