Outward Bound (Dolphy debut album released on New Jazz)

Reissues history

Tracks

The original release contained 6 tracks.

April Fool appeared for the first time on Here and There.
Both alternate takes appeared first on Dash One.
Latest CD versions of Here and There additionally include the G.W. alternate take.

Later re-editions of Outward Bound normally include April Fool, and the two alternate takes for G.W. and 245, with the notable exception of the Analogue Production vinyl and a Japanese release.

All tracks are on the Complete Prestige Fantasy box, 9PRCD-44182.

Credit

This is variously credited to Eric Dolphy, Eric Dolpy Quintet, or Eric Dolphy Quintet featuring Freddie Hubbard.

This is by all means an Eric Dolphy session and album - and this quintet is not a group, but a mere indication of the number of sidemen.

Spelling

The "On" in "On Green Dolphin Street" is frequently omitted.
"245" is sometimes presented with double quotes.
"G.W." regularly has the dots removed, spaces added, etc.

Cover art

Most editions sport the original Prophet painting, sometimes with an added mention about the formation / featuring Hubbard overlayed.

The Esquire version did drop the Prophet painting and replaced it with a picture of Dolphy.
A recent shady late edition did the same (the one with the extra entirely unrelated R&R track from a Candid Mingus session).

Remasters history

The normal New Jazz trajectory is:
1. originally recorded by Van Gelder in his studio
* quality is good, because of RVG, but this is obviously mastered in the 60s
2. Original Jazz Classics reissues it first on CD during the late 80s or early 90s with a remaster done in Fantasy Studios, generally by Phil De Lancie
* generally very decent albeit a bit cold - it is more a small cleanup / update to the originals
3. There generally is a handful of limited edition / special releases for the Japanese market with a distinct Victor remaster
* typically uses K2/20bit/24bit
4. RVG remaster then come out with a significant upgrade, available in CD and digital
* these come with significant differences compared to the original mastering and are generally vastly superior to other prior masterings and are typically the gold standard if you go digital
5. occasionally audiophile vinyls come out, typically from Analogue Productions, with their own remastering
* these are sounding very different, and very good - they are typically the gold standard if you go analog

In this specific case, there are a few deviations:
- Joe Tarantino took care of the OJC remaster instead of De Lancie
- there is an extra OJC 20 bit "remaster" that somehow makes everything worse by adding more resolution to the original defects - it is neither a clean modern version, nor an old school print - it just makes the original shortcomings glaring...
- there is a shady late release of unknown master origin - using public domain presumably means they are using a rip of the vinyl, possibly even mono

Verbatim

Simosko

"Omit Hubbard on April Fool and Glad to be Unhappy"

Saul

G.W. [12:07, 7:55](as), 245 [8:08, 6:47](as), Green Dolphin Street [5:42](bcl), Glad to be Unhappy [5:41](fl), Les [5:11](as), Miss Toni [5:40](bcl), April Fool [4:07](fl)

Metronome MEP9039 - a single with GW and 245, thanks to TP Uschanov for this information -, Transatlantic TRA-SAM-3
The alternate longer takes of G.W. and 245 appear on Prestige MPP2517, a compilation CD with other tracks noted below, and on the Japanese VVICJ-23634.
April Fool is found elsewhere in some cases, for instance on "Here and There", Prestige 7382.
Other releases include PR7311, Esquire 32-123, BelAir 331.006, VDJ1653, VDJ1594, OJC CD673-2, OJC CD1203-2, FCD 60.022, MEP 9039, SMJ6514, SMJ7432, LPJ80011, VIJ247, VICJ23634, Voix de son Maitre FELP10019, Bellaphon BJS40103, BLST6518, Fonit Cetra OM2033, VIJ4034, Fonit Cetra HBS6157, SMJ-6578, P-24070, 68.326, HB6044, PPR076, 68.320, HB6062, DPU 25, VICJ-2220 (20-bit remastered Japanese issue).
The shorter GW is also on OJCX008. All of this is included in the Fantasy box, 9PRCD-44182.

Hubbard lays out on the flute tracks.

Original liner notes, Ron Eyre

"It is all here on this first track, from the opening unison of alto and trumpet"

"on “Green Dolphin Street.” His bass clarinet solo"

"[on Les] The solo order is alto, trumpet, piano"

"[on 245] Eric picks up his alto again"

"Richard Rodgers’s “Glad to Be Unhappy” (from the Broadway production of On Your Toes of 1936) is used as a vehicle for Eric on flute"

"“Miss Toni” is a light swinger with the bass clarinet again"

RVG remasters liner notes, Neil Tesser

"the longer alternate of “G.W.”
It gives each soloist an extra chorus, and Dolphy two extra choruses, to explore the song’s see-saw chord progression"

""April Fool,” another flute feature, may have been heard before—it originally appeared as a bonus track on the album Here and There"