HONEY-OVERDOSE

When the revolutionary jazz flutist Eric Dolphy was touring in Europe he arranged to have lessons with Severino Gazzelloni during his stay in Italy. Already the possessor of an awesome technique, Eric Dolphy became extremely interested in the experimental work being done by Gazzelloni. (Listen to Eric Dolphy's composition `Gazzelloni' on the album 'Out To Lunch' dedicated to the great Italian flutist). Gazzelloni in turn was impressed by the adventurous rhythmic innovation used by Dolphy in his improvisations. Eric Dolphy was also deeply inspired by the sounds of nature and seriously studied how to reproduce them on the flute. Some of these sounds, such wind and bird songs, he later incorporated into his solo improvisations and cadenzas. Eric Dolphy was a work-a-holic who practiced at every possible opportunity, even during the breaks between sets. He neither used drugs or drank alcohol. His premature death was caused by the fact that he was unaware of being a diabetic. Having started a natural health diet, he ingested large quantities of honey while on a particularly long and arduous European tour. The intake of so much sugar led first to sickness then quickly to a state of deep coma from which he never recovered. In the turbulent drug-ridden jazz environment of the sixties it is ironic that Eric Dolphy should die from an overdose of honey. His flute was bequeathed to his close friend, the legendary saxophonist John Coltrane, who played it on one of his last recordings.