DON CHERRY — Brown Rice (1976-1989) Jazz Heritage Series | Two Version | FLAC (image+.tracks+.cue), lossless

If Eternal Rhythm was Don Cherry's world fusion masterpiece of the '60s, then Brown Rice is its equivalent for the '70s. But where Eternal Rhythm set global influences in a free jazz framework, Brown Rice's core sound is substantially different, wedding Indian, African, and Arabic music to Miles Davis' electrified jazz-rock innovations. And although purists will likely react here the same way they did to post-Bitches Brew Davis, Brown Rice is a stunning success by any other standard. By turns hypnotic and exhilarating, the record sounds utterly otherworldly: the polyrhythmic grooves are deep and driving, the soloing spiritual and free, and the plentiful recording effects trippy and mysterious. The various ethnic influences lift the album's already mystical atmosphere to a whole new plane, plus Cherry adds mostly non-English vocals on three of the four tracks, whispering cryptic incantations that make the pieces resemble rituals of some alien shaman. The title cut has since become an acid jazz/rare-groove classic, filtering Charlie Haden's acoustic bass through a wah-wah pedal and melding it with psychedelic electric piano riffs, electric bongos, wordless female vocals, short snippets of tenor saxophonist Frank Lowe's free jazz screeching, and, of course, Cherry's whispers and trumpet. Closer "Degi-Degi" works a similarly mind-bending mixture, but the middle two pieces ("Malkauns" and "Chenrezig") are lengthy explorations where Cherry's languid trumpet solos echo off into infinity. Of all his world fusion efforts, Brown Rice is the most accessible entry point into Cherry's borderless ideal, jelling into a personal, unique, and seamless vision that's at once primitive and futuristic in the best possible senses of both words. While Cherry would record a great deal of fine work in the years to come, he would never quite reach this level of wild invention again. [Brown Rice's original title was Don Cherry, which was changed a year after its initial 1975 release.] Steve Huey
Tracklist :
1.    Brown Rice 5:14
Acoustic Bass – Charlie Haden
Bongos [Electric] – Bunchie Fox
Drums – Billy Higgins
Electric Piano – Don Cherry, Ricky Cherry
Tenor Saxophone – Frank Lowe
Trumpet – Don Cherry
Voice – Don Cherry, Verna Gillis
2.    Malkauns 13:58
Acoustic Bass – Charlie Haden
Drums – Billy Higgins
Tambura – Moki Cherry
Trumpet – Don Cherry
3.    Chenrezig 12:50
Acoustic Bass – Hakim Jamil
Drums – Billy Higgins
Electric Piano – Ricky Cherry
Tenor Saxophone – Frank Lowe
Trumpet, Voice – Don Cherry
4.    Degi-Degi 7:06
Acoustic Bass – Charlie Haden
Drums – Billy Higgins
Electric Piano – Ricky Cherry
Piano [Yamaha], Voice – Don Cherry
Tenor Saxophone – Frank Lowe

ABBEY LINCOLN — The World Is Falling Down (1990) Two Version | FLAC (image+.tracks+.cue), lossless

Abbey Lincoln's first in a series of impressive recordings for Verve matches her unique voice and very credible style with flugelhornist Clark Terry, the altos of Jackie McLean and Jerry Dodgion, bassist Charlie Haden, drummer Billy Higgins and French pianist Alain Jean-Marie. McLean has all of the alto solos and most of the instrumental arrangements were contributed by Ron Carter. Lincoln has always been expert at picking out superior material to record and all eight numbers on this CD are memorable in their own way, particularly Haden's classic "First Song," a French version of "How High the Moon," "Hi Fly," Michel Legrand's "You Must Believe in Spring" and Lincoln's two originals "The World Is Falling Down" and "I Got Thunder." Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
1.    The World Is Falling Down 6:20
Written-By – Abbey Lincoln
2.    First Song 6:29
Written-By – Abbey Lincoln, Charlie Haden
3.    You Must Believe In Spring And Love 5:58
Written-By – Alan & Marilyn Bergman, Michel Legrand
4.    I Got Thunder (And It Rings) 5:47
Written-By – Abbey Lincoln
5.    How High The Moon (La Lune Est Grise... Mon Coeur Aussi) 7:31
Written-By – Jacques Larue, Morgan Lewis, Nancy Hamilton
6.    When Love Was You And Me 5:47
Written-By – Abbey Lincoln, Thad Jones
7.    Hi Fly 6:34
Written-By – Jon Hendricks, Randy Weston
8.    Live For Life 4:50
Written-By – Francis Lai, Norman Gimbel, Pierre Barouh
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Jerry Dodgion
Alto Saxophone, Soloist – Jackie McLean
Arranged By – Ron Carter (tracks: 1, 3 to 8)
Bass – Charlie Haden
Drums – Billy Higgins
Piano – Alain Jean-Marie
Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Clark Terry
Vocals – Abbey Lincoln

JUNKO ONISHI TRIO — Cruisin' (1993) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

On her debut, pianist Junko Onishi (who is accompanied by bassist Rodney Whitaker and drummer Billy Higgins) shows a great deal of creativity. She builds up her "Eulogia" gradually and colorfully with impressive use of the piano's lower register. When she tackles Ornette Coleman's "Congeniality," Onishi manages to be both free and melodic and the pianist also comes up with something fresh to say on "Caravan." In general her tricky frameworks, self-restraint, use of space and careful attention to dynamics and pacing are impressive and show quite a bit of maturity. Scott Yanow
Tracklist:
1 Eulogia 8:58
Written By – Junko Onishi
2 The Shepherd 6:03
Written By – Duke Ellington
3 Summertime 7:50
Written By – DuBose Heyward, George Gershwin
4 Congeniality 11:15
Written By – Ornette Coleman
5 Melancholia 2:32
Written By – Duke Ellington
6 Caravan 6:21
Written By – Duke Ellington, Irving Mills, Juan Tizol
7 Roz 7:58
Written By – Rodney Whitaker
8 Switchin' It 3:31
Written By – Junko Onishi
9 Blue Seven 7:09
Written By – Sonny Rollins
Credits:
Bass – Rodney Whitaker
Drums – Billy Higgins
Piano – Junko Onishi

THE CEDAR WALTON TRIO, QUARTET & QUINTET — Cedar! (1967-1990) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Pianist Cedar Walton's debut as a leader is quite impressive. This CD reissue (which includes a "new" rendition of "Take the 'A' Train") showcases Walton with bassist Leroy Vinnegar and drummer Billy Higgins on "My Ship," features a pair of quartet numbers with trumpeter Kenny Dorham, has tenor saxophonist Junior Cook in Dorham's place on two other pieces (including "Come Sunday") and uses a quintet on the two remaining selections. One of the top hard bop-based pianists to emerge during the 1960s, Walton also contributed four originals to his excellent set. Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
1    Turquoise Twice    7:17
 Cedar Walton
2    Twilight Waltz    4:17
 Cedar Walton
3    My Ship    5:31
 Ira Gershwin / Kurt Weill
4    Short Stuff    6:23
 Cedar Walton
5    Head And Shoulders    4:13
 Cedar Walton
6    Come Sunday    6:56
 Duke Ellington
7    Take The "A" Train    3:27
 Billy Strayhorn
Credits :
Bass – Leroy Vinnegar
Drums – Billy Higgins
Piano – Cedar Walton
Tenor Saxophone – Junior Cook
Trumpet – Kenny Dorham

JACKIE McLEAN — Let Freedom Ring (1961) Two Version (2003, RM | Serie 24 Bit By RVG) + (2003, RM | Serie RVG Edition ) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless & APE (image+.cue), lossless

Jackie McLean had always been a highly emotional soloist, so it makes sense that he was one of the first hard bop veterans to find a new voice in the burning intensity of jazz's emerging avant-garde. McLean had previously experimented with Coltrane's angular modes and scales and Ornette's concept of chordal freedom, but Let Freedom Ring was the landmark masterpiece where he put everything together and ushered in the era of the modernists at Blue Note. A number of saxophonists were beginning to explore the ability of the instrument to mimic human cries of passion, and here McLean perfected a long, piercing squeal capable of expressing joy, anguish, fury, and more. The music on Let Freedom Ring remained more rooted in hard bop structure than Coleman's, and McLean was still recognizably himself, but that was precisely what was revolutionary about the album: It validated the avant-garde aesthetic, demonstrating that it had enough value to convert members of the old guard, and wasn't just the province of radical outcasts. There are only four pieces, one of which is the surging Bud Powell ballad "I'll Keep Loving You"; the other three are McLean originals ("Melody for Melonae," "Rene," and "Omega," dedicated to his daughter, son, and mother respectively) that spotlight his tremendous inventiveness on extended material and amaze with a smoldering fire that never lets up. Pianist Walter Davis takes the occasional solo, but the record is McLean's statement of purpose, and he accordingly dominates the proceedings, with the busy, free-flowing dialogues of bassist Herbie Lewis and Ornette drummer Billy Higgins pushing him to even greater heights. The success of Let Freedom Ring paved the way for a bumper crop of other modernist innovators to join the Blue Note roster and, artistically, it still stands with One Step Beyond as McLean's greatest work. Steve Huey
Tracklist :
1    Melody For Melonae    13:17
 Jackie McLean
2    I'll Keep Loving You    6:14
 Bud Powell
3    Rene    9:57
 Jackie McLean
4    Omega    8:30
 Jackie McLean
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Jackie McLean
Bass – Herbie Lewis
Drums – Billy Higgins
Piano – Walter Davis, Jr.
Recorded By, Remastered By – Rudy Van Gelder

TETE MONTOLIU TRIO — Secret Love (1977- 2015) RM | Serie Timeless Jazz Master Collection – 64 | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tracklist :
1    Secret Love 10:45
Written-By – Mercer, Fain
2    Airegin 5:31
Written-By – Sonny Rollins
3    Confirmation 7:30
Written-By – Charlie Parker
4    Four 8:45
Written-By – Miles Davis
5    Stella By Starlight 16:41
Written-By – Washington, Young
Credits :
Bass – Sam Jones
Drums – Billy Higgins
Piano – Tete Montoliu

DEXTER GORDON — Go (1962) Two Version | 1986, BLUE NOTE SUPER 50 – 48 + 1999, RM | Serie RVG Edition | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

From the first moments when Dexter Gordon sails into the opening song full of brightness and confidence, it is obvious that Go is going to be one of those albums where everything just seems to come together magically. A stellar quartet including the stylish pianist Sonny Clark, the agile drummer Billy Higgins, and the solid yet flexible bassist Butch Warren are absolutely crucial in making this album work, but it is still Gordon who shines. Whether he is dropping quotes into "Three O'Clock in the Morning" or running around with spritely bop phrases in "Cheese Cake," the album pops and crackles with energy and exuberance. Beautiful ballads like "I Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry" metamorphosize that energy into emotion and passion, but you can still see it there nonetheless. Gordon had many high points in his five decade-long career, but this is certainly the peak of it all.Stacia Proefrock

Tracklist :

1 Cheese Cake 6:34
Dexter Gordon
2 I Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry 5:23
Sammy Cahn / Jule Styne
3 Second Balcony Jump 7:06
Billy Eckstine / G. Valentine / Gerald Valentine
4 Love for Sale 7:37
Cole Porter
5 Where Are You? 5:20
Harold Adamson / Jimmy McHugh
6 Three O'Clock in the Morning 5:42
Julián Robledo / Dorothy Terriss
Credits:
Bass – Butch Warren
Drums – Billy Higgins
Piano – Sonny Clark
Recorded By – Rudy Van Gelder
Tenor Saxophone – Dexter Gordon

CURTIS FULLER — Smokin' (1972-2017) RM | Serie Mainstream Records Master Collection – 70 | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Trombonist Curtis Fuller's second Mainstream album has
some dated electronics and funk rhythms, although there are some worthwhile solos from the leader, trumpeter Bill Hardman, and Jimmy Heath on tenor and soprano. The rhythm section (guitarist Earl Dunbar, Cedar Walton on electric piano, electric bassist Mickey Bass and drummer Billy Higgins) weighs down the music a bit despite their obvious talents. The band stretches out on four Fuller originals (best is the 11-minute "Smokin'") and "Stella by Starlight," but the results are not too essential. Scott Yanow   Tracklist & Credits : 

RAY BROWN AND HIS WEST COAST ALL-STAR GIANTS — I'm Walking (1998) Serie XRCD | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tracklist & Credits :

ORNETTE COLEMAN - Beauty Is a Rare Thing : The Complete Atlantic Recordings (1993) RM | Atlantic Jazz Gallery | 6CD | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

While it's true this set has been given the highest rating AMG awards, it comes with a qualifier: the rating is for the music and the package, not necessarily the presentation. Presentation is a compiler's nightmare in the case of artists like John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman, who recorded often and at different times and had most of their recordings issued from the wealth of material available at the time a record was needed rather than culling an album from a particular session. Why is this a problem? It's twofold: First is that listeners got acquainted with recordings such as The Shape of Jazz to Come, This Is Our Music, Change of the Century, Twins, or any of the other four records Ornette Coleman released on Atlantic during that period. The other is one of economics; for those collectors who believe in the integrity of the original albums, they need to own both those recordings and this set, since the box features one album that was only issued in Japan as well as six unreleased tunes and the three Coleman compositions that appeared on Gunther Schuller's Jazz Abstractions record. Politically what's interesting about this box is that though the folks at Rhino and Atlantic essentially created a completely different document here, putting Coleman's music in a very different context than the way in which it was originally presented, his royalty rate was unchanged -- he refused to do any publicity for this set when it was issued as a result. As for the plus side of such a collection, there is a certain satisfaction at hearing complete sessions in context. That cannot be argued -- what is at stake is at what price to the original recorded presentations. Enough complaining. As for the music, as mentioned, the original eight albums Coleman recorded for Atlantic are here, in one form or another, in their entirety: Shape of Jazz to Come, Change of the Century, The Art of the Improvisers, Twins, This Is Our Music, Free Jazz, Ornette, and Ornette on Tenor, plus To Whom Keeps a Record, comprised of recordings dating from 1959 to 1960. In fact all of the material here was recorded between 1959 and 1961. Given that there is a total of six completely unreleased compositions as well as alternate takes and masters, this is a formidable mountain of material recorded with not only the classic quartet of Coleman, Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, and Billy Higgins, but also the large double quartet who produced the two-sided improvisation that is Free Jazz with personalities as diverse as Eric Dolphy, Freddie Hubbard, and Scott LaFaro, as well as Coleman, Cherry, Haden, and Ed Blackwell, who had replaced Higgins on the music for To Whom Keeps a Record and This Is Our Music -- though Higgins does play on Free Jazz.

The progression of the recording sessions musically is one of dynamics, color, and, with the addition of Blackwell, firepower. As the listener moves from the first session that would become most of The Shape of Jazz to Come, listeners can hear how the interplay between Cherry and Coleman works lyrically not so much as a system, but as system of the creation of melody from dead fragments of harmony, thereby creating a harmonic sensibility that cares not for changes and chord progressions, but for the progression of music itself in the context of a quartet. From the sharp edges on "Focus on Sanity," through "Peace" and "Congeniality," through "Lonely Woman," Coleman's approach to harmony was one of disparate yet wholly compatible elements. This is the story as the sessions unfold, one kind of lyricism evolving into itself more fully and completely with time. On Change of the Century, Twins, and This Is Our Music, Coleman shifts his emphasis slightly, adding depth and dimension and the creation of melody that comes out of the blues as direct and simply stated as possible. By the time LaFaro enters the picture on Free Jazz and Art of the Improvisers, melody has multiplied and divided itself into essence, and essence becomes an exponential force in the creation of a new musical syntax. The recordings from 1960 and 1961, along with the unreleased masters and alternates, all show Coleman fully in possession of his muse. The trek of musicians through the band -- like Jimmy Garrison and Eric Dolphy, as well as people like Jim Hall and Bill Evans where Coleman appeared in Gunther Schuller's experiments -- all reveal that from The Shape of Jazz to Come through Ornette on Tenor, Coleman was trying to put across the fully developed picture of his musical theory of the time. And unlike most, he completely succeeded. Even on the unreleased compositions, such as the flyaway storm of "Revolving Doors" or "PROOF Readers" or the slippery blues of "The Tribes of New York," Coleman took the open-door approach and let everything in -- he didn't necessarily let it all out. The package itself is, as are all Rhino boxes, handsome and original; there are three double-CD sleeves that all slip into a half box, which slips, reversed, into the whole box. There is a 68-page booklet with a ton of photographs, complete session notes, and liners by Coleman (disappointingly brief, but he was pissed off at the label), a fantastic essay by the late Robert Palmer, recollections by all the musicians, and quotes from Coleman from interviews given through the decades. The sound is wonderful and the mastering job superb. In all -- aside from the breach of pop culture's own historical context, which is at least an alternate reality -- this is, along with John Coltrane's Atlantic set and the Miles & Coltrane box, one of the most essential jazz CD purchases.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
All Tracks & Credits :
Notas.
This six-CD set contains the entirely of Ornette Coleman's recorded output for the Atlantic label, including the contents of the following albums:
The Shape Of Jazz To Come
Change Of The Century
This Is Our Music
Free Jazz
Ornette!
Ornette On Tenor
The Art Of The Improvisers
Twins
To Whom Who Keeps A Record
Also included are six previously unreleased compositions (2-7, 2-9, 2-10, 2-12, 3-2, 5-1) and two selections from (composer) Gunther Schuller's Jazz Abstractions featuring Ornette Coleman on alto saxophone.

ORNETTE COLEMAN - Broken Shadows (1982) LP | Contemporary Masters Series | 24bits-192Hz | FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

This LP contains eight selections taken from Ornette Coleman's three-year period with Columbia that were previously unreleased. Cut prior to Coleman's formation of Prime Time, these performances serve as an unintentional retrospective of his career up to that point. Not that any of the original compositions (all by Coleman) had ever been recorded before but such alumni as trumpeters Don Cherry and Bobby Bradford, tenor saxophonist Dewey Redman, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummers Ed Blackwell and Billy Higgins appear on most of the selections in one combination or another (and all of them are on two septet selections). In addition, a pair of numbers ("Good Girl Blues" and "Is It Forever") have Coleman, Redman, Haden and Blackwell joined by guitarist Jim Hall, pianist Cedar Walton, a singer and a woodwind section; these look back a bit at Ornette's guest appearances on a John Lewis/Gunther Schuller album. Scott Yanow
SIDE A
A1     Happy House 9'50
(Ornette Coleman)
Acoustic Bass – Charlie Haden
Alto Saxophone – Ornette Coleman
Drums – Billy Higgins, Ed Blackwell
Tenor Saxophone – Dewey Redman
Trumpet – Bobby Bradford
Trumpet [Pocket] – Don Cherry
A2     Elizabeth 10'30
(Ornette Coleman)
Acoustic Bass – Charlie Haden
Alto Saxophone – Ornette Coleman
Drums – Billy Higgins, Ed Blackwell
Tenor Saxophone – Dewey Redman
Trumpet – Bobby Bradford
Trumpet [Pocket] – Don Cherry
A3     School Work 5'40
(Ornette Coleman)
Acoustic Bass – Charlie Haden
Alto Saxophone – Ornette Coleman
Drums – Ed Blackwell
Tenor Saxophone – Dewey Redman
Trumpet – Bobby Bradford
SIDE B
B1     Country Town Blues 6'27
(Ornette Coleman)
Acoustic Bass – Charlie Haden
Alto Saxophone – Ornette Coleman
Drums – Billy Higgins
Trumpet [Pocket] – Don Cherry
B2     Broken Shadows 6'45
(Ornette Coleman)
Acoustic Bass – Charlie Haden
Alto Saxophone – Ornette Coleman
Drums – Billy Higgins, Ed Blackwell
Tenor Saxophone – Dewey Redman
Trumpet – Bobby Bradford
Trumpet [Pocket] – Don Cherry
B3     Rubber Gloves 3'26
(Ornette Coleman)
Acoustic Bass – Charlie Haden
Alto Saxophone – Ornette Coleman
Drums – Ed Blackwell
Tenor Saxophone – Dewey Redman
B4     Good Girl Blues 3'07
(Ornette Coleman)
Acoustic Bass – Charlie Haden
Alto Saxophone – Ornette Coleman
Drums – Ed Blackwell
Electric Guitar – Jim Hall
Piano [Acoustic] – Cedar Walton
Tenor Saxophone – Dewey Redman
Vocals – Webster Armstrong
B5     Is It Forever 4'52
(Ornette Coleman)
Acoustic Bass – Charlie Haden
Alto Saxophone – Ornette Coleman
Drums – Ed Blackwell
Electric Guitar – Jim Hall
Piano [Acoustic] – Cedar Walton
Tenor Saxophone – Dewey Redman
Vocals – Webster Armstrong
Notas.
Uncredited woodwind section on B4 and B5.
Original Contemporary Masters Series. Red and black label. "Columbia NY" on run-out groove.
A1 to B2 are previously unreleased sessions from the recording of Science Fiction in September 1971. Tracks B3 to B5 previously unreleased sessions recorded in September 1972.

ORNETTE COLEMAN QUARTET - The 1987 Hamburg Concert (2011) 2CD | Unofficial Release | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossles

Tracklist :
1-1    Chanting    2:24
1-2    Africa Is The Mirror Of All Colours    10:46
1-3    Word For Bird    10:52
1-4    Lonely Woman    10:24
1-5    The Art Of Love Is Happiness    8:13
2-1    Storytellers    10:12
2-2    Peace Warriors    6:11
2-3    The Sphinx    10:23
2-4    Latin Genetics    7:03
2-5    Today, Yesterday And Tomorrow    6:54
2-6    City Living    10:07
2-7    Turnaround    9:22
Credits :
Alto Saxophone, Composed By – Ornette Coleman
Bass – Charlie Haden
Cornet – Don Cherry
Drums – Billy Higgins
Notas.
NDR Jazzworkshop 219, Hamburg, Germany, October 29, 1987.

ORNETTE COLEMAN QUARTET - Reunion 1990 (2010) 2CD | Unofficial Release | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tracklist :
1-1    Telescope    4:49
1-2    Him And Her    8:28
1-3    Buckminster Fuller    7:37
1-4    Magic    8:33
1-5    Dancing Flower    6:34
1-6    If You Could See My Eyes    9:48
1-7    Spelling The Alphabet    8:10
2-1    Word For Bird    8:26
2-2    Latin Genetics    12:34
2-3    Singing In The Shower    10:05
2-4    Lonely Woman    12:21
2-5    The Sphinx    5:46
Credits :
Alto Saxophone, Composed By, Liner Notes – Ornette Coleman
Bass – Charlie Haden
Cornet – Don Cherry
Drums – Billy Higgins
Notas.
This release contains a complete never before released live performance by the original Ornette Coleman quartet, in a reunion concert that took place in Reggio Emilia (between Modena and Parma), Italy, thirty years after the recording of their first album, the wonderful "The Shape of Jazz To Come". Among the many highlights here are revised versions of "Lonely Woman", from that album, and "The Sphinx", from Ornette's first album, "Something Else"!!
Recorded live at Teatro Municipale Valli, Reggio Emilia, Italy, April 24, 1990

ORNETTE COLEMAN - "Free Jazz" (1996) FLAC (tracks), lossless

Tracklist :
1    Little Symphony    5:14
Ornette Coleman
2    Rise And Shine    6:12
Ornette Coleman
3    Kaleidoscope    6:34
Ornette Coleman
4    Revolving Doors    4:26
Ornette Coleman
5    The Legend Of Bebop    7:16
Ornette Coleman
6    Embraceable You 4:55
Composed By – G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin
7    Folk Tale    4:48
Ornette Coleman
8    Free Jazz    37:04
Ornette Coleman
Credits :
1-7
Alto Saxophone – Ornette Coleman
Trumpet [Pocket] – Don Cherry
Bass – Charlie Haden
Drums – Ed Blackwell
New York City, July 19, 26, August 2, 1960
1-8
The Ornette Coleman Double Quartet
Left Channel
Alto Saxophone – Ornette Coleman
Trumpet [Pocket] – Don Cherry
Drums – Billy Higgins
Bass – Scott LaFaro
Right Channel
Bass Clarinet – Eric Dolphy
Trumpet – Freddie Hubbard
Bass – Charlie Haden
Drums – Ed Blackwell
New York City, December 21, 1960

ORNETTE COLEMAN - The Complete Science Fiction Sessions (2000) 2CD | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Finally, on a pair of CDs in one collection are the rest of Ornette Coleman's Columbia recordings, all of them done before Skies of America. Science Fiction was a regular part of Columbia's jazz catalogue, and Broken Shadows was released on LP in 1982. On this double set, both of those records and three previously unreleased cuts from those sessions are together at last. Coleman assembled mostly alumni for his September 1971 sessions in the Columbia studios. The sizes of the ensembles range from septet to quartet to up to 11 players. His classic early bands are reunited here with trumpeter Don Cherry, saxophonist Dewey Redman, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummers Ed Blackwell and Billy Higgins. Augmenting these bands in places are pianist Cedar Walton, guitarist Jim Hall, trumpeter Bobby Bradford, vocalist Asha Puthi, and Science Fiction narrator, poet David Henderson. The swinging weirdness quotient is high on Science Fiction, especially on "What Reason Could I Give," "Street Woman," and "Civilization Day." The title track is an out, free-blowing fest that sounds hopelessly dated but is still cool, and on the tracks "School Work," "Broken Shadows," and "Happy House," listeners hear the first traces of the themes Coleman continues to employ. The inclusion of alternate takes offers the listener a cleaner view of the kind of harmonic theory Coleman was working against when he created harmolodics. Some of the oddities on these sessions are the seeming incongruities between Redman and Hall on "Good Girl Blues," with Webster Armstrong's singing with Walton's piano and Coleman just undermining the entire thing, trying to force another dimension out of the blues, or perhaps a new one into them. Elsewhere, on "Rock the Clock," listeners hear Coleman's first experiments with electricity, with a funky backbeat straining to maintain itself against his sawing violin, note-spattering trumpet; then there are Redman's bluesy post-bop chromatics (quoting Brubeck's "Take Five" in his solo) moving atop a funky doubled-up backbeat and one scary amplified Charlie Haden bass. Science Fiction is a stellar collection of Ornette-ology assembled in one place. This is some of his very best material, archived and issued the way it should have been in the first place.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1-1    What Reason Could I Give 3'07
Alto Saxophone, Composed By – Ornette Coleman
Bass – Charlie Haden
Drums – Ed Blackwell
Tenor Saxophone – Dewey Redman
Timpani – Billy Higgins
Trumpet – Carmine Fornarotto, Gerard Schwarz
Vocals – Asha Puthli
1-2    Civilization Day 6'05
Alto Saxophone, Composed By – Ornette Coleman
Bass – Charlie Haden
Drums – Billy Higgins
Trumpet [Pocket] – Don Cherry
1-3    Street Woman 4'50
Alto Saxophone, Composed By – Ornette Coleman
Bass – Charlie Haden
Drums – Billy Higgins
Trumpet [Pocket] – Don Cherry
1-4    Science Fiction 5'02
Alto Saxophone, Composed By – Ornette Coleman
Bass – Charlie Haden
Drums – Billy Higgins, Ed Blackwell
Tenor Saxophone – Dewey Redman
Trumpet – Bobby Bradford
Trumpet [Pocket] – Don Cherry
Voice [Poet] – David Henderson
1-5    Rock The Clock 3'17
Bass – Charlie Haden
Drums – Ed Blackwell
Tenor Saxophone, Suona [Musette] – Dewey Redman
Trumpet, Violin, Composed By – Ornette Coleman
1-6    All My Life 3'56
Alto Saxophone, Composed By – Ornette Coleman
Bass – Charlie Haden
Drums – Ed Blackwell
Tenor Saxophone – Dewey Redman
Timpani – Billy Higgins
Trumpet – Carmine Fornarotto, Gerard Schwarz
Vocals – Asha Puthli
1-7    Law Years 5'22
Alto Saxophone, Composed By – Ornette Coleman
Bass – Charlie Haden
Drums – Ed Blackwell
Tenor Saxophone – Dewey Redman
Trumpet – Bobby Bradford
1-8    The Jungle Is A Skyscraper 5'27
Alto Saxophone, Composed By – Ornette Coleman
Bass – Charlie Haden
Drums – Ed Blackwell
Tenor Saxophone – Dewey Redman
Trumpet – Bobby Bradford
1-9    School Work 5'36
Alto Saxophone, Composed By – Ornette Coleman
Bass – Charlie Haden
Drums – Ed Blackwell
Tenor Saxophone – Dewey Redman
Trumpet – Bobby Bradford
1-10    Country Town Blues 6'25
Alto Saxophone, Composed By – Ornette Coleman
Bass – Charlie Haden
Drums – Billy Higgins
Trumpet [Pocket] – Don Cherry
1-11    Street Woman (Alternate Take) 5'46
Alto Saxophone, Composed By – Ornette Coleman
Bass – Charlie Haden
Drums – Billy Higgins
Trumpet [Pocket] – Don Cherry
1-12        Civilization Day (Alternate Mix) 6'04
Alto Saxophone, Composed By – Ornette Coleman
Bass – Charlie Haden
Drums – Billy Higgins
Trumpet [Pocket] – Don Cherry
2-1        Happy House 9'47
Alto Saxophone, Composed By – Ornette Coleman
Bass – Charlie Haden
Drums – Billy Higgins, Ed Blackwell
Tenor Saxophone – Dewey Redman
Trumpet – Bobby Bradford
Trumpet [Pocket] – Don Cherry
2-2    Elizabeth 10'26
Alto Saxophone, Composed By – Ornette Coleman
Bass – Charlie Haden
Drums – Billy Higgins, Ed Blackwell
Tenor Saxophone – Dewey Redman
Trumpet – Bobby Bradford
Trumpet [Pocket] – Don Cherry
2-3    Written Word 9'44
Alto Saxophone, Composed By – Ornette Coleman
Bass – Charlie Haden
Drums – Billy Higgins, Ed Blackwell
Tenor Saxophone – Dewey Redman
Trumpet – Bobby Bradford
Trumpet [Pocket] – Don Cherry
2-4    Broken Shadows 6'42
Alto Saxophone, Composed By – Ornette Coleman
Bass – Charlie Haden
Drums – Billy Higgins, Ed Blackwell
Tenor Saxophone – Dewey Redman
Trumpet – Bobby Bradford
Trumpet [Pocket] – Don Cherry
2-5    Rubber Gloves 3'24
Alto Saxophone, Composed By – Ornette Coleman
Bass – Charlie Haden
Drums – Ed Blackwell
Tenor Saxophone – Dewey Redman
2-6    Good Girl Blues 3'05
Alto Saxophone, Composed By – Ornette Coleman
Bass – Charlie Haden
Drums – Ed Blackwell
Guitar – Jim Hall
Piano – Cedar Walton
Tenor Saxophone – Dewey Redman
Vocals – Webster Armstrong
2-7    Is It Forever 4'49
Alto Saxophone, Composed By – Ornette Coleman
Bass – Charlie Haden
Drums – Ed Blackwell
Guitar – Jim Hall
Piano – Cedar Walton
Tenor Saxophone – Dewey Redman
Vocals – Webster Armstrong

ORNETTE COLEMAN QUINTET - Complete Live at The Hillcrest Club (1958-2007) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Ornette Coleman's epic 1959 LPs The Shape of Jazz to Come and Change of the Century were pivot points in modern post-bop jazz and early creative music. This recording is a prelude to those epics, a live two-night engagement in October of 1958 at the Hillcrest Club in Los Angeles. The Coleman quintet, with trumpeter Don Cherry, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Billy Higgins, plus a then-young pianist Paul Bley, sets up that new shape of jazz. This eight-selection set features three of Coleman's signature originals, two standards, and three lesser-known, fairly rare pieces that Coleman did at the time. The program kicks off with Charlie Parker's "Klactoveedsedstene," an on-fire free bopper where Coleman's alto sax in tandem with Cherry reflects a quest for cleanliness and innocent, alive freshness, well transferred, balanced, and reproduced digitally. Whoever tagged this music unlistenable needs to revisit the symbiosis of the front-line horns present. Three of Coleman's all-time immortal compositions on call are the relaxed and easily swung harmolodic dream "The Blessing" accented by Ornette's piquant alto, the call-and-response-laden "When Will the Blues Leave?," and the post-bop evergreen "Ramblin'." The stairstep ascending and descending melody for "Free" also remains arresting, taking no prisoners. It's interesting how alleged rebel Coleman pays reverence to two ballad standards, Roy Eldridge's pensive "I Remember Harlem" and Cherry's trumpet-led "How Deep Is the Ocean?" Closing is the frantic, scattershot two-minute improvisation "Crossroads." A major fault of this recording is Bley's piano, which is unfortunately so far down in the mix that it is virtually inaudible. One really has to strain, even with headphones, to hear the true depth of Bley's clearly brilliant, probing, but muffled and muted playing. There's no doubt as to the historical and musical significance of this date, and it belongs in the collection of any follower of Coleman, despite the one production flaw. Michael G. Nastos  
Tracklist :
1    Klactoveedsestene 12:07
Written-By – Charlie Parker
2    I Remember Harlem 3:52
Written-By – Roy Eldridge
3    The Blessing    9:38
Written-By – Ornette Coleman
4    Free    5:39
Written-By – Ornette Coleman
5    When Will The Blues Leave?    14:29
Written-By – Ornette Coleman
6    How Deep Is The Ocean? 4:35
Written-By – Irving Berlin
7    Ramblin'    14:06
Written-By – Ornette Coleman
8    Crossroads    1:54
Written-By – Ornette Coleman
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Ornette Coleman
Bass – Charlie Haden
Drums – Billy Higgins
Piano – Paul Bley
Trumpet – Don Cherry

ORNETTE COLEMAN - Something Else !!!! The Music of Ornette Coleman (1958-2011) RM | Original Jazz Classics Remasters | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This 1958 debut recording by the Ornette Coleman Quintet, which featured Coleman on his trademark white plastic alto, Don Cherry on trumpet, Billy Higgins on drums, Walter Norris on piano, and Don Payne on bass, shook up the jazz world -- particularly those musicians and critics who had entered the hard bop era with such verve and were busy using the blues as a way of creating vast solo spaces inside tight and short melody lines. Something Else!!!! is anathema to that entire idea, and must have sounded like it came from outer space at the time. First, Coleman's interest was in pitch, not "being in tune." His use of pitch could take him all over -- and outside of -- a composition, as it does on "Invisible," which begins in D flat. The intervals are standard, but the melodic component of the tune -- despite its hard bop tempo -- is, for the most part, free. But what is most compelling is evident in abundance here and on the next two tunes, "The Blessing" and "Jayne": a revitalization of the blues as it expressed itself in jazz. Coleman refurbished the blues framework, threaded it through his jazz without getting rid of its folk-like, simplistic milieu. In other words, the groove Coleman was getting here was a people's groove that only confounded intellectuals at the time. Coleman restored blues to their "classic" beginnings in African music and unhooked their harmonies. Whether the key was D flat, A, G, whatever, Coleman revisited the 17- and 25-bar blues. There are normal signatures, however, such as "Chippie" in F and in eight-bar form, and "The Disguise" is in D, but in a strange 13-bar form where the first and the last change places, altering the talking-like voice inherent in the melodic line. But the most important thing about Something Else! was that, in its angular, almost totally oppositional way, it swung and still does; like a finger-poppin' daddy on a Saturday night, this record swings from the rafters of the human heart with the most unusually gifted, emotional, and lyrical line since Bill Evans first hit the scene.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1    Invisible    4:15
2    The Blessing    4:45
3    Jayne    7:17
4    Chippie    5:37
5    The Disguise    2:46
6    Angel Voice    4:19
7    Alpha    4:09
8    When Will The Blues Leave?    4:58
9    The Sphinx    4:13
Credits :
Alto Saxophone, Composed By – Ornette Coleman
Bass – Don Payne
Drums – Billy Higgins
Piano – Walter Norris
Trumpet – Don Cherry

ORNETTE COLEMAN - The Shape Of Jazz To Come (1959-2013) RM | Atlantic 60th | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Ornette Coleman's Atlantic debut, The Shape of Jazz to Come, was a watershed event in the genesis of avant-garde jazz, profoundly steering its future course and throwing down a gauntlet that some still haven't come to grips with. The record shattered traditional concepts of harmony in jazz, getting rid of not only the piano player but the whole idea of concretely outlined chord changes. The pieces here follow almost no predetermined harmonic structure, which allows Coleman and partner Don Cherry an unprecedented freedom to take the melodies of their solo lines wherever they felt like going in the moment, regardless of what the piece's tonal center had seemed to be. Plus, this was the first time Coleman recorded with a rhythm section -- bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Billy Higgins -- that was loose and open-eared enough to follow his already controversial conception. Coleman's ideals of freedom in jazz made him a feared radical in some quarters; there was much carping about his music flying off in all directions, with little direct relation to the original theme statements. If only those critics could have known how far out things would get in just a few short years; in hindsight, it's hard to see just what the fuss was about, since this is an accessible, frequently swinging record. It's true that Coleman's piercing, wailing alto squeals and vocalized effects weren't much beholden to conventional technique, and that his themes often followed unpredictable courses, and that the group's improvisations were very free-associative. But at this point, Coleman's desire for freedom was directly related to his sense of melody -- which was free-flowing, yes, but still very melodic. Of the individual pieces, the haunting "Lonely Woman" is a stone-cold classic, and "Congeniality" and "Peace" aren't far behind. Any understanding of jazz's avant-garde should begin here. Steve Huey  
Tracklist :
1    Tomorrow Is The Question!    3:09
2    Tears Inside    5:00
3    Mind And Time    3:08
4    Compassion    4:37
5    Giggin'    3:19
6    Rejoicing    4:01
7    Lorraine    5:55
8    Turnaround    7:55
9    Endless    5:18
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Ornette Coleman
Bass – Charlie Haden
Cornet – Don Cherry
Drums – Billy Higgins

ORNETTE COLEMAN - Change of the Century (1960-1992) RM | Atlantic & ATCO Remasters Series | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The second album by Ornette Coleman's legendary quartet featuring Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, and Billy Higgins, Change of the Century is every bit the equal of the monumental The Shape of Jazz to Come, showcasing a group that was growing ever more confident in its revolutionary approach and the chemistry in the bandmembers' interplay. When Coleman concentrates on melody, his main themes are catchier, and when the pieces emphasize group interaction, the improvisation is freer. Two of Coleman's most memorable classic compositions are here in their original forms -- "Ramblin'" has all the swing and swagger of the blues, and "Una Muy Bonita" is oddly disjointed, its theme stopping and starting in totally unexpected places; both secure their themes to stable, pedal-point bass figures. The more outside group improv pieces are frequently just as fascinating; "Free," for example, features a double-tongued line that races up and down in free time before giving way to the ensemble's totally spontaneous inventions. The title cut is a frantic, way-out mélange of cascading lines that nearly trip over themselves, brief stabs of notes in the lead voices, and jarringly angular intervals -- it must have infuriated purists who couldn't even stomach Coleman's catchiest tunes. Coleman was frequently disparaged for not displaying the same mastery of instrumental technique and harmonic vocabulary as his predecessors, but his aesthetic prized feeling and expression above all that anyway. Maybe that's why Change of the Century bursts with such tremendous urgency and exuberance -- Coleman was hitting his stride and finally letting out all the ideas and emotions that had previously been constrained by tradition. That vitality makes it an absolutely essential purchase and, like The Shape of Jazz to Come, some of the most brilliant work of Coleman's career. Steve Huey  
Tracklist :
1    Ramblin'    6:34
2    Free    6:20
3    The Face Of The Bass    6:53
4    Forerunner    5:13
5    Bird Food    5:25
6    Una Muy Bonita    5:51
7    Change Of The Century    4:41
Credits :
Alto Saxophone, Written-By – Ornette Coleman
Bass – Charlie Haden
Drums – Billy Higgins
Trumpet [Pocket] – Donald Cherry

ORNETTE COLEMAN DOUBLE QUARTET - Free Jazz (1961-2003) RM | Atlantic Masters | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

As jazz's first extended, continuous free improvisation LP, Free Jazz practically defies superlatives in its historical importance. Ornette Coleman's music had already been tagged "free," but this album took the term to a whole new level. Aside from a predetermined order of featured soloists and several brief transition signals cued by Coleman, the entire piece was created spontaneously, right on the spot. The lineup was expanded to a double-quartet format, split into one quartet for each stereo channel: Ornette, trumpeter Don Cherry, bassist Scott LaFaro, and drummer Billy Higgins on the left; trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, bass clarinetist Eric Dolphy, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Ed Blackwell on the right. The rhythm sections all play at once, anchoring the whole improvisation with a steady, driving pulse. The six spotlight sections feature each horn in turn, plus a bass duet and drum duet; the "soloists" are really leading dialogues, where the other instruments are free to support, push, or punctuate the featured player's lines. Since there was no road map for this kind of recording, each player simply brought his already established style to the table. That means there are still elements of convention and melody in the individual voices, which makes Free Jazz far more accessible than the efforts that followed once more of the jazz world caught up. Still, the album was enormously controversial in its bare-bones structure and lack of repeated themes. Despite resembling the abstract painting on the cover, it wasn't quite as radical as it seemed; the concept of collective improvisation actually had deep roots in jazz history, going all the way back to the freewheeling early Dixieland ensembles of New Orleans. Jazz had long prided itself on reflecting American freedom and democracy and, with Free Jazz, Coleman simply took those ideals to the next level. A staggering achievement. Steve Huey
Tracklist :
1     Free Jazz 37:03
Ornette Coleman   
2     First Take 17:06
Ornette Coleman   
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Ornette Coleman
Bass – Charlie Haden, Scott LaFaro
Bass Clarinet – Eric Dolphy
Drums – Billy Higgins, Ed Blackwell
Trumpet – Freddie Hubbard
Trumpet [Pocket] – Don Cherry