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Hagedorn and quintet revive music of Eric Dolphy

By Marin Amundson-Graham '90
November 17, 2006

A new CD recording released by the Jazz Police (Twin Cities) and Artists' Quarter Records features St. Olaf Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Jazz Bands David Hagedorn, performing live with the Out To Lunch Quintet.

The Out To Lunch Quintet: Live at the Artists' Quarter pays homage to Eric Dolphy, a jazz musician and composer whose volcanic improvisational style, unusual time signatures and dissonant chord structures significantly influenced the modern jazz movement. Recorded live in June 2006, the CD includes all the compositions from Dolphy's seminal album, Out To Lunch (1964), a work deeply rooted in the avant-garde.

"Historically, it's important to revive this music," Hagedorn says. "The tunes are very difficult to play so they don't get played very often. Playing these songs pushes your technique to the limit."

The Out To Lunch Quintet
The Out To Lunch Quintet: Live at the Artists' Quarter
The Out To Lunch Quintet, assembled specifically to perform and record all the music on Out to Lunch, includes some of the Midwest's most talented and skilled jazz artists: Hagedorn (vibraphone), Dave Milne (alto saxophone, bass clarinet, flute), Kelly Rossum (trumpet), Tom Lewis (bass) and Phil Hey (drums).

Hagedorn's role extends beyond ensemble member and vibe soloist. In 2005 he provided the impetus with a transcription and performance of Dolphy's "Hat and Beard" at the Artists' Quarter in St. Paul. That night he was asked about transcribing Dolphy's songs and getting together musicians who would be up to the challenge.

Much of Dolphy's music was never written down, requiring Hagedorn to spend hours listening to the original recording "a million times."

The quintet's first performance, an installment of the Twin Cities Jazz society's Jazz from J to Z concert series, took place at St. Olaf before an enthusiastic crowd of students, other musicians and jazz patrons from around the region. Soon after, plans were set in motion to do a live recording -- the first since the original to use Dolphy's arrangements and instrumentation and the first-ever live recording of the complete album.

Hagedorn attributes audience response with helping propel the success of the project. "Listening to this music also can be challenging to the listener, but we're finding that audiences really enjoy the intensity, energy and craziness that comes with it," he says. "They've helped us capture the timelessness of Dolphy's music."

Hagedorn teaches percussion, jazz studies and world music. He earned degrees from the Eastman School of Music, New England Conservatory and the University of Minnesota. Performing both jazz and classical music, he has appeared with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Contemporary Ensemble, Plymouth Music Series, Phil Hey Quartet and Source Code. He studied and has toured nationally with George Russell, a pivotal jazz composer and music theorist. His CD, SOLIDLIQUID, was released on the Artegra Records label in 2003.

St. Olaf has three jazz ensembles open to both music and non-music majors by audition. The groups rehearse and perform a wide variety of jazz styles, including swing, be-bop, fusion, funk, salsa and Afro-Cuban, Brazilian and New Orleans grooves. Two on-campus concerts are presented each year. Additionally, all three bands are part of a popular annual swing dance event held on campus.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.