ORNETTE COLEMAN
Ornette Coleman - The Atlantic Years [2018] (10 x CD's)
The arrival of the Ornette Coleman Quartet in New York in the late autumn of 1959 represented one of the pivotal events of 20th century culture, comparable to the première of Igor Stravinsky’s Rite Of Spring in Paris in 1917 or Elvis Presley’s debut on the Ed Sullivan Show almost 40 years later. And, of course, with a similarly upsetting effect on the old folks. Jazz, barely half a century old, had grown used to an evolutionary process that took the music from Louis Armstrong to Miles Davis at a rapid but reasonably smooth clip. With very little warning, Coleman lit a set of booster rockets that fired the music into outer space. Suddenly musicians and observers who had thought of themselves as living on the leading edge of the music could be seen clinging desperately to the tail fins. (Uncut)
When we hear the first notes of “Lonely Woman,” the first track on the first album Ornette Coleman made for Atlantic Records, very little about the composition, now a classic, or the way it’s played—by Coleman, alto saxophone; Don Cherry, cornet; Charlie Haden, bass; Billy Higgins, drums—sounds all that avant-garde. If everything is relative, our musical judgments are no exception. We’ve had nearly 60 years, since “Lonely Woman” opened The Shape of Jazz to Come, to assimilate far more radical schemes of improvisation, both solo and collective. But many listeners in 1959 hadn’t yet made the jump, and the required ear/brain adjustments, from swing and bebop to the morphing harmonies, keening melodies, almost Cubist structures, and ensemble elasticity of Coleman’s music. The great trumpeter Roy Eldridge famously said, “I think he’s jiving baby.” (theabsolutesound.com)
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TRACK LISTS
CD1 The Shape Of Jazz To Come
01 Lonely Woman
02 Eventually
03 Peace
04 Focus On Sanity
05 Congeniality
06 Chronology
CD2 Change Of The Century
01 Ramblin'
02 Free
03 The Face Of The Bass
04 Forerunner
05 Bird Food
06 Una Muy Bonita
07 Change Of The Century
CD3 This Is Our Music
01 Blues Connotation
02 Beauty Is A Rare Thing
03 Kaleidoscope
04 Embraceable You
05 Poise
06 Humpty Dumpty
0007 Folk Tale
CD4 Free Jazz
01 Free Jazz - Part 1
02 Free Jazz - Part 2
CD5 Ornette!
01 W.R.U.
02 T. & T.
03 C. & D.
04 R.P.D.D.
CD6 Ornette On Tenor
01 Cross Breeding
02 Mapa
03 Enfant
04 Eos
05 Ecars
CD7 The Art Of The Improvisers
01 The Circle With A Hole In The Middle
02 Just For You
03 The Fifth Of Beethoven
04 The Alchemy Of Scott La Faro
05 Moon Inhabitants
06 The Legend Of Bebop
07 Harlem's Manhattan
CD8 Twins
01 First Take
02 Little Symphony
03 Monk And The Nun
04 Check Up
05 Joy Of A Toy
CD9 To Whom Who Keeps A Record
01 Music Always
02 Brings Goodness
03 To Us
04 All
05 P.S. Unless One Has (Blues Connotation No. 2)
06 Some Other
07 Motive For Its Use
CD10 The Ornette Coleman Legacy
01 Rise And Shine
02 The Tribes Of New York
03 I Heard It Over The Radio
04 Revolving Doors
05 Mr. And Mrs. People
06 Proof Readers
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Thanks for this lot.
ReplyDeleteIts a pleasure Bob Mac.
DeleteA beautiful set of discs. It has a very personal feel to me.
Cheers
This is a marvellous set of Atlantic albums, of which I owned the first three. Clearly avant garde in their time how these albums moved the music on. Where are the successors to Coleman, Coltrane, Rollins, Miles Davis etc? At least we have these albums to play.
ReplyDeleteHi again Man from Mordor,
DeleteI am always enjoy Ornette's work. As I have said previously feels very personal.
Cheers.
Hi! Missed this the first time. Could you re-up the links?
ReplyDeleteThanks in advance
Hi Bradhoffman,
DeleteThe link has been revitalized , tested and working.
Cheers
Hello! Could you re-up the links? Thanks.
DeleteHi RocketLegionnaire,
DeleteNew links established, tested and working.
Cheers.