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Don Cherry: Complete Communion & Symphony For Improvisers Revisited

By Mark Corroto
November 6, 2021
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Don Cherry: Complete Communion & Symphony For Improvisers Revisited

Before his departure,

Don Cherry

trumpet
1936 - 1995

" data-original-title="" title="">Don Cherry was a kind of Johnny Appleseed for what would eventually be called the "New Thing" in jazz. He can be heard in the midst of the innovative work of

Ornette Coleman

saxophone, alto
1930 - 2015

" data-original-title="" title="">Ornette Coleman,

Sonny Rollins

saxophone
b.1930

" data-original-title="" title="">Sonny Rollins,

Albert Ayler

saxophone, tenor
1936 - 1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Albert Ayler,

Steve Lacy

saxophone, soprano
1934 - 2004

" data-original-title="" title="">Steve Lacy,

Archie Shepp

saxophone, tenor
b.1937

" data-original-title="" title="">Archie Shepp, and

" data-original-title="" title="">John Tchicai. Cherry's fertilizations changed the sound of creative music then and now. His explorations into (what we now call) world music opened doors for countless non- American musicians to participate in creative improvised music. These two recordings are evidence of that fact. Complete Communion includes the Argentine jazz tenor saxophonist

Gato Barbieri

saxophone
1934 - 2016

" data-original-title="" title="">Gato Barbieri and Symphony For Improvisers adds German pianist and vibraphonist

Karl Berger

vibraphone
1935 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Karl Berger and the French bassist

Jean-Francois Jenny-Clark

bass, acoustic
1944 - 1998

" data-original-title="" title="">Jean-Francois Jenny-Clark.

The first of the two sessions, Complete Communion, finds Cherry and Barbieri together with bassist

Henry Grimes

bass, acoustic
1935 - 2020

" data-original-title="" title="">Henry Grimes and drummer

Ed Blackwell

drums
1929 - 1992

" data-original-title="" title="">Ed Blackwell, who would perform on all three blue Note dates. Blackwell would return to perform in the late 70s to early 80s Ornette Coleman alumni band Old And New Dreams with Cherry,

Charlie Haden

bass, acoustic
1937 - 2014

" data-original-title="" title="">Charlie Haden, and

Dewey Redman

saxophone, tenor
b.1931

" data-original-title="" title="">Dewey Redman. The session, recorded on Christmas Eve is rumored to have been laid down in just one take. It has no breaks between the sections of the title track nor "Elephantasy," The origins of Cherry's compositional style begins with his time with Ornette, but there's more balance here. The shock of Ornette is resolved into a more flowing presentation. It is a gentler approach, even with the edge Barbieri lays down. Somehow, here (and with every future Cherry production) the music assuages any notions of unpleasantness.

If Complete Communion was a balm, Symphony For Improvisers is a bomb. Cherry retains his quartet from the first session, and adds a second bassist Jenny-Clark, a second saxophonist

Pharoah Sanders

saxophone, tenor
1940 - 2022

" data-original-title="" title="">Pharoah Sanders (who doubles on piccolo) and pianist & vibraphonist Berger. The imagined congestion of two horns and two basses never actually happens. Each gives the other soloing space, Sanders opens with piccolo to Barberi's tenor. The title track is a twenty-minute heart-racing happening where the energy threatens but never overtakes the coherence of the music. There is something magical in both of these sessions. Cherry's presence here yields two cogent and comprehensible recordings.

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Track Listing

Complete Communion:
Complete Communion; And Now; Golden Heart; Remembrance; Elephantasy: Elephantasy; Our Feelings; Bishmallah; Wind, Sand And Stars.
Symphony for Improvisers: Symphony for Improvisers; Nu Creative Love; What��s Not Serious; Infant Happiness; Manhattan Cry; Lunatic; Sparkle Plenty; Om Nu.

Personnel

Don Cherry

trumpet

Gato Barbieri

saxophone

Henry Grimes

bass, acoustic

Ed Blackwell

drums

Pharoah Sanders

saxophone, tenor

Karl Berger

vibraphone

Jean-Francois Jenny-Clark

bass, acoustic

Album information

Title: Complete Communion & Symphony for Improvisers Revisited | Year Released: 2021 | Record Label: Ezz-thetics

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