He sure left the stage early and for all the wrong reasons, but to this saxophonist-flautist at least, Dolphy already is on that level. At the Five Spot changed everything.
For me it was "Out To Lunch" and the live concert in I think 64, with Mingus. He just shone. A few years back I did an exhibition of jazz portraits at the now defunct Cafe Stritch where he was one of the bigger prominent works: https://www.deviantart.com/zeruch/art/eric-dolphy-v5-1936648...
I think its the phrasing that just does it for me.