Flexible and Contemporary

Perhaps the highlights of Iron Man aren’t just the humanized arpeggios from Eric Dolphy’s saxophone on the groovy title track, “Mandrake” and “Burning Spear,” but the funereal tempo on “Come Sunday” and “Ode to C.P.” Dolphy’s flute floats like a soaring eagle over Richard Davis’ pizzicato bass in a tribute to Charlie Parker. Unlike Bird, Dolphy was not a junkie. Like Bird, his death, which caused by diabetes attack, at a young age (36) shocked the world of jazz.