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Ornette Coleman: Free Jazz To Ornette! Revisited

By John Eyles
August 2, 2024
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Ornette Coleman: Free Jazz To Ornette! Revisited

For ezz-thetics' revisited series' fourth

Ornette Coleman

saxophone, alto
1930 - 2015

" data-original-title="" title="">Ornette Coleman album, the label has ventured back further than any of its previous Coleman albums, to New York City in December 1960 and January 1961. Recorded at A&R Studios on Wednesday December 21st 1960 from 8pm to 12.30am, the Free Jazz session produced two pieces, the thirty-seven minute "Free Jazz" itself, which was issued in September 1961 on an Atlantic album entitled Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation By The Ornette Coleman Double Quartet, and the seventeen minute "First Take" which was issued on the Atlantic album Twins in 1971. The latter is not included on this album.

On each of those tracks two quartets played simultaneously; on the left channel Ornette Coleman,

Don Cherry

trumpet
1936 - 1995

" data-original-title="" title="">Don Cherry,

Scott LaFaro

bass
1936 - 1961

" data-original-title="" title="">Scott LaFaro and

Billy Higgins

drums
1936 - 2001

" data-original-title="" title="">Billy Higgins can be heard, and on the right channel are

Eric Dolphy

woodwinds
1928 - 1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Eric Dolphy,

Freddie Hubbard

trumpet
1938 - 2008

" data-original-title="" title="">Freddie Hubbard,

Charlie Haden

bass, acoustic
1937 - 2014

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

Ed Blackwell

drums
1929 - 1992

" data-original-title="" title="">Ed Blackwell. This means it is very much an album that should be listened to in stereo so the two quartets can be heard separately. The playing was continuous free improvisation, with only a few brief pre-set sections, done in one take. None of the players knew how long it would last. In fact, "Free Jazz" lasted thirty-seven minutes so, at the time, had to be split between the two sides of an LP, no longer necessary thanks to technology.

Although Free Jazz is sometimes cited as the beginning of free jazz (however that is defined) it is worth noting that, as early as 1949,

Lennie Tristano

piano
1919 - 1978

" data-original-title="" title="">Lennie Tristano had pioneered free improvisation in his recordings "Intuition" and "Digression" with

Warne Marsh

saxophone, tenor
1927 - 1987

" data-original-title="" title="">Warne Marsh,

Lee Konitz

saxophone, alto
1927 - 2020

" data-original-title="" title="">Lee Konitz and others, "free improvisation" or "improv" being European names for the music called free jazz in USA. Nonetheless, considered as music in its own right, Free Jazz remains an extraordinary album which is essential listening as much as being of historical importance.

Between the recording of Free Jazz and that of Ornette! (Atlantic, 1962) which took place at Atlantic Recording Studios in NYC on Tuesday January 31st 1961 from 3pm to 7-30pm, the Ornette Coleman Quartet played two weeks at the Village Vanguard with new bassist

Scott LaFaro

bass
1936 - 1961

" data-original-title="" title="">Scott LaFaro alongside Coleman, Don Cherry and Ed Blackwell, all of whom had recorded Free Jazz.

The most immediate characteristic of Ornette! is that the quartet does not sound radically different as a result of Free Jazz except for the arrival of LaFaro. All four tracks are Coleman compositions in the pre-Free Jazz style, allowing space for solos without dominating the players.

Sadly, LaFaro was much in demand by other musicians, notably pianist

Bill Evans

piano
1929 - 1980

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Evans and

Miles Davis

trumpet
1926 - 1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Miles Davis. As a result, the two Coleman albums here are the only ones ever to feature LaFaro. On July 6th 1961, aged 25, he was killed in a car accident on U. S. Route 20 four days after accompanying

Stan Getz

saxophone, tenor
1927 - 1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Stan Getz at the Newport Jazz Festival.

In a nutshell, this album has a plethora of reasons to appeal to lovers of quality jazz or improvisation—historical, artistic and personnel reasons.... It is timeless and sounds better and better as time goes by.

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Track Listing

Free Jazz; W.R.U.; T. & T.: C. & D.: R.P.D.D.

Personnel

Ornette Coleman

saxophone, alto

Eric Dolphy

woodwinds

Don Cherry

trumpet

Freddie Hubbard

trumpet

Scott LaFaro

bass

Charlie Haden

bass, acoustic

Billy Higgins

drums

Ed Blackwell

drums

Additional Instrumentation

Don Cherry: pocket trumpet; Freddie Hubbard: trumpet (1); Scott LaFaro: double bass; Charlie Haden: double bass (1); Billy Higgins: drums (1); Ed Blackwell: drums.

Album information

Title: Free Jazz to Ornette! Revisited | Year Released: 2024 | Record Label: Ezz-thetics

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