Eric Allan Dolphy was born in Los Angeles, California, on June 20,1928 and he began studying the clarinet at the age of nine. His progress followed the normal learning curve through his teens and after some soul searching, he decided on a career in music.

His first job was at a dance and ironically, Charles Mingus played bass on that date. After this, his early experience as a professional musician came under the leadership of George Brown, Gerald Wilson and Buddy Collette, all on the West Coast.

He had a period in the Eddie Beal band in 1956 but his first really significant career move came in 1958 when he joined Chico Hamilton's forward-looking quintet. Dolphy emerged from the quintet, after less than two years, a far more radical player. A player, in fact, ready to begin a music association with Charles Mingus in 1960 that was to last on and off until his untimely death in 1964.

Two titles on his Candid release come from this union of musical minds and they are typical of the artistic interaction that took place between the two men. For Dolphy it represented the full flowering of his talents, producing relaxed masterpieces such as the "Stormy Weather" hear here or engaging in the incredibly irascible instrumental argument that closes "What Love".