GOODBYE Mr. COLEMAN ..... and THANK YOU .....

Label: London Records ‎– LTZ-K15199, London Atlantic – LTZ-K15199

Series: Jazz Series

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: UK / Released: 1961

Style: Free Jazz

The album was originally released as Atlantic 1327 in June, 1960.

Recording dates: Tracks A3, B2, B3, B4 - October 8, 1959, tracks A1, A2, B1 - October 9, 1959, Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California.

Engineer – Bones Howe

Cover / Photo – Lee Friedlander

A1 - Ramblin' ............................................................................. 6:35

A2 - Free .................................................................................... 6:20

A3 - The Face Of The Bass ....................................................... 6:55

B1 - Forerunner ......................................................................... 5:12

B2 - Bird Food ........................................................................... 5:30

B3 - Una Muy Bonita ................................................................. 6:00

B4 - Change Of The Century ..................................................... 4:43

Ornette Coleman – alto saxophone

Don Cherry – pocket trumpet

Charlie Haden – bass

Billy Higgins – drums, percussion

Change Of The Century was an audacious album title, to say the least. On his second Atlantic release—and second with his most like-minded ensemble (trumpeter Don Cherry, bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Billy Higgins)—alto saxophonist Ornette Coleman pushed the freedom principal farther. At the same time, he looked backward too for inspiration. Having eliminated the piano on his Contemporary release, Tomorrow Is The Question! (1959), Coleman opened up wide improvisational opportunities. On that recording, he and his "freedom principle" remained partially inhibited by the presence of traditionalist bassist Percy Heath and drummer Shelly Manne, who resisted coloring outside of the lines as Coleman was attempting to do. But that was not so on The Shape Of Jazz To Come (Atlantic, 1959) and Change Of The Century. While the rhythm section continued to provide enough cohesive swing to propel matters, Coleman and Cherry stretched the melodic boundaries without the previous harmonic anchors.

Change of the Century is compelling in its embrace of contrasts. "Ramblin'" is funky organic, almost early rock and roll. Haden plucks and strums his way through a fractured 12-bar format that never fully resolves itself into the comfort of the anticipated. Coleman's solo over Haden's support is bar-walking rhythm and blues, lowdown and dirty, smelling of beer and Lucky Strikes. Cherry plays his famous pocket trumpet, sounding closer to Lee Morgan than anyone else, squeezing out hard bop lines like sparks from a metal lathe. Haden solos using the figures he has supported the whole piece with. His intonation is middle-of-the-note, relaxed and slightly wooden. "Ramblin'" retains an erstwhile harmonic structure, albeit only barely.

The head of "Free" is an odd premonition for composer/saxophonist Oliver Nelson's "Hoedown" from The Blues and the Abstract Truth (Impulse!, 1961), passing through an ascending and descending blues figure. Haden is rock solid throughout, even when the solo-going gets ragged and frayed. Higgins' accents are as potent as pepper, shoring up the edges of chaos on the briskly-timed piece. "The Face Of Bass" gives prominence to Haden while at the same time sounding strangely traditional for an album entitled Change of the Century. But it is a facade. Coleman encourages a careful abandon in the piece's overall structure and arrangement. Cherry pops on his solo, sometimes sounding like Freddie Hubbard, sometimes, Art Farmer.

"Forerunner" pretends that it is bebop, with a serpentine head and a deft drum break by Higgins. Coleman's solo is inspired, quenched in gospel and the blues. His tonal expanse is as big as his native Texas, informed by the many great tenor saxophone players from that state. Cherry emerges assertive, playing with swagger and attitude. So well constructed and delivered is his solo that it is easy to forget that a move toward a freer musical system is in the works. Haden remains stalwart in time-keeping, shepherding everything between the rhythmic ditches. The same can be said for the Charlie Parker-inspired "Bird Food," which is surveyed at a fast clip over a complex note pattern.

"Una Muy Bonita" is only passing Latin, with pianist Thelonious Monk phrasing and side- winding playing. Haden sets up a familiar clave beat with strummed chords. Coleman stages the piece to more insinuate a Latin vibe than to actually play one. After a lengthy introduction, Cherry solos muted, allowing himself a broad swath over which to play. The disc's closer, the title tune, was the most fully-realized "free jazz" at that point from Coleman. It is a wild phantasm of notes that are to "free jazz" what trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie's "Bebop" was for that virtuosic genre. It is a clarion call played on impulse. Yes, finally things are really beginning to come apart at the seams, properly foreshadowing Free Jazz: A Group Improvisation (Atlantic, 1961). Coleman has fully gained his traction and is now ready.

Label: Fontana – 858 119 FPY, ESP Disk – SFJL923

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: UK / Released: 1965

Style: Free Jazz, Avantgarde

Recorded live on December 21, 1962 at Town Hall, NYC.

Design – Jay Dillon

Engineer – Jerry Newman

Photography By – Charles Shabacon

Blue and silver label with silver and blue letters.

P: 1963 on label (wrong)

A1 - Doughnut .................................................................. 9:00

A2 - Sadness .................................................................... 4:00

A3 - Dedication To Poets And Writers ............................. 8:50

B  -  The Ark .................................................................... 23:24

Ornette Coleman – alto saxophone

David Izenzon – bass

Charles Moffett – drums, percussion

Kermit Moore – cello (tracks: A3)

Julien Barber – viola (tracks: A3)

Nathan Goldstein – violin (tracks: A3)

Selwart Clarke – violin (tracks: A3)

Ornette Coleman's theory of harmolodics set a standard for improvised music that is unrivaled. Coleman closed the synaptic gap between the conception and implementation of the musical idea so that spawning the music became a conjugation of the harmonic relationships that live within it.

Town Hall, 1962 brings the music so close to the experience that the performers seem to be just yards away. The sad fact remains that this is only part of the night's worth of music; the whereabouts of the rest is regrettably unknown.

The bright spirit stemming from Coleman's youth permeates the sound of the four-track recording with innovation. Coleman's searing stepped scale ascension on his alto bursts open the music to carve out his sonic territory; he is accompanied by light touches and constant motion on the snare and cymbal and a relaxed rich pizzicato on the bass. Coleman carries the weight of the music through an endlessly changing tuneful line until he rests and lets bassist David Izenzon's arco fly and Charles Moffett's stick work map the way into a snare/cymbal rendering of the tempo. Coleman holds a high pitch on his horn to wrap up the first song, "Doughnut." The memory of that pitch transfers to the jaw-dropping purity of tone that Coleman illustrates on "Sadness."

"Sadness" has to be one of the best models for evoking the meaning of its title, besides Coleman's classic composition "Lonely Woman." At age 32, having mastered his instrument, Coleman plays unwavering, potent single notes and melodic phrases of compelling poignancy. Contrast the gripping soundscape emanating from the alto with tonal arco vagaries on the bass, precise brushwork on the drums and expansive sibilance on the cymbals and the result is unforgettable.

The presence of a piece for string quartet is no less a distraction than a Rembrandt portrait would be hanging next to a Picasso collage abstraction. The instrumentation may seem antithetical to expectations brought to Coleman's music. But, following the path of every string instrument in relation to one another on "Dedication to Poets and Writers" substantiates the integration in which Coleman staunchly believes.

The final 23-minute "The Ark" widens the distance among the instruments in a true test of improvisational limits. Coleman presses through a loosely defined middle range in the form of ostinatos and relentless melodic bounce. Moffett can only respond with bold polyrhythmic moves and Izenzon with deep pizzicato splurges and assiduous bowing. Nineteen minutes in, Coleman slowly squeezes out a seemingly strained high pitch, a signal for the tonal climb that ensues until closing with the bass's fast paced bowing in its upper register.

In the stream of its apparent freedom, this trio acts with constraints, imposed not by restriction, but by genius. To know what later transpired could only underscore the appreciation of what already exists.

If you find it, buy this albums!

ART PEPPER – So In Love (Artists House / LP-1980)

Label: Artists House – AH 9412

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: US / Released: 1980

Style: Contemporary Jazz

Tracks A1, B1: Recorded 2-23-79, New York, NY.

Tracks A2, A3, B2: Recorded 5-26-79, Burbank, CA.

Cover Art by – Alyssia Lazin

Design by – Lazin & Katalan

Art Director by – Carol Friedman

Producer by – John Snyder

A1 - Straight No Chaser ............................................... 6:26

         Composed By – Thelonious Monk

A2 - Blues For Blanche ................................................ 6:49

         Composed By – Art Pepper

A3 - So In Love ........................................................... 11:37

         Composed By – Cole Porter

B1 - Diane ................................................................... 12:22

         Composed By – Art Pepper

B2 - Stardust ............................................................... 10:34

         Composed By – Hoagy Carmichael, Mitchell Parish

Art Pepper – alto saxophone, clarinet

Hank Jones – piano (tracks: A1, B1)

George Cables – piano (tracks: A2, A3, B2)

Ron Carter – bass (tracks: A1, B1)

Charlie Haden – bass (tracks: A2, A3, B2)

Al Foster – drums, percussion (tracks: A1, B1)

Billy Higgins – drums, percussion (tracks: A2, A3, B2)

Pepper's "So in Love" continues his post prison fiery play. Critics who believe his earlier work is his best must not be hearing Pepper's final blowing. It is simultaneously lyrical and hot, as if Art knew that this was, indeed, it - his last chance to say everything he had to say. The actual cut "So in Love" is a favorite. It has an underlying tension that is subtle and yet almost unbearable. Art's early death left a huge hole, but in a way it's inevitability led to some of the best alto work ever recorded.

The altoist stretches out here on a program of standards and blues, backed by alternating rhythm sections from the East and West coasts.

Pianist Hank Jones is all one could ask for in an accompanist, and his aching solo on Diane sustains perfectly the restive mood of Pepper's opening choruses. Overall, the West Coast team pianist George Cables, whose great rapport with Pepper is unmatched, along with jazz legends Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins powers the music along with great care and economy. Pepper had climbed to such a plateau of individuality that he seems often here to be drawing his unconscious influences into the light and remembering what it was he loved about them in the first place.

On a leisurely Stardust, he daffodils his sentiments with the grace and cunning of a Lester Young. The title track, a Cole Porter waltz that agitates into a collective improvisation by its climax, offers the best illustration of the wondrous use Pepper makes of John Coltrane. It isn't in this case a matter of piling up chords or of playing more notes, as it is with so many others, but rather of drawing on extreme registers of the horn to express more conflicting emotions, to reach deeper and higher recesses of the viscera and the psyche.

___________________

Art Pepper, more creatively prolific in his late years than at almost any other time in his troubled life, cuts as sharply as a scythe when he's taking on an edge on this 1979 set. He appears in two different quartet formations, the first with pianist Hank Jones, bassist Ron Carter, and versatile drummer Al Foster, and the second with pianist George Cables and the rhythmic duo Ornette Coleman used so effectively, bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Billy Higgins. The Jones-Carter-Foster lineup moves more measuredly than the Cables-Haden-Higgins one. Chalk it up to Coleman's speedy "harmolodic" compressions, but Haden and Higgins dance all over the melodies, pressing Pepper to spray alto lines in multiple directions almost at once. "Diane" is lovingly taken, with Pepper finding in Jones a great, romantic colleague.

And if you find yourself curious about Pepper, try reading his tell-all autobiography "Straight Life", jazz's greatest confessional.

http://straightlife.info/apautobook.html

This album, recorded on 1979, in the period Art Pepper had the support of his sentimental couple, Laurie Pepper, is a masterpiece. And it shows that, as it is affirmed everywhere, this man didn't need to practice a lot, he simply took his saxo and performed a beautiful jazz with great honesty and nobleness. Art Pepper, with all his defects and tortuous life due to drug dependency, is a well bred musician and he shows himself naked before we all. If God finally exists I guess he decided to take him to heaven, because of his honesty and the artistry he gave us all. The two different rhythm sections of this album are excellent. I have no doubt about recommending it.

If you find it, buy this album!

MAHAVISHNU JOHN McLAUGHLIN – My Goal's Beyond (LP-1971)

Label: Douglas – DGL 64537

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Gatefold; Country: Netherlands - Released: 1971

Style: Jazz-Rock, Acoustic, Fusion

Recorded in New York City, March 1971.

Design [Sleeve Design] – Chris Poisson

Photography By – Hugh Browne

Producer – Mahavishnu John McLaughlin

A1 - Peace One . . . 7:15

A2 - Peace Two . . . 12:18

B1 - Goodbye Pork Pie Hat . . . 3:15

B2 - Something Spiritual . . . 3:35

B3 - Hearts And Flowers . . . 2:05

B4 - Phillip Lane . . . 3:35

B5 - Waltz For Bill Evans . . . 2:00

B6 - Follow Your Heart . . . 3:17

B7 - Song For My Mother . . . 3:30

B8 - Blue In Green . . . 2:37

John McLaughlin - acoustic guitar

Jerry Goodman - violin

Dave Liebman - tenor & soprano sax, flute

Charlie Haden - bass

Billy Cobham - drums

Airto Moreira - percussion

Badal Roy - tablas

Eve McLaughlin (alias Mahalakshmi) - tambura

 Mahavishnu John McLaughlin

Jerry Goodman 

John McLaughlin: My Goal's Beyond Technically, the acoustic guitar playing on 1970's My Goal's Beyond does not approach the skill exhibited on most of John McLaughlin's recordings. Flubbed notes pop up here and there, and although this album is famous for McLaughlin's "solo" renderings of such classic tunes as Mingus' "Good-Bye Pork-Pie Hat," Bill Evans and Miles Davis' "Blue in Green" and his own wonderful composition "Follow Your Heart," Mclaughlin actually pre-recorded the chords and soloed over them.

However, no small amount of flubbing or overdubbing can take away from the fact that this album is a true masterpiece. MGB set standards for acoustic guitar playing which remain today. McLaughlin's soloing and chord playing was a revelation even to those familiar with his electric guitar style. He snapped the steel strings with the confidence of a warrior. His playing was amazingly fast, yet still melodic, and his tune selection was unusually eclectic. He was coming from an entirely new place.

The most impressive performance is the ensemble rendering of McLaughlin's "Peace One." Charlie Haden opens the composition with an infectious bass groove, and the tune features crisp, snapping acoustic guitar and Far Eastern tonal colors. Dave Liebman is especially up front on sax. Other members of the band included future Mahavishnu Orchestra band mates Billy Cobham and Jerry Goodman. Airto and Badal Roy also come along for the joyful ride. Violinist Goodman, in particular, makes some very strong statements.

So popular has this record become over the years that several labels have purchased it from catalog and re-released it. You can't kill this thing with a stick. In addition to the original Douglas 9 production, MGB has also appeared on the Warner-Electra, Ryko and The Knitting Factory labels (the latter being its latest reissue, from 2000).

MGB is considered to be a milestone in the career of John McLaughlin and the history of acoustic jazz guitar. To this day, there are many who claim it is still the greatest of all McLaughlin records. I recommend listening to this record once a month for the rest of your life.

We shouldn't forget that it took guts to record an acoustic guitar album during the times of Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix. So although over the years the album has sold well through reputation, it totally bombed when it was released. MGB is a primary recording for any McLaughlin fan.

By WALTER KOLOSKY, Published: November 19, 2002 (AAJ)

If you find it, buy this album!

LEO SMITH – Divine Love (LP-1979)

Label: ECM Records – ECM 1143

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album; Country: W. Germany - Released: 1979

Style: Free Jazz, Contemporary Jazz

Recorded at Tonstudio Bauer in Ludwigsburg, W. Germany in September 1978.

Artwork By [Design] - Peter Brotzmann

Composed By – Leo Smith

Engineer By – Martin Wieland

Photography [Back] – Dani Lienhard, Signe Mahler, Roberto Masotti

Photography [Front] – Roberto Masotti

Producer By – Manfred Eicher

A1 - Divine Love . . . 21:47

B1 - Tastalun . . . 6:38

        (Trumpet - Kenny Wheeler , Lester Bowie)

B2 - Spirituals: The Language Of Love . . . 15:28

        (Bass - Charlie Haden)

Leo Smith – trumpet, flugelhorn, steel-o-phone, gongs, percussion

Dwight Andrews – alto flute, bass clarinet , tenor saxophone, triangles, mbira

Bobby Naughton – vibraharp, marimba, bells

Charlie Haden – double-bass

Lester Bowie – trumpet

Kenny Wheeler – trumpet

Leo Smith refused the advances of the ECM label for a few years, but eventually created this album for them and continued to record with them sporadically. His working group of the time is largely featured, along with a piece for three trumpets that puts him in the company of both Lester Bowie and Kenny Wheeler. His scores from this time were very well-thought-out and demanded a special type of concentration from the performers, moving into areas quite different than the usual intensity build-up of free jazz or the theme-improvise-theme standards of much that came before. Whether his intentions are best served by the likes of Bowie and Wheeler -- both working in an area that might not be their forte -- was a decision that didn't seem to bother the production staff, and the results are at the very least a memorable meeting of three brass masters. The presence of vibraphonist Bobby Naughton was typical of this period, heralding a new layer of lyricism and romantic beauty in Smith's music, which one would think would be perfectly suited to the ECM treatment. That sympathetic connection was never quite made, however, as the producer was probably busy finding the ultimate reverb setting for Smith's horn. 

(by Eugene Chadbourne)

Bobby Naughton, Wadada Leo Smith, Dwight Andrews - Stuttgart, West Germany, September 1978 (Photo by Fridel Pluff)

"The music I have written since 1970 represents two types of systems that I have utilized in my music; the systems of rhythm - units and ahkreanvention. The rhythm unit concept is one that accepts a single sound or rhythm, a series of rhythm - sound, or a grouping of more than one series of sound rhythm as a complete piece of music and thus need not be so- called developed further to be appreciated as a whole fresh realized work or piece, IMPROVISATION. The correct understanding of each unit is: the value given to an audible unit is followed by the relative equivalence of silence. "Divine Love" and "Spirituals: The Language Of Love" are good representations of the rhythm unit concept.

Since 1971 I have been concerned with creating alternatives for a world music, one which utilizes the fundamental laws of improvisation and composition while retaining a uniqueness of its own. I began to design a notation system for scoring sound, rhythm and silence, or for scoring improvisation, a technique I term ahkreanvention. Ahkreanvention literally means to create and invent musical ideas simultaneously, utilizing the fundamental laws of improvisation and composition, Within this system, all of the elements of the scored music are controlled through symbols designating duration, improvisation, and moving sounds of different velocities. These symbols are depicted on two types of staffs sound staffs divided into low, medium and high, and sound staffs of adjustable sound partials. Since this system was designed, all of the music I have worked on has dealt with the philosophical and technical attitude upon which it is based. "Tastalun" is an ahkreanvention piece scored for three muted trumpets, and it represents my experimentation with this system of notation. In prior years I have been able to record solo ahkreanvention pieces, but this was the first time I have recorded an ensemble ahkreanvention piece. My purpose and mission as a creative musician is to bring about an understanding and appreciation for all the instruments found throughout the world and to advance the concept of equality of both the instruments and their creators in the world arena."

_ By LEO SMITH , 9.23.1978

Buy this album!

ORNETTE COLEMAN – Twins (recorded between 1959 and 1961, LP-1971)

LP cover originally released in 1971

Label: Atlantic – SD 1588
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo, 180 Gram; Country: US - Released: 1971
Style: Free Jazz, Hard Bop
"First Take" recorded on December 21, 1960, at A&R Studios, New York City.
"Little Symphony" recorded on July 19, 1960, at Atlantic Recording Studios, New York City.
"Monk And The Nun" recorded on May 22, 1959, at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California.
"Check Up" recorded on January 31, 1961, at Atlantic Recording Studios, New York City.
"Joy Of A Toy" recorded on July 26, 1960, at Atlantic Recording Studios, New York City.
Design [Cover Design] – Haig Adishian
Photography [Cover Photo] – Omar Kharem Producer – Nesuhi Ertegun
Design [Cover Design] – Haig Adishian
Liner Notes – Martin Williams
Mastered By – George Piros
Mixed By [Re-mix Engineer] – Geoffrey Haslam

"Ornette Coleman's music has always shown an expressive feel for the playful, the joyful, the whimsical side of human nature. And I'd say it's often there, deep down, in things he plays or writes in quite different moods." _ Martin Williams

A1 - First Take ........................................................................ 17:00
A2 - Little Symphony ................................................................ 5:15
B1 - Monk And The Nun .......................................................... 5:56
B2 - Check Up ........................................................................ 10:11
B3 - Joy Of A Toy ..................................................................... 4:40

Artists on Check Up : DON CHERRY (cor), ORNETTE COLEMAN (as), SCOTT LaFARO (b), ED BLACKWELL (d), recorded NYC, January 31, 1961. Recording Engineer Tom Dowd.

Other tracks: DON CHERRY (pocket tp), FREDDIE HUBBARD (tp), ERIC DOLPHY (bcl), ORNETTE COLEMAN (as), CHARLIE HADEN, SCOTT LaFARO (b) ED BLACKWELL, BILLY HIGGINS (d), sessions May 22, 1959, July 19, July 26, December 21, 1960.

Ornette Coleman

Freddie Hubbard

Ornette Coleman's Twins (first issued on LP in 1971) has been looked at as an afterthought in many respects. A collection of sessions from 1959, 1960, and 1961 with different bands, they are allegedly takes from vinyl LP sessions commercially limited at that time to 40 minutes on vinyl, and not initially released until many years later. Connoisseurs consider this one of his better recordings in that it offers an overview of what Coleman was thinking in those pivotal years of the free bop movement rather than the concentrated efforts of The Art of the Improvisers, Change of the Century, The Shape of Jazz to Come, This Is Our Music, and of course the pivotal Free Jazz. There are three most definitive selections that define Coleman's sound and concept. "Monk & the Nun" is angular like Thelonious Monk, soulful as spiritualism, and golden with the rhythm team of bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Billy Higgins driving the sweet and sour alto sax of Coleman and piquant trumpeting of Don Cherry. "Check Up" is a wild roller coaster ride, mixing meters, tempos, and dynamics in a blender in an unforgettable display of sheer virtuosity, and featuring bassist Scott LaFaro. "Joy of a Toy" displays the playful Ornette Coleman in interval leaps, complicated bungee jumps, in many ways whimsical but not undecipherable. It is one of the most intriguing of all of Coleman's compositions. Less essential, "First Take" showcases his double quartet in a churning composition left off the original release This Is Our Music, loaded with interplay as a showcase for a precocious young trumpeter named Freddie Hubbard, the ribald bass clarinet of Eric Dolphy, and the first appearance with Coleman's groups for New Orleans drummer Ed Blackwell. "Little Symphony" has a great written line with room for solos in a joyful hard bop center with the quartet of Coleman, Cherry, Haden, and Blackwell. All in all an excellent outing for Coleman from a hodgepodge of recordings that gives a broader view of his vision and the music that would come later in the '60s.

Review by MICHAEL G. NASTOS



If you find it, buy this album!