A great release from a transitional period in Coleman's life
greg taylor | Portland, Oregon United States | 12/11/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"It seems as if the last few years has witnessed a renaissance of interest in the music of Ornette Coleman. Suddenly we are being treated with a slew of releases from various periods in his discography.
This CD is an example of what I am talking about. I do not believe it has ever been released before. It is a recording of a August 29th, 1965 concert that took place in Croydon, England. In other words, this music has been sitting on a shelf somewhere for over fourty years! I feel a good rant coming on but I shall squelch it.
The concert was divided into two very different performances. The first part is a performance of a ten movement chamber suite entitled "Forms and Sounds for Wind Quintet". The only information we are given about the musicians are that the ensemble is called the Virtuoso Ensemble. The individual musicians deserve to be credited- they do an excellent job.
The suite is very interesting and supports a theory I have about what types of classical music influenced the generation (or two) of composers that arrived in the jazz world at this time. Besides Coleman, Andrew Hill, Henry Threadgill and Braxton, among others, were listening hard to modern classical music and incorporating some of what they were studying into their own music. My theory is simply that the most influential schools of classical music on these composers were the Impressionists like Debussey, the Second Viennese School and maybe Hindemith. I simply don't hear much influence of anyone too contemporary like Carter.
In any case, the suite is lovely and must have been a real revelation about Coleman when it first was heard. Too bad it sat on a shelf for forty years.
The rest of the concert is Coleman on alto with his great trio of David Izenzon and Charles Moffett. They play seven tunes and are their ususal fantastic selves. Coleman's sound is one of the most unique in jazz. His tone has always been one of yearning for me. The first time I heard his composition, Lonely Woman, I was struck by the perfect merger of title, tune and expression. Izenzon had arguably the greatest bowing technique in jazz. It is wonderful to hear him again.
Ornette's body of work is as great as anyone in the history of jazz music, O heck, of any music. He is always rethinking his approach and always sounds fresh. This recording catches him at a period where he has left his great early quartet behind, he is about at the end of the life span of this trio, is starting to move into the period where he played with Dewey Redman. It was a fabulous decade or so of music for him and for us.
Any Ornette fan will love this CD. Anyone new to Ornette should consider it as well. You will hear what all the fuss is about."
Track Listings (8) - Disc #1