Free Jazz Music

I have this recording by Don Cherry and I suggest you buy it. There was never a voice as great as Don's--nor will there ever be--and when you hear this CD you will also agree.

As great as his voice is on this CD--done decades ago when you would think his voice was at it's finest---his recordings done today are as good if not better than ever before. The voice has the same warmth and soul reaching quality as it did many years ago and as seen on this recording...This voice only gets better and takes on a quality that is breath-taking.
As with this CD, I suggest you buy all Don Cherry CD's and those that have been made lately.

Mr. Cherry's music is alive and well.
I really love his new release ..
A Tribute to Perry Como.

These samplers feature some really great music. Spain with Chick Corea and John Patitucci is worth the price of a full priced CD alone. One of the best instrumental versions I have heard anywhere.

These are a steal, practically mandatory pick-ups for giving to family and friends. The artists and tune selections aren't "throwaways" but represent some of the best recorded moments in jazz over the past 5-6 decades. The personnel listings and recording dates are even complete and accurate.

The only real disappointment on this first disc is the Gato Barbieri number--sort of "old" new-age pop, and distorted at that. Gato is best represented by his music for "Last Tango in Paris" and his memorable (if eccentric) appearance in the video release, "Calle 54."

Impulse! brought REAL jazz. The way it was played in the clubs from Kansas City to New York City and every place those great artists played way ahead of the curve!"

I collect every CD re-issue I can find to replace my abused 33 Lps. (I was too young to keep up the stylus maintenance!)

for five dollars, you can't get a better CD than this. Includes seminal recordings from Oliver Nelson, John Coltrane, Archie Shepp, Albert Ayler, Art Blakey, Charles Mingus, and others. Good overview of what Impulse! Records has to offer.

unbelieveable. Yes folks, that's Ken Burns on sax. Stop disgracing the greats by putting them in compilations called things as stupid as "stick it in your ear" I hope everyone downloads all these for free. Record companies don't deserve any money for repackaging (with insults) other people's works. The tracks on here are great, but please buy the original albums for your own sake.

i love this cd, and i love the color blue. This cd helps me think of blue. Now that's cool, huh?

As good as his first Atlantic album was, this 2nd album with the same personnel is maybe Ornette's best for that label. One reason is that the writing and playing is even better that the first outing. Tunes like "Una Muy Bonita" or "The Face of the Bass" have that tunefulness that is reminscent of Monk. Also Billy Higgins is on board again and though I did like his replacement, Ed Blackwell on drums--I missed Billy's light as feather accompaniment behind Ornette. If you want an introduction to Ornette's music--start with this one.

Change of the Century, Ornette's 4th album is a work of stunning brilliance. Any doubts that because it is sandwiched between the definitive classic The Shape Of Jazz To Come & the revolutionary Free Jazz that it would be somewhat lesser can be thrown right out. This is a great a jazz album as any ever made & amongst the greatest of any music, seriously all the labels, genre-specificness & niche marketing should be thrown right out, like OC fan Captain Beefheart meant when he said "Lick my decals off, baby!", I'm sure Ornette would agree. 1st of all there is the striking stark portrait of the man himself by Lee Friedlander to get yr attention, I've seen a book full of her photography & it's good stuff [note the similar style on Miles Davis' Greatest Hits lp cover of the late 60s]. Then there are the liner notes explaining the philosophy driving the music, Ornette believes deeply in what his group were doing [I should now mention that drummer Billy Higgins recently died & a sad shame it is, also the great Don Cherry has been gone since 1995], the bold titles of the albums were not an exercise to build an ego but just great confidence in the power of the music. Now, Ramblin' which opens the album is something that should be listened to every day to wake you up & get you in the mood for lifeliving, very catchy & great playing from all members, pure genius. Free is the name of the next track & it's worth noting this is preceding the term 'free jazz' slightly, the intro of it really superb, a streaming sea of sound & then of course there is a lot of free group improvisation. The Face Of The Bass highlights the talents of Charlie Haden [& rightly so!], daring to give him an extended solo before the whole band jumps in again. Una Muy Bonita is an overwhelmingly joyous tune but never embarrassingly so, another classic. The only tune to not grab you immediately & predict the more out there abrasiveness of the free jazz scene is the title track which closes the lp, it is also the shortest track here. The other songs are top notch too of course, particularly Forerunner. Like Ornette says in the liner notes, music can't be analysed too much or it loses what makes it great in the 1st place, so all I can say is it's something I highly recommend & yr ears will thank you for it. P.S. [3 months after initial write-up]: THIS IS THE PINNACLE, IT DOES NOT GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS!! An absolute classic that can be played every day & is always compelling. That's not to say there's not a whole lot more worth checking out, the electric Body Meta & semi-orchestral Chappaqua Suite are brilliant too. Start here though.

I must admit I'm not very much experienced with free jazz; I listened to some Pharoah Sanders and to some of Miles Davis' experiments with this style ("Cookin' at plugged nickel" or something like that...). Well, I was moderatly impressed and moderately confused. I have also listened to some of the more recent jazz explorations by Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins, as well as some recordings by Art Ensemble of Chicago and Wayne Shorter's latest explorations that go beyond most traditional achievements,,,
It therefore seemed about time I went to the source...

First of all, I am impressed by the level of expressiveness of this music; it is no accident that Coleman's liner notes mention New Orleans jazz - some of his (but also Cherry's) solos have brought back some of the tonal features that started to disappear as early as the swing era...
I'm not an expert but I'm almost certain I heard Ornette produce some blue notes on his plastic instrument!

Naturally, New Orleans style is one of the styles in jazz in which collective improvisation was not so uncommon, so it is no wonder that, in the attempt to free jazz from Charlie Parker's magnificent shadow, Ornette at times went to the sources of jazz. In addition to that, the occasional "ethno" influences on this album (not only in the last song)are a continuation of the usual manners in which jazz musicians tried to infuse new ideas into their music; Ellington, Gillespie and others were particularly impressed by Latin America(s), there were even some Middle East experiments, but it was about time in the late 50's someone shows the influences of South Asia and other sources...

However, I must admit I still dig Ornette's explanations much more than I dig the music... This is fine jazz, with strong sense of swing and, at least occasionally, with fine drive, but all in all, I'm not hypocritical enough to hide my opinion that the band at times rambles a bit too much...

Also, keeping the format of innitial and concluding statement of...well...anti-melody at some songs also doesn't seem such a good idea . I think that much better, or at least "freer", is the approach on "Change of the Century"...

Perhaps if I devote more time to this style I would get used to it or discover more beauty, but as for now, 4 stars is the maximum I can give...
Even that is a bit far fetched, rewarding the courage and determination to follow original path (regardless of the number of followers)...

This is a classic recording, only slightly less compelling than Coleman's SHAPE OF JAZZ TO COME. If you like SHAPE, you'll certainly like CHANGE. These of course were recorded within a few months of each other, by the same legendary group (Coleman, Cherry, Haden, Higgins). To these ears, this remastered version is a big improvement (higher resolution) over the original CD. Same goes for the remastered version of SHAPE. These are both from the ATLANTIC MASTERS series (Warner Jazz), made in Germany. I haven't heard the much more expensive Japanese imports, but I expect the German ones may be hard to beat. The only downside is that you almost need a microscope to read the liner notes, and there's quite a bit to read.

Following up a classic album is always a difficult endeavor. Certainly to do so when that album was revolutionary and influential is even harder. Our natural tendency as listeners and amateur critics is to compare albums to each other, particularly those that are relatively contemporary to each other. Such is the case with Ornette Coleman's "Change of the Century", followup to "The Shape of Jazz to Come". Released just five months later, it finds Coleman's quartet (the leader on alto sax, Don Cherry on cornet, Charlie Haden on bass and Billy Higgins on drums) in full flight-- more comfortable as a unit, in some ways, the performance is tighter and better than "The Shape of Jazz to Come", but as a result of this, in some ways it seems to lack the urgency and immediacy of the album it followed.

Still, lacking immediacy doesn't make a bad album, and there's plenty of good material on here-- the fractured title track largely represents everything critics of Coleman have to say about him-- its disjoint theme and following solos are unpredictable, even on repeated listens, and manage somehow to be stunning each time, no dobut due to the sympathetic playing of Haden and Higgins. Likewise, on "Una Muy Bonita" and "The Face of the Bass"-- the two of them strike a delicate mix between free association with the soloist and swing that keeps things together and coherent. And check out Cherry and Haden together on "Ramblin'"-- clearly the two of them have developed an unusual rapport that they can utilize to great effect.

All in all, "Change of the Century" a good followup to "The Shape of Jazz To Come"-- not quite the masterpiece that album is, but a worthwhile listen. Recommended.