Eric Dolphy

American jazz alto saxophonist, flautist, and bass clarinetist.

Born: June 20, 1928 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
Died: June 29, 1964 in West Berlin, .

His earliest recordings at the end of the 1940s were with Prestige.

A few months after recording his best album ("Out to Lunch") for Blue Note (released posthumously, as were most of his live albums), Dolphy was performing in European venues having had difficulties in gaining enough work in the US and because his fiancé, the classically trained dancer Joyce Mordecai, was based in Paris. Dolphy died following complications arising from undiagnosed diabetes; doctors falsely assumed he was an addict. He is credited with pioneering the use of the bass clarinet as a solo improvising instrument.