Solo from “Take the ‘A’ Train”

Eric Dolphy

Oslo, Norway, 1964

This is the most renowned of the Billy Strayhorn-Duke Ellington collaborations as it came to define Ellington’s band. Ellington wrote it in 1939.

Charles Mingus, the bassist, had himself participated in a jam session with Ellington. As for Dolphy, many jazz critics consider him one of the first significant jazz soloists on the bass clarinet.

Personnel:

Eric Dolphy, bass clarinet
Charles Mingus, bass
Clifford Jordan, tenor sax
Johnny Coles, trumpet
Jaki Byard, piano
Dannie Richmond, drums