Don Cherry Music

One of the great albums in the free jazz movement, Albert Ayler's "Vibrations" finds Ayler finally reaching a pinnacle expression of his ideas. While earlier in the year, he put together two superb albums displaying his vision clearly-- "Spirits" and "Spiritual Unity", "Vibrations" is the first one where it really all comes together. Certainly sympathetic support helps the cause-- Ayler's rhythm section of mid-1964 of bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Sunny Murray was augmented by trumpeter Don Cherry.

Albert Ayler is a difficult player to for anyone to work with, simply because the force of his character is so strong-- his technique resulted in a deep, fat tone with a wide vibrato and humanistic expression. He feared no technique and was often inclined to perform in extreme upper and lower registers, harmonics, overblowing, etc. Add to that the rather insistent nature of his performance, and it was often difficult for others to stand next to him. And yet in Sunny Murray he had a drummer whose force of personality was a match for his-- Murray eschewed standard timekeeping in favor of implied rhythms (as strongly as presenting at times the feeling of a march beat without ever stating it) and providing a platform from which the other musicians could launch. For his part, Gary Peacock provided a unique voice in that he somehow struck a balance between foiling Ayler's playing and setting up a rhythmic foundation to work with. But the key to the success of this group lied in trumpeter Don Cherry.

With the other horn players Ayler worked with, regardless of instrument, including to at least some extent his brother Don, Ayler's personality established itself on their playing to such a level that their personality as a musician was often lost, or at least subsumed in part, but Cherry was a different story. Having played alongside the other incredibly strong personality in free jazz (Ornette Coleman), co-led a date with John Coltrane, and worked as a sideman with Sonny Rollins and Archie Shepp, Cherry presented with a confidence and uniqueness of personality that made him the perfect frontline partner for Ayler. When Ayler became insistent and overbearing, Cherry didn't follow suit-- he became sympathetic. When Ayler cried and yearned, Cherry gently prodded and explored his upper register with accents. And when Ayler stopped soloing and Cherry started, there was no drop in the intensity of the performance. Certianly the rest of the group noticed this as well-- Peacock plays beautifully under Cherry's solos, sometimes better than he does under Ayler, and Murray was positively inspired on these sets.

The pieces on the album are the stuff Ayler's legacy is built off of-- marches, ballads, simple structures to serve as springboards for improvisation. The album opens with a patient and bubbling theme statement of "Ghosts" (Ayler's most famous piece) and never looks back, moving through moody ruminations ("Children", "Mothers"), aggressive themes ("Vibrations") and a positively ecstatic reading of "Ghosts". Start to finish, the album is breathtaking, powerful and overwhelming. Essential listening for free jazz fans. Curious parties on Ayler should start here as well.

Though billed as a duet, really this is the third "major" album Albert Ayler recorded... As well as his third in 1964, a banner year that also included Witches and Devils and the amazing, sadly out of print Spiritual Unity. But Vibrations is its own album, and Ayler is the key

As with Spiritual Unity, Vibrations includes two versions of Ayler's theme song, "Ghosts", which is never played the same way twice. The first is an off tempo statement of the theme, while the second is a more complete excursion... especially spotlighting Cherry and bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Sonny Murray. All of the band, like Ayler, is into playing things more for emotion than continuity, but there's more to this music than just passionate cacophony...

That was Ayler's key, you see. He had the ability to come up with very straightforward New Orleans-sounding Sonny Rollins styled tunes... Then put them through the ringer. By the time the song was played, Ayler was vibrating like the Holy Ghost, and the rest of the band rattled on in the same tune-bending style. The result is a catchy song unlike anything you've ever heard, and an overall mesh of feeling that makes tracks like "Mother" and "Children" feel personal... You can hear sex, religion, anger, everything behind this saxophone. But you can also hear great tunes. Thiry four years later this album has still not received the recognition it deserves. Help be one that makes that forthcoming!

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I am delighted the powers that be at Blue Note/EMI finally decided to listen to all those fans yelling "Where is 'Where is Brooklyn?'" and release this CD. With this Connoissuer Series reissue all three of Don Cherry's Blue Note albums have finally been released as single discs. (For the record, they were available some ten years ago as a box set from Mosaic.) This November 11, 1966 session features three musicians who all contributed to the cornet player's previous BN effort "Symphony for Improvisers" -- Pharoah Sanders on tenor sax, Henry Grimes on bass and Ed Blackwell on drums. This is an avant-garde jazz fan's dream lineup and the results more than deliver on that promise. Where as "Symphony" and its larger ensemble tried to expand Cherry's musical vision, not always to this listener's satisfaction I might add, Cherry is much more in his element here in a quartet setting. He might not reach the same lofty heights with Pharoah as he did with Ornette, but it is certainly better than his mediocre collaboration of years earlier with Coltrane. (Though one wonders what JC circa '66 would've had to say!) Finally, jazz fans should hurry up and find "Brooklyn" because I have a feeling this limited edition CD won't be around for long.

For those of us enamoured with Don Cherry's music, the announcement of a release of "Where is Brooklyn?" on was extraordinary news. Previously, the album had only been available on CD in a limited edition Mosaic boxed set that slipped out of print a decade ago and fetches an extraordinary price on the second-hand market, but at long last, the three Blue Note albums are all back in print and readily available.

The Blue Note recordings were Cherry's first recordings as a leader-- he'd established his reputation playing foil to Ornette Coleman on Coleman's legendary Contemporary (1958-1959) and Atlantic sessions (1959-1961), and after leaving Coleman, played with such critical saxophonists as Sonny Rollins (in 1962), Archie Shepp (1963 as part of the New York Contemporary Five) and Albert Ayler (1964). Cherry was signed to Blue Note during that label's move at several of free jazz pioneers-- Coleman, Cecil Taylor and Cherry all released albums on Blue Note during the mid-60s. Cherry's first two records each were a pair of side-long suites-- the loose and free-wheeling "Complete Communion" and the denser "Symphony for Improvisors".

For his third album and final album on Blue Note, Cherry with his working New York quartet (the leader blowing cornet, a very young Pharoah Sanders on tenor sax and piccolo, fellow Sonny Rollins/Albert Ayler alumnus Henry Grimes on bass and former Coleman drummer Ed Blackwell) would explore themes as individual pieces rather than as part of a greater suite. The themes themselves are largely less important than the improvisation around them-- "Awake Nu" will be familiar to Ayler fans as "D.C." and "The Thing" has an exciting theme stated on bass then echoed on horns, but by and large these are far less memorable than those on the previous two albums. The improvisation though is superb-- Cherry is agile and stunning, locking in deep with both Grimes and Blackwell, while Sanders is agressive, energetic and largely in your face (so much so that Cherry often plays counter to him). The album works best when it finds Ayleresque collective improv (midway through the extended "Unite", Sanders' solo space on "Taste maker") and certainly all four turning in breathtaking performances at one time or another, but there's something missing in this one that the first two Blue Note records have-- it could be that this feels a lot more indebted to Ayler and Coleman due to its structure (and band arrangement), but it seems to have quite a bit less of the Cherry identity than "Symphony For Improvisers".

Nonetheless, for those of us who have waited to hear this, it's a fine record and worth acquiring. The album has clearly been remasterd and sounds crisp and fresh and reprints the original liner notes (by Ornette Coleman) as well as including a brief essay concerning the recording by reissue producer Michael Cuscuna. This isn't going to turn anybody on to Cherry, but for those who enjoy his work, this is a fine recording. And certainly, I'd recommend all curious parties snap up all three Blue Note recordings while they're available-- it's only a matter of time before someone notices how little they sell and they disappear again.

I am delighted the powers that be at Blue Note/EMI finally decided to listen to all those fans yelling "Where is 'Where is Brooklyn?'" and release this CD. With this Connoissuer Series reissue all three of Don Cherry's Blue Note albums have finally been released as single discs. (For the record, they were available some ten years ago as a box set from Mosaic.) This November 11, 1966 session features three musicians who all contributed to the cornet player's previous BN effort "Symphony for Improvisers" -- Pharoah Sanders on tenor sax, Henry Grimes on bass and Ed Blackwell on drums. This is an avant-garde jazz fan's dream lineup and the results more than deliver on that promise. Where as "Symphony" and its larger ensemble tried to expand Cherry's musical vision, not always to this listener's satisfaction I might add, Cherry is much more in his element here in a quartet setting. He might not reach the same lofty heights with Pharoah as he did with Ornette, but it is certainly better than his mediocre collaboration of years earlier with Coltrane. (Though one wonders what JC circa '66 would've had to say!) Finally, jazz fans should hurry up and find "Brooklyn" because I have a feeling this limited edition CD won't be around for long.

For those of us enamoured with Don Cherry's music, the announcement of a release of "Where is Brooklyn?" on was extraordinary news. Previously, the album had only been available on CD in a limited edition Mosaic boxed set that slipped out of print a decade ago and fetches an extraordinary price on the second-hand market, but at long last, the three Blue Note albums are all back in print and readily available.

The Blue Note recordings were Cherry's first recordings as a leader-- he'd established his reputation playing foil to Ornette Coleman on Coleman's legendary Contemporary (1958-1959) and Atlantic sessions (1959-1961), and after leaving Coleman, played with such critical saxophonists as Sonny Rollins (in 1962), Archie Shepp (1963 as part of the New York Contemporary Five) and Albert Ayler (1964). Cherry was signed to Blue Note during that label's move at several of free jazz pioneers-- Coleman, Cecil Taylor and Cherry all released albums on Blue Note during the mid-60s. Cherry's first two records each were a pair of side-long suites-- the loose and free-wheeling "Complete Communion" and the denser "Symphony for Improvisors".

For his third album and final album on Blue Note, Cherry with his working New York quartet (the leader blowing cornet, a very young Pharoah Sanders on tenor sax and piccolo, fellow Sonny Rollins/Albert Ayler alumnus Henry Grimes on bass and former Coleman drummer Ed Blackwell) would explore themes as individual pieces rather than as part of a greater suite. The themes themselves are largely less important than the improvisation around them-- "Awake Nu" will be familiar to Ayler fans as "D.C." and "The Thing" has an exciting theme stated on bass then echoed on horns, but by and large these are far less memorable than those on the previous two albums. The improvisation though is superb-- Cherry is agile and stunning, locking in deep with both Grimes and Blackwell, while Sanders is agressive, energetic and largely in your face (so much so that Cherry often plays counter to him). The album works best when it finds Ayleresque collective improv (midway through the extended "Unite", Sanders' solo space on "Taste maker") and certainly all four turning in breathtaking performances at one time or another, but there's something missing in this one that the first two Blue Note records have-- it could be that this feels a lot more indebted to Ayler and Coleman due to its structure (and band arrangement), but it seems to have quite a bit less of the Cherry identity than "Symphony For Improvisers".

Nonetheless, for those of us who have waited to hear this, it's a fine record and worth acquiring. The album has clearly been remasterd and sounds crisp and fresh and reprints the original liner notes (by Ornette Coleman) as well as including a brief essay concerning the recording by reissue producer Michael Cuscuna. This isn't going to turn anybody on to Cherry, but for those who enjoy his work, this is a fine recording. And certainly, I'd recommend all curious parties snap up all three Blue Note recordings while they're available-- it's only a matter of time before someone notices how little they sell and they disappear again.

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Over the last year or so, Outrageous Cherry has become one of my alltime favorite bands. Their perfect mix of 60's Pop/Psychedelia/spacerock/whatever is still going strong here, but the psychedelic aspect is toned down a little. "Why Don't We Talk About Something Else" and "DOn't Worry" are pretty poppy. My two favorite tracks on here, "My Suspicious Midwest" and "Eternity Changed Her Mind" are both slower, but really prettty and addicting. Two of these songs are going to be on their upcoming album, and if this EP is anywhere near as good as the album, we're in for a treat.