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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Alto sax player Ornette Coleman released six highly influential (not to mention controversial) albums on Atlantic between 1958-61, which changed the direction of jazz. This was their third of the series and the first to have Ed Blackwell on drums. It continued tearing up the rulebook and instead of Coleman's and pocket trumpeter Don Cherry playing solos using chordal improvisation they just played freely where the mood took them. This was the birth of free jazz. In actual fact with the hindsight of what was to follow the revolutionary nature of the music may have been lost (in all the tracks a tune is quite evident!). However what has not faded over time is the total nerve tingling hair raising brilliance of them. The whole quartet (the last member being one of the greatest bassist's of all time, Charlie Haden) simply burn with passion. One of the tracks is "Beauty is a rare thing", it is indeed, and this is it. --Phil Brett
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Released in 1961, this album retains three-quarters of the quartet that recorded the earlier, ground-breaking 'The Shape of Jazz To Come' and 'Change of the Century', drummer Billy Higgins giving way to the equally talented Ed Blackwell. Otherwise, it's a continuation of that music, concentrating on Coleman tunes and adding a single standard.
The pianoless quartet format and the spare texture of the music exposes all the musicians to scrutiny, and only Cherry really fall short of expectations. Haden's agile bass is excellent - and audible, as is often not the case on jazz recordings of this vintage - Blackwell's drumming is distinctive, and Coleman's sound and compositional sense are as original and compelling as ever. 'Blues Connotation' and 'Beauty Is a Rare Thing' in particular are as good as anything Coleman recorded during this period, but the whole album is very listenable, largely thanks to Coleman's bluesy lyricism. I find myself comparing the group sound not to the bop style - with which it was supposed to represent such a dramatic break at the time - but with recordings made by Steve Lacy around the same time, which also feature a sax soloist with a very distinctive voice, an unusual choice of repertoire and little interest in running the changes at breakneck speed.
Fifty years have elapsed since Coleman and crew recorded this, and with the controversy dead and buried we can now hear it more clearly for what it was and is - just good, fresh jazz.
The pianoless quartet format and the spare texture of the music exposes all the musicians to scrutiny, and only Cherry really fall short of expectations. Haden's agile bass is excellent - and audible, as is often not the case on jazz recordings of this vintage - Blackwell's drumming is distinctive, and Coleman's sound and compositional sense are as original and compelling as ever. 'Blues Connotation' and 'Beauty Is a Rare Thing' in particular are as good as anything Coleman recorded during this period, but the whole album is very listenable, largely thanks to Coleman's bluesy lyricism. I find myself comparing the group sound not to the bop style - with which it was supposed to represent such a dramatic break at the time - but with recordings made by Steve Lacy around the same time, which also feature a sax soloist with a very distinctive voice, an unusual choice of repertoire and little interest in running the changes at breakneck speed.
Fifty years have elapsed since Coleman and crew recorded this, and with the controversy dead and buried we can now hear it more clearly for what it was and is - just good, fresh jazz.
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
this lp is recommended by all the jazz afficianados over the years as one of Ornette's fine early lps from 1959, on the atlantic label and they do not lie . i'm no expert on colemans entire output but "this is our music" is above all else as great an introduction to any music lover of Ornette's wonderful plaintive sax playing with his group of the time, alongside Don Cherry's cornet playing acting as an excellent foil also.
for me its his sax SOUND and phrasing that says Freedom in life and free expression - utterly wonderful and nothing on this lp that would prove too scary to non-jazz fans either. this cd is basically loose limbed jazz bop with Coleman + Cherry's tangy/ascerbic solos played alongside Haden + Blackwell's loose + free-ish rhythms. AND as an aside - in 2007 he was STILL playing out of his skin when i had the privilege to see him and his band play in Ldn: an incredible man!
and now to re-listen to Ornette's 80's Lp "Song X" with Metheny, Haden et al - another humdinger.
for me its his sax SOUND and phrasing that says Freedom in life and free expression - utterly wonderful and nothing on this lp that would prove too scary to non-jazz fans either. this cd is basically loose limbed jazz bop with Coleman + Cherry's tangy/ascerbic solos played alongside Haden + Blackwell's loose + free-ish rhythms. AND as an aside - in 2007 he was STILL playing out of his skin when i had the privilege to see him and his band play in Ldn: an incredible man!
and now to re-listen to Ornette's 80's Lp "Song X" with Metheny, Haden et al - another humdinger.
1 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This is a strange album and merely sounds eccentric these days, the shock value of 45 years passing being lost with age. Indeed, this comes across like a Charlie Parker record that someone has left in the sun so that the improvised lines become stretched into something wholly different.
Today Ornette has almost become part of the mainstream and it is easier in 2005 to appreciate just how original he was back then. The rhythmn team of Haden and Blackwell hold the band's bopping jollity together and although Coleman's solos are the most interesting thing about the record, Don Cherry's trumpet is a let down for this reviwer as he manages to coax so truly horrible sounds from the pocket trumpet. (None of the impish humour of his later work that made him such a great live act.) The ballads "Beauty is a rare thing" and the deconstructed "Embraceable you" with it's tag intro that reminds me of Bird and Dizzy are the best things, other than the good-natured bouncy rendition of Ornette's famous "Humpty Dumpty." (My favourite track.)
This was still early days for Coleman and there is still something naive with the music that makes it so appealing. However, I don't recommend driving a car with this music on!!
Today Ornette has almost become part of the mainstream and it is easier in 2005 to appreciate just how original he was back then. The rhythmn team of Haden and Blackwell hold the band's bopping jollity together and although Coleman's solos are the most interesting thing about the record, Don Cherry's trumpet is a let down for this reviwer as he manages to coax so truly horrible sounds from the pocket trumpet. (None of the impish humour of his later work that made him such a great live act.) The ballads "Beauty is a rare thing" and the deconstructed "Embraceable you" with it's tag intro that reminds me of Bird and Dizzy are the best things, other than the good-natured bouncy rendition of Ornette's famous "Humpty Dumpty." (My favourite track.)
This was still early days for Coleman and there is still something naive with the music that makes it so appealing. However, I don't recommend driving a car with this music on!!
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