Mostrando postagens com marcador Charlie Haden. Mostrar todas as postagens
Mostrando postagens com marcador Charlie Haden. Mostrar todas as postagens

8.9.24

JOE HENDERSON ft. ALICE COLTRANE - The Elements (1974-1996) RM | FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

This is one of the odder Joe Henderson recordings. The four lengthy selections not only feature the great tenor-saxophonist but the piano and harp of Alice Coltrane (during one of her rare appearances as a sideman), violinist Michael White, bassist Charlie Haden, percussionist Kenneth Nash and Baba Duru Oshun on tablas. The somewhat spiritual nature of the music (Henderson's compositions are titled "Fire," "Air," "Water" and "Earth") and the presence of Alice Coltrane makes these Eastern-flavored performances rather unique if not all that essential: an early example of world music in jazz. This recording has been reissued as part of Henderson's eight-CD Milestone box set. Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
1    Fire    11:07
 Joe Henderson
2    Air    9:53
 Joe Henderson
3    Water 7:27
 Joe Henderson
Flute [Wood] – Kenneth Nash
4    Earth 13:07
 Joe Henderson
Narrator – Kenneth Nash

Credits :
Bass – Charlie Haden
Congas, Percussion [North African Sakara Drum], Bells [Chinese, African, Indian], Gong, Percussion – Kenneth Nash
Drums – Leon Ndugu Chancler (tracks: 1, 4)
Piano, Harp, Tambura, Harmonium – Alice Coltrane
Tabla, Percussion – Baba Duru Oshun
Tenor Saxophone, Flute, Composed By, Alto Flute – Joe Henderson
Violin – Michael White (tracks: 1, 2, 4)

8.7.24

ART PEPPER — Living Legend (1975-1989) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Art Pepper, one of the major bop altoists to emerge during the '50s, started his comeback with this excellent set, Living Legend. After 15 years filled with prison time and fighting drug addiction, Pepper was finally ready to return to jazz. Accompanied by three of his old friends (pianist Hampton Hawes, bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Shelly Manne), Pepper displays a more explorative and darker style than he had previously. He also shows a greater emotional depth in his improvisations and was open to some of the innovations of the avant-garde in his search for greater self-expression. Although this recording would be topped by the ones to come, the music (five Pepper originals and an intense version of "Here's That Rainy Day") is quite rewarding. Scott Yanow
Tracklist  :
1 Ophelia 7:51
 Art Pepper
2 Here's That Rainy Day 5:37
Written-By – Jimmy Van Heusen And Johnny Burke
3 What Laurie Likes 6:45
 Art Pepper
4 Mr. Yohe 7:10
 Art Pepper
5 Lost Life 5:52
 Art Pepper
6 Samba Mom-Mom (Original Take) 8:18
 Art Pepper
7 Samba Mom-Mom (Alternate Take) 6:59
 Art Pepper
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Art Pepper
Bass – Charlie Haden
Drums – Shelly Manne
Piano – Hampton Hawes

28.6.24

CHARLIE HADEN & PAT METHENY – Beyond The Missouri Sky (Short Stories) (1997) FLAC (tracks+.cue) lossless

Charlie Haden and Pat Metheny have been good friends since the 1970s, so it comes as a bit of a surprise that Beyond the Missouri Sky should be their first duet album together. Both musicians are from small towns in Missouri, which leads Metheny to speculate in the liner notes if this similarity of childhood ambience might have something to do with the two players' obvious love and affinity for each other. Whatever the answer, the result of this logical pairing is a rather somber and moody one. Metheny has a dark tone on his electric guitar, and on Beyond the Missouri Sky, where he plays acoustic, his sound is similarly deep and rounded. Metheny has called Haden one of the greatest improvisers of all time, and although this may be hyperbolic exaggeration from a longtime friend, Haden has at least earned the right to defend the claim. On Beyond the Missouri Sky, his playing is as sensitive and beautiful as always. Although one can understand the vibe that Haden and Metheny were going for, the preponderance of slow and mid-tempo material can wear on the listener. When they eschew the dirge-like tempos, as on the fantastic "The Precious Jewel," the results are just as atmospheric and are, in fact, even more evocative of the Midwestern landscapes that are featured so prominently in the album art. With Metheny setting up a strummy rhythm, Haden plays the stately melody with impeccable tone. This track, one of many, also showcases Metheny overdubbing different guitars to thicken out the sound of the performance. The results are similar, at least in spirit, to Bill Frisell's recordings in the latter half of the 1990s. Although many Metheny and Haden compositions that are featured on this record, it is their readings of older material that are most effective. The Jimmy Webb classic "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress" is wonderfully nostalgic, as Metheny uses subtle guitar and synth washes to pad a beautiful duet performance, and the traditional "He's Gone Away" is the greatest lullaby that never was. Overall, Beyond the Missouri Sky is a fine record when the material is happening, but a bit of a chore when it is not. If Haden and Metheny had gone with the more Americana theme throughout, instead of interspersing that rootsy feel with post-bop, it would have been a much stronger record. Daniel Gioffre
Tracklist :
1. Waltz for Ruth (4:29)
 Charlie Haden
2. Our Spanish Love Song (5:42)
 Charlie Haden
3. Message to a Friend (6:14)
 Pat Metheny
4. Two for the Road (5:18)
 Leslie Bricusse / Henry Mancini
5. First Song (for Ruth) (6:41)
 Charlie Haden
6. The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (4:06)
 Jimmy Webb
7. The Precious Jewel (3:48)
 Roy Acuff
8. He's Gone Away (4:18)
 Traditional
9. The Moon Song (6:59)
 Johnny Mandel
10. Tears of Rain (5:32)
 Pat Metheny
11. Cinema Paradiso (love theme) (3:37)
 Andrea Morricone / Ennio Morricone
12. Cinema Paradiso (main theme) (4:27)
 Ennio Morricone
13. Spiritual (8:24)
 Charlie Haden
Credits :
Acoustic Guitar [Acoustic Guitars], Instruments [All Other Instruments] – Pat Metheny
Bass – Charlie Haden

9.4.24

CHARLIE HADEN QUARTET WEST — Sophisticated Ladies (2010) FLAC (tracks+.cue) lossless

Bassist extraordinaire Charlie Haden has always prized diversity in his music, whether reaching for the outer limits with Ornette Coleman a half-century ago, leading his own experimental Liberation Music Orchestra or, in 2008, celebrating his roots in what's now called Americana onRambling Boy, a Grammy-nominated album that featured contributions from Elvis Costello, Béla Fleck, and others. As they mark their 25th year together, Haden's Quartet West -- not so much a side trip at this point as a comfy base to occasionally return to -- offers up Sophisticated Ladies, a collection split between collaborations with superstar female vocalists and rich instrumentals, nearly all of it heavily orchestrated. The set expands upon the concept Haden first explored in 1999 on The Art of the Song, which utilized vocalists Shirley Horn and Bill Henderson on various film songs and standards. This time, with tenor saxophonist Ernie Watts, pianist/arranger Alan Broadbent (both mainstays of the quartet), and drummer Rodney Green, Haden goes for a lush, all-embracing sound that suggests a warm, cozy mood that reflects a time -- which may or may not ever have existed -- when life was much less hectic. The recording largely pays tribute to the romantic balladry of the mid-20th century, and Haden's choices of both material and guest artists allow him to bring that concept to fruition gloriously. Diana Krall, leading the back-to-back "Goodbye" and "Wahoo," closes out the album: the first is a whispery take on the Gordon Jenkins number that served as Benny Goodman's theme song, and the latter an uptempo swinger written by Benny Harris. Norah Jones was a natural pick for a set that values classiness and sensuality, and her "Ill Wind," penned by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler and arranged by Haden, exudes a smoky nightclub ambience, Broadbent's piano lending a blues touch to Jones' soothing delivery. Cassandra Wilson is another inspired pick, and her interpretation of Johnny Mercer's "My Love and I," bathed in strings and elegance, is a highlight of the set. The album's other vocal performances -- by Melody Gardot, Renée Fleming, and Ruth Cameron -- are also memorable, but not to be overlooked are the non-vocal tracks. Hank Jones' bluesy "Angel Face" is simultaneously sweet and melancholy, while Steve Khun's fiery "Today I Am a Man" is the swingingest number here. And of course, Haden couldn't very well title his album Sophisticated Ladies without including Duke Ellington's "Sophisticated Lady," which matches Watts' bold saxophone licks to another luxuriant orchestration. Sophisticated Ladies does fall just short at times of mimicking a brand of saccharine faux-post-big-band jazz that flourished in the '50s and early '60s, but Haden and his team are too masterful to allow their tribute to lose its stylishness and, of course, its sophistication. Jeff Tamarkin
Tracklist :
1. If I'm Lucky - 5:40
Vocals [Vocal] – Melody Gardot
Written-By – Eddie De Lange, Josef Myrow

2. Sophisticated Lady - 4:29
Written-By – Duke Ellington, Irving Mills, Mitchell Parish
3. Ill Wind - 4:25
Arranged By – Charlie Haden
Vocals [Vocal] – Norah Jones
Written-By – Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler

4. Today I Am A Man - 5:23
Arranged By – Charlie Haden
Written-By – Steve Khun

5. My Love And I - 4:14
Vocals - Cassandra Wilson
Written-By – David Raksin, Johnny Mercer

6. Theme From 'Markham' - 4:40
Written-By – Stanley Wilson
7. Let's Call It A Day - 5:52
Vocals - Ruth Cameron
Written-By – Lew Brown, Ray Henderson

8. Angel Face - 4:09
Written-By – Hank Jones
9. A Love Like This - 5:13
 Vocals - Renée Fleming
Written-By – Ned Washington, Victor Young

10. My Old Flame - 5:35
Arranged By – Charlie Haden
Written-By – Arthur Johnston, Sam Coslow

11. Goodbye - 5:49
 Vocals - Diana Krall
Written-By – Gordon Jenkins

12. Wahoo - 4:53
Arranged By – Charlie Haden
Written-By – Bennie Harris

Credits
Arranged By [Quartet Arrangements By] – Charlie Haden
Arranged By [String Orchestra Arranged By], Conductor [String Orchestra Conducted By] – Alan Broadbent
Band – Charlie Haden Quartet West
Contractor [String Contractor: String Orchestra Los Angeles, May 20th and 21st, 2010, Capitol Studios] – Marcy Vaj
Contractor [String Contractor: String Orchestra New York, June 4th 2010, Avatar Studios] – Jill Dell'Abate
Double Bass – Charlie Haden
Drums – Rodney Green
Featuring – Cassandra Wilson, Diana Krall, Melody Gardot, Norah Jones, Renée Fleming, Ruth Cameron
Musician [String Orchestra Los Angeles], Cello – Elizabeth Wright, Jodi Burnett, Tim Loo
Musician [String Orchestra Los Angeles], Cello [Principal] – Steve Richards
Musician [String Orchestra Los Angeles], Viola – Margot Aldcroft, Robert Berg, Susanna Giordano
Musician [String Orchestra Los Angeles], Viola [Principal] – Karen Elaine
Musician [String Orchestra Los Angeles], Violin – Adriana Zoppo, Anatoly Fosinsky, Cameron Patrick, Eric Gorfain, Kevin Kumar, Kirsten Fife, Maria Newman, Marina Manukian, Michael Ferril, Pam Gates, Ruth Buegger Johnson*, Susan Chatman
Musician [String Orchestra Los Angeles], Violin [Principal] – Margaret Wooten
Musician [String Orchestra Los Angeles], Violin, Concertmaster – Marcy Vaj
Musician [String Orchestra New York], Cello – Diane Barere, Ellen Westerman, Jeanne Leblanc, Jerry Grossman
Musician [String Orchestra New York], Viola – Dov Scheindlin, Karen Dreyfus, Todd Low, Vincent Lionti
Musician [String Orchestra New York], Violin – Avril Brown, Cecelia Hobbs Gardner, Hae Young Ham, Jonathan Dinklage, Joyce Hammann, Karen Karlsrud, Katherine Fong, Katherine Livolsi*, Laura McGinniss, Narciso Figueroa, Una Tone, Yuilo Kamakari, Yuri Vodovoz
Musician [String Orchestra New York], Violin, Concertmaster – Elena Barere
Piano – Alan Broadbent
Tenor Saxophone – Ernie Watts

19.3.24

ABBEY LINCOLN — Through the Years : 1956-2007 (2010) 3CD SET | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Anyone who has followed Abbey Lincoln’s career with any regularity understands that she has followed a fiercely individual path and has paid the cost for those choices. Through the Years is a cross-licensed, three-disc retrospective expertly compiled and assembled by the artist and her longtime producer, Jean-Philippe Allard. Covering more than 50 years in her storied career, it establishes from the outset that Lincoln was always a true jazz singer and unique stylist. Though it contains no unreleased material, it does offer the first true picture of he range of expression. Her accompanists include former husband Max Roach, Benny Carter, Kenny Dorham, Charlie Haden, Sonny Rollins, Wynton Kelly, Benny Golson, J.J. Johnson, Art Farmer, Stan Getz, and Hank Jones, to name scant few.

Disc one commences with “This Can’t Be Love” from 1956; one of the best-known tunes off her debut album, arranged and conducted by Golson. But the story begins to change immediately with "I Must Have That Man" with her fronting the Riverside Jazz All-Stars in 1957. Tracks from It’s Magic, Abbey Is Blue, and Straight Ahead are here, and the story moves ahead chronologically and aesthetically all the way to 1984. But there are also big breaks stylistically, with her primal performance on “Triptych: Prayer/Protest/Peace” from We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite in 1960 and the amazing “Lonesome Lover” from It’s Time: Max Roach and His Orchestra and Choir in 1962, which is where her story takes its first recording break. It picks up in 1973 with "Africa" from People in Me. It breaks again until 1980, with “Throw It Away” off the beautiful Painted Lady, and continues through appearances with Cedar Walton and Sun Ra. There is another break in the narrative between discs one and two, commencing again in 1990 with the issue of the brilliant The World Is Falling Down on Verve when she began her association with Allard and recorded regularly. This disc contains a dozen tracks all recorded between 1990 and 1992. Disc three commences in 1995 and goes straight through to 2007. The latter two discs reflect the periods when Lincoln finally assumed her rightful status as a true jazz icon; individual track performances from standards to self-written tunes and folk songs are all done in her inimitable style and are well-known to fans. This set is gorgeously compiled and sequenced. As a listen, Through the Years is literally astonishing in its breadth and depth. It establishes her commitment to artistic freedom, and her fierce dedication to discipline, song, and performance. The box features liners by Gary Giddins, and great photographs, as well as stellar sound quality.  
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1-1    This Can't Be Love 2:22
Composed By – Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers
Directed By, Arranged By – Benny Carter
Engineer – John Kraus
Orchestra – Benny Carter And His Orchestra
Producer – Russell Keith

1-2    Don't Explain 6:35
Bass – Wynton Kelly
Composed By – Arthur Herzog, Jr., Billie Holiday
Drums – Max Roach
Engineer – Jack Higgins
Producer – Bill Grauer, Orrin Keepnews
Tenor Saxophone – Sonny Rollins
Trumpet – Kenny Dorham

1-3    I Must Have That Man 3:37
Bass – Paul Chambers
Composed By – Dorothy Fields, Jimmy McHugh

Drums – Max Roach
Engineer – Jack Higgins
Piano – Wynton Kelly
Producer – Bill Grauer, Orrin Keepnews
Tenor Saxophone – Sonny Rollins
Trumpet – Kenny Dorham

1-4    Little Niles 4:59
Bass – Sam Jones
Composed By – Jon Hendricks, Randy Weston
Drums – "Philly" Joe Jones
Engineer – Jack Higgins
Piano – Wynton Kelly
Producer – Orrin Keepnews
Tenor Saxophone – Benny Golson
Trumpet – Art Farmer

1-5    Let Up 5:19
Bass – Bob Boswell
Composed By – Abbey Lincoln
Drums – Max Roach
Engineer – Jack Higgins
Piano – Cedar Walton
Producer – Bill Grauer, Orrin Keepnews
Tenor Saxophone – Stanley Turrentine
Trombone – Julian Priester
Trumpet – Tommy Turrentine

1-6    Come Sunday 5:07
Bass – Sam Jones
Composed By – Duke Ellington
Drums – "Philly" Joe Jones
Engineer – Jack Higgins
Guitar – Les Spann
Piano – Phillip Wright
Producer – Bill Grauer, Orrin Keepnews

1-7    Triptych: Prayer / Protest / Peace 7:58
Composed By – Max Roach
Drums – Max Roach
Engineer – Bob D'Orleans

1-8    Left Alone 6:46
Bass – Art Davis
Bass Clarinet – Eric Dolphy
Composed By – Billie Holiday, Mal Waldron
Drums – Max Roach
Piano – Mal Waldron
Tenor Saxophone – Walter Benton
Tenor Saxophone, Soloist – Coleman Hawkins
Trombone, Arranged By – Julian Priester
Trumpet – Booker Little

1-9    Lonesome Lover 7:01
Backing Vocals, Conductor – Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson
Bass – Art Davis
Composed By – Abbey Lincoln
Composed By, Orchestrated By – Max Roach
Drums – Max Roach
Engineer, Mixed By – George Piros, Rudy Van Gelder
Piano – Mal Waldron
Producer – Bob Thiele
Tenor Saxophone – Clifford Jordan
Trombone – Julian Priester

1-10    Africa 7:08
Bass – Kunimitsu Inaba
Composed By – Abbey Lincoln, John Coltrane
Drums – Al Foster
Engineer, Mixed By – Suenori Fukui
Percussion – James Mtume
Piano – Hiromasa Suzuki
Producer – Toshinari Koinuma
Tenor Saxophone – David Liebman

1-11    Throw It Away 6:35
Bass – Jack Gregg
Composed By – Abbey Lincoln
Drums – Freddie Waits
Engineer, Mixed By – Emile Flock, Jean-Claude Talar
Piano – Hilton Ruiz
Producer – Emile De La Tour, Gérard Terronès, Odile Terronès, Éric Terronès
Tenor Saxophone – Archie Shepp
Trumpet – Roy Burrowes

1-12    The Maestro 4:38
Bass – David Williams (2)
Composed By – Cedar Walton
Drums – Billy Higgins
Engineer, Mixed By – Malcolm Addey
Piano – Cedar Walton
Producer – Cedar Walton
Tenor Saxophone – Bob Berg

1-13    The River 4:57
Alto Saxophone – Steve Coleman
Backing Vocals – Arlene Knox, Bemshee Shirer, Naima Williams
Bass – Billy Johnson
Composed By – Abbey Lincoln
Drums – Mark Johnson
Engineer, Mixed By – David Baker
Percussion – Jerry Gonzalez
Piano – James Weidman
Producer – Horst Weber, Mathias Winkelmann

2-1    The World is Falling Down 6:20
Alto Saxophone – Jerry Dodgion
Alto Saxophone, Soloist – Jackie McLean
Arranged By – Ron Carter
Bass – Charlie Haden
Composed By – Abbey Lincoln
Drums – Billy Higgins
Piano – Alain Jean-Marie
Producer – Daniel Richard, Jean-Philippe Allard
Recorded By, Mixed By – David Baker
Trumpet – Clark Terry

2-2    You Must Believe in Spring and Love 5:57
Alto Saxophone – Jackie McLean
Arranged By – Ron Carter
Bass – Charlie Haden
Composed By – Alan & Marilyn Bergman, Michel Legrand
Drums – Billy Higgins
Flugelhorn – Clark Terry
Piano – Alain Jean-Marie
Producer – Daniel Richard, Jean-Philippe Allard
Recorded By, Mixed By – David Baker

2-3    First Song 6:31
Alto Saxophone – Jerry Dodgion
Bass – Charlie Haden
Composed By – Abbey Lincoln, Charlie Haden
Piano – Alain Jean-Marie
Producer – Daniel Richard, Jean-Philippe Allard
Recorded By, Mixed By – David Baker
Trumpet – Clark Terry

2-4    Bird Alone 8:34
Arranged By – Randolph Noël
Bass – Charlie Haden
Composed By – Abbey Lincoln
Drums – Mark Johnson
Piano – Hank Jones
Producer – Jean-Philippe Allard
Recorded By, Mixed By – Richard Applegate
Tenor Saxophone – Stan Getz
Viola – Maxine Roach

2-5    I'm In Love 6:11
Bass – Charlie Haden
Composed By – Joan Griffin
Drums – Mark Johnson
Piano – Hank Jones
Producer – Jean-Philippe Allard
Recorded By, Mixed By – Richard Applegate
Tenor Saxophone – Stan Getz

2-6    A Time For Love 8:40
Arranged By – Randolph Noël
Bass – Charlie Haden
Composed By – Johnny Mandel, Paul Francis Webster
Drums – Mark Johnson
Piano – Hank Jones
Producer – Jean-Philippe Allard
Recorded By, Mixed By – Richard Applegate
Tenor Saxophone – Stan Getz
Viola – Maxine Roach

2-7    Jungle Queen 6:12
Ashiko – Kehinde O'Uhuru
Composed By – Abbey Lincoln
Djembe, Agogô – Sule O'Uhuru
Djembe, Ashiko, Shekere, Drum [Ngoma] – Babatunde Olatunji
Dunun [Jun Jun Drums] – Gordy Ryan
Producer – Jean-Philippe Allard
Recorded By, Mixed By – Richard Applegate

2-8    A Child Is Born 6:22
Bass – Marcus McLaurine
Composed By – Alec Wilder, Thad Jones
Drums – Grady Tate
Piano – Rodney Kendrick
Producer – Jean-Philippe Allard
Recorded By, Mixed By – Richard Applegate
Trombone – J.J. Johnson

2-9    You Came A Long Way From St. Louis 3:55
Composed By – Bob Russell, John Benson Brooks
Piano – Hank Jones
Producer – Jean-Philippe Allard
Recorded By, Mixed By – Claude Ermelin

2-10    I Should Care 5:45
Composed By – Axel Stordahl, Paul Weston, Sammy Cahn
Piano – Hank Jones
Producer – Jean-Philippe Allard
Recorder, Mixed By – Claude Emelin

2-11    Through The Years 5:23
Bass – Michael Bowie
Composed By – Abbey Lincoln
Composed By, Piano, Tenor Saxophone – Bheki Mseleku
Drums – Marvin "Smitty" Smith
Producer – Jean-Philippe Allard, Russell Herman
Recorded By, Mixed By – Jay Newland

2-12    When I'm Called Home 5:28
Bass – Charlie Haden
Composed By – Abbey Lincoln
Drums – Mark Johnson
Piano – Hank Jones
Producer – Jean-Philippe Allard
Recorded By, Mixed By – Richard Applegate
Tenor Saxophone – Stan Getz

3-1     Avec le temps 5:38
Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar – Pat Metheny
Bass – Charlie Haden
Composed By – Léo Ferré
Drums – Victor Lewis
Producer – Jean-Philippe Allard
Recorded By, Mixed By – Richard Applegate

3-2     Mr Tambourine Man 6:53
Bass – Michael Bowie
Composed By – Bob Dylan
Drums – Aaron Walker
Piano – Marc Cary
Producer – Jean-Philippe Allard
Recorded By, Mixed By – Richard Applegate
Tenor Saxophone – Julien Lourau

3-3    Love Has Gone Away 7:35
Alto Saxophone – Steve Coleman
Bass – Michael Bowie
Composed By – Abbey Lincoln
Drums – Aaron Walker
Piano – Marc Cary
Producer – Jean-Philippe Allard
Recorded By, Mixed By – Richard Applegate

3-4    And It's Supposed To Be Love 5:12
Backing Vocals – Maggie Brown
Bass – Michael Bowie
Composed By – Abbey Lincoln
Drums – Alvester Garnett
Marimba – Bobby Hutcherson
Percussion – Daniel Moreno
Piano – James Hurt
Producer – Jean-Philippe Allard
Recorded By, Mixed By – Jay Newland

3-5    Should've Been 7:57
Bass – Charlie Haden
Composed By – Abbey Lincoln
Drums – Victor Lewis
Electric Guitar – Pat Metheny
Producer – Jean-Philippe Allard
Recorded By, Mixed By – Richard Applegate

3-6    Nature Boy 5:04
Bass – Christian McBride
Composed By – Eden Ahbez
Drums – Victor Lewis
Piano – Rodney Kendrick
Producer – Jean-Philippe Allard
Recorded By, Mixed By – Richard Applegate
Tenor Saxophone – Julien Lourau
Trumpet – Roy Hargrove

3-7    The Windmills Of Your Mind 5:52
Bass – Jaz Sawyer, John Ormond
Composed By – Alan & Marilyn Bergman, Michel Legrand
Piano – Brandon McCune
Producer – Daniel Richard, Jean-Philippe Allard
Recorded By, Mixed By – Jay Newland
Tenor Saxophone – Joe Lovano

3-8    Skylark 5:25
Bass – Ray Drummond
Composed By – Hoagy Carmichael, Johnny Mercer
Conductor, Arranged By – Laurent Cugny
Drums – Jaz Sawyer
Piano – Kenny Barron
Producer – Daniel Richard, Jean-Philippe Allard
Recorded By, Mixed By – Jay Newland

3-9    It's Me, O' Lord 3:42
Composed By – traditional
Piano – Kenny Barron
Producer – Daniel Richard, Jean-Philippe Allard
Recorded By, Mixed By – Jay Newland

3-10    Blue Monk 5:13
Acoustic Guitar, Resonator Guitar – Larry Campbell
Bass – Scott Colley
Composed By – Abbey Lincoln, Thelonious Monk
Drums – Shawn Pelton
Producer – Jean-Philippe Allard
Producer, Recorded By, Mixed By – Jay Newland

3-11    The Music Is Magic 3:53
Bass – Scott Colley
Composed By – Abbey Lincoln
Drums – Shawn Pelton
Electric Guitar – Larry Campbell
Producer – Jean-Philippe Allard
Producer, Recorded By, Mixed By – Jay Newland

3-12    Down Here Below 8:50
Arranged By – Randolph Noël
Bass – Charlie Haden
Cello – John Robinson
Composed By – Abbey Lincoln
Drums – Victor Lewis
Piano – Kenny Barron
Producer – Jean-Philippe Allard
Recorded By, Mixed By – Richard Applegate
Violin – Sandra Bilignslea

25.2.24

CHARLIE HADEN | LIBERATION MUSIC ORCHESTRA — Not In Our Name (2005) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Charlie Haden brings another incarnation of his Liberation Music Orchestra to tape. This intermittent project began at the height of the Vietnam War in 1969 and was recorded for Impulse. Carla Bley has been the only constant member of this project. She plays piano and does the arranging of these eight tunes. Other members include trumpeter Michael Rodriguez, Curtis Fowlkes on trombone, guitarist Steve Cardenas, drummer Matt Wilson, Miguel Zenon on alto, Chris Cheek on the tenor horn, Joe Daley playing tuba, and Ahnee Sharon Freeman playing French horn. The music is a lively and diverse set of covers, except for the title track -- composed by Haden -- and "Blue Anthem" by Bley. The seamlessness with which Bley melds her aesthetic to Haden's is remarkable. The tone and timbre is warm throughout. The reggae-fueled "This Is Not America" -- written by Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays, and David Bowie -- dryly quotes from "Battle Hymn of the Republic" at its end. The hinge piece of the album is the nearly-17-minute "American the Beautiful" that contains a wondrous, stately, if somewhat dissonant, read of Samuel Ward's famous tune, bursts into post-bop before a fine solo by Zenon, and then slips into Gary McFarland's jazz opus by the same name. The tune travels -- with solos by virtually everyone -- then to the African-American gospel church where it stops at "Lift Every Voice and Sing" by James Weldon Johnson, and winds up at a cross between the original tune and Ornette Coleman's elegiac slipstream dream anthem "Skies of America" before returning full circle to the original theme. The Liberation Music Orchestra goes even deeper into the national consciousness with a bluesy, New Orleans brass band-inspired version of "Amazing Grace." Then they dig into the gorgeous "Goin' Home," Antonin Dvorak's largo theme from the New World Symphony -- with jazz liberties taken, of course. The set ends with the adagio from Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings." Again, Bley's arrangement is stunning, understated, and finessed, yet full of dynamic reach. This is a beautiful album, one that makes a case for vision, creativity, and concern. Not in Our Name pulls together a wide range of aesthetic possibilities that all reflect the American consciousness and simultaneously mourns the passage of it while resisting with a vengeance that nadir. While a jazz recording, this album crosses the boundaries of the genre and becomes a new world music, a new folk music: one to be celebrated, perhaps even cherished.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1. Not In Our Name 6:17
Charlie Haden
2. This Is Not América 6:39
David Bowie / Lyle Mays / Pat Metheny
3. Blue Anthem 7:48
Carla Bley
4. America The Beautiful (Medley) 16:53
Katherine Lee Bates / Samuel A. Ward
5. Amazing Grace 7:12
John Newton / Traditional
6. Goin' Home (from Dvorak's New World Symphony) 7:49
Antonin Dvorák
7. Throughout  8:54
Bill Frisell
8. Adagio (from Barber's Adagio For Strings) 7:20
Samuel Barber
Personnel :
Michael Rodriguez, Seneca Black – Trumpet
Curtis Fowlkes – Trombone
Ahnee Sharon Freeman – French Horn
Joe Daley – Tuba
Miguel Zenon – Alto Saxophone
Chris Cheek, Tony Malaby – Tenor Saxophone
Steve Cardenas – Electric and Acoustic Guitars
Carla Bley – Piano, Arranged and Conducted
Charlie Haden – Bass
Matt Wilson – Drums

12.2.24

BLEY | HADEN | MOTIAN — Memoirs (1992) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Memoirs serves as a tidy summation of Paul Bley's gifts as an individual and musical conversationalist. It helps that he converses with old friends. Paul Motian is, roughly, to the drums what Bley is to the piano, capable of sculpting icy, paradoxical emotions; on moment's notice, they can venture "out" where tonal centers and rhythmic pulses are not invited. And there, always, is the fundamental Charlie Haden, who demonstrates how a few well-placed notes and well-observed silences can lock a group texture into place. Josef Woodard    Tracklist & Credits :

29.11.23

CHARLIE HADEN — Liberation Music Orchestra (1970) Two Version | 1996, RM | BONUS TRACK | Impulse! – IMP 11882 + 2001, RM | Impulse! Best 50 – 38 | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

A fascinating reissue that comfortably straddles the lines of jazz, folk, and world music, working up a storm by way of a jazz protest album that points toward the Spanish Civil War in particular and the Vietnam War in passing. Haden leads the charge and contributes material, but the real star here may in fact be Carla Bley, who arranged numbers, wrote several, and contributed typically brilliant piano work. Also of particular note in a particularly talented crew is guitarist Sam Brown, the standout of "El Quinto Regimiento/Los Cuatro Generales/Viva la Quince Brigada," a 21-minute marathon. Reissue producer Michael Cuscuna has done his best with the mastering here, but listeners will note a roughness to the sound -- one that is in keeping with the album's tone and attitude. Steven McDonald 
Tracklist :
1  The Introduction 1:15
Carla Bley 
2  Song of the United Front 1:52
Bertolt Brecht / Hanns Eisler 
3  El Quinto Regimiento (The Fifth Regiment)/Los Cuatro Generales (The Four G 20:58
Carla Bley / Traditional 
4  The Ending to the First Side 2:07
Carla Bley 
5  Song for Ché 9:29
Charlie Haden 
6  War Orphans 6:42
Ornette Coleman 
7  The Interlude (Drinking Music) 1:24
Carla Bley 
8  Circus '68 '69 6:10
Charlie Haden 
9  We Shall Overcome 1:19
Guy Carawan / Frank Hamilton / Zilphia Horton / Pete Seeger / Traditional 
Credits :
Bass, Producer – Charlie Haden
Clarinet – Perry Robinson
Cornet, Flute [Indian Wood Flute, Bamboo Flute] – Don Cherry (tracks: 3, 5) 
French Horn, Wood Block [Hand Wood Blocks], Bells, Reeds [Crow Call], Whistle [Military Whistle] – Bob Northern
Guitar, Kalimba [Thumb Piano] – Sam Brown (tracks: 1, 3 to 7) 
Percussion – Andrew Cyrille (tracks: 8), Paul Motian
Tambourine, Arranged By – Carla Bley
Tenor Saxophone, Alto Saxophone – Dewey Redman
Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet – Gato Barbieri
Trombone – Roswell Rudd
Trumpet – Michael Mantler
Tuba – Howard Johnson

4.3.23

LEE KONITZ | BRAD MEHLDAU | CHARLIE HADEN — Alone Together (1997) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Alone Together, Lee Konitz's first recording for Blue Note, is a special event. The saxophonist teamed up with legendary bassist Charlie Haden and young lion pianist Brad Mehldau, and the trio's interaction on this set of relaxed bop is astonishing. On paper, the music on Alone Together -- a collection of standards -- should just be straightahead cool bop, but all three musicians are restless and inventive, making even the simplest numbers on the disc vibrant, lively and adventurous. It's a wonderful record, one that makes a convincing argument that Konitz remains a vital force even as he reached his seventieth year.  Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Tracklist :
1     Alone Together 13:48
Howard Dietz / Arthur Schwartz
2     The Song Is You 12:54
Oscar Hammerstein II / Jerome Kern
3     Cherokee 10:59
Ray Noble
4     What Is This Thing Called Love? 11:32
Cole Porter
5     'Round Midnight 12:49
Bernie Hanighen / Thelonious Monk / Cootie Williams
6     You Stepped Out of a Dream 12:54
Nacio Herb Brown / Gus Kahn
Credits :
Bass, Producer – Charlie Haden
Painting – Kenneth Knowland
Piano – Brad Mehldau
Saxophone, Producer – Lee Konitz

2.3.23

LEE KONITZ | BRAD MEHLDAU | CHARLIE HADEN - Another Shade of Blue (1999) APE (image+.cue), lossless

This follow up to an earlier CD (Alone Together) with Brad Mehldau and Charlie Haden took place exactly one year later at the same venue, L.A.'s Jazz Bakery. Like the first release, the trio takes their time exploring each tune, whether it's the leader's opening blues or a favorite ballad like "What's New" or "Body and Soul." This stimulating set is highly recommended! Ken Dryden
Tracklist :
1    Another Shade Of Blue 10:50
Composed By – Lee Konitz
2    Everything Happens To Me 12:15
Written-By [Uncredited] – Matt Dennis, Tom Adair
3    What's New 15:49
Composed By – Bob Haggart, Johnny Burke
4    Body And Soul 17:29
Composed By – Edward Heyman, Johnny Green, Robert B. Sour
5    All Of Us 11:27
Composed By – Brad Mehldau, Charlie Haden, Lee Konitz
Credits :
Alto Saxophone, Producer, Liner Notes – Lee Konitz
Artwork, Painting – Kenneth Noland
Bass, Producer – Charlie Haden
Piano – Brad Mehldau

26.2.23

LEE KONITZ | BRAD MEHLDAU | CHARLIE HADEN | PAUL MOTIAN - Live at Birdland (2011) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

"Boring" feels like such a pejorative description. It's better to call this all-star summit conference of sleepy time jazz players, led by alto saxophonist Lee Konitz and including pianist Brad Mehldau and bassist Charlie Haden, in addition to Paul Motian on drums, "stately," "refined," or "relaxed". The fact that the tunes -- all standards -- are virtually indistinguishable from each other, and go on at least five, and in one case, ten minutes too long in order to make room for just one more lugubrious bowed bass solo from Haden or one more slow-motion Mehldau keyboard interlude, should not be taken as prima facie evidence of the emptiness of this sort of pseudo-event, all too common in New York jazz clubs. After all, the live audience eats it up, as can clearly be heard. But is this album of any value to jazz as a whole? It is not. This is the sound of three men whose reputations rest on work done decades earlier, and one younger man whose reputation is difficult to explain, delicately tiptoeing through six pieces, some of which have been recorded hundreds if not thousands of times already. It is as far as possible from the sound of jazz moving forward, or preserving the creative vitality that is supposedly the heart of the genre. If all you want is to hear four accomplished musicians playing standards, this album provides an hour's worth of that. If you want more from jazz, you're out of luck. Phil Freeman  
Tracklist :
1     Loverman 11:56
James Davis / Jimmy Davis / Roger "Ram" Ramirez / Roger Ramirez / James Sherman / Jimmy Sherman
2     Lullaby Of Birdland 10:16
George Shearing
3     Solar     11:39
Miles Davis
4     I Fall In Love Too Easily 10:17
Sammy Cahn / Jule Styne
5     You Stepped Out Of A Dream 11:49
Nacio Herb Brown / Gus Kahn
6     Oleo 15:19
Sonny Rollins
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Lee Konitz
Double Bass – Charlie Haden
Drums – Paul Motian
Piano – Brad Mehldau
Producer – Manfred Eicher

24.12.22

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.

23.12.22

THE ORNETTE COLEMAN QUARTET - The Belgrade Concert (1971-1995) FLAC (tracks), lossless

This valuable live import features Ornette Coleman (on alto with a touch of trumpet and violin) and his 1971 Quartet (which also includes tenor saxophonist Dewey Redman, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Ed Blackwell) performing Haden's "Song for Che" and four obscure Coleman compositions. The recording quality is decent and Redman proves to be a perfect musical partner for Ornette. Superior and often exciting free bop music. Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
1    Announcement     
2    Street Woman     
3    Who Do You Work For     
4    Written Word     
5    Song For Che     
6    Rock The Clock     
Credits :
Bass - Charlie Haden
Drums - Ed Blackwell
Saxophone [Tenor], Oboe [Musette] - Dewey Redman
Saxophone, Trumpet, Violin - Ornette Coleman

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

22.12.22

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 QUARTET - The Love Revolution 'Complete 1968 Italian Tour' (2005) 2CD | Unofficial Release | FLAC (tracks), lossless

Disc two of this two-CD set chronicling Ornette Coleman's two bass quartet tour of Italy in 1968 has been fairly available to fans before as Live in Milano, 1968. The first disc of 2006's Complete 1968 Italian Tour is 45 minutes of unheard prime Coleman with David Izenzon, Charlie Haden, and Ed Blackwell from Rome, where Coleman mixes the reedy shenai and trumpet in with his trademark alto. The sound quality is not the greatest -- these are audience recordings, not board tapes -- but not that bad, either, given those parameters. No pieces are duplicated and Coleman is quite animated and expansive in his playing -- the two-bass interplay sends his alto soaring and stretching out, especially on the Milan disc. The Rome concert is more compact, with four pieces clocking in between 10-13 minutes, and opens with a version of "Lonely Woman" that goes in a far more buoyant and upbeat direction than usual. The sound reduces Haden to a fairly subliminal level here, swallowed up by Izenzon's bowing and Blackwell being, well, Blackwell: his own African-New-Orleans-chop-funk-swing-thing-masterful self.

The midtempo "Monsieur le Prince" jumps into a strong Haden walking foundation, with Izenzon filling the middle arco-style, giving Coleman a broad band connection to bounce around and off rhythmically. Izenzon's bass drops in and out, a very effective sonic guerilla element (or the "X factor") employing radical low string sounds at times. "Forgotten Children" pits Coleman playing bluesy trumpet against the Izenzon arco; shades of Albert Ayler are evident in the melody here and Coleman displays a more impressive command of this secondary instrument than he sometimes does. Be it open bell or muted, he isn't missing or fracturing notes and is conveying deep feeling. When Blackwell lays out later, the exchange between the two bassists nears the chamber zone, before an abrupt reentry by the full quartet is marked by supercharged walking from Haden and Blackwell powerhousing through a brief solo. It is (as usual) impossible to predict where the music may be heading, all part and parcel of Coleman's endless capacity for surprise.

Blackwell shows off his New Orleans roots on "Buddah Blues," setting up a powerful, physical undercurrent with Haden that leaves Izenzon a bit nonplussed concerning how to fit in. The piece quickly veers off towards freer territory with Haden coming through much stronger during this track supporting Coleman's shenai -- all reedy wails, trills, slurs and smears, and bumblebee flurries. "Tutti" is the "Dancing in Your Head" theme five years before it officially took on that name, but the echo-y room in Milan renders Izenzon hard to make out, and Haden fares even worse. But it hardly matters because Coleman and Blackwell are simply flying, and an unusual honking section closing Coleman's solo gets a big crowd response. "Three Wisemen and a Saint" finds Coleman again going for more flurries, honks, and wails than is customary for him. It's enough to make you wonder if something set him off that night (for better or worse) because his playing sounds agitated and notes are just pouring out of the alto. He finally lets more space in on the lyrical ballad "New York," Izenzon supporting with a yearning undertone to the melody. The piece is a reflective summing up, with some detail in phrasing or pure emotion invariably sustaining interest just when you think he's gone back to the central motif once too often.

Coleman's regular group for the prior few years used the same two-bass formation. With Haden, Izenzon, and Blackwell here, though, the arco bass tones seem to offer musical possibilities that inspire Coleman to improvise at great lengths and the music here is hard to argue with despite the sound shortcomings. Coleman wasn't very far removed from his self-imposed mid-'60s creative hiatus here, and Complete 1968 Italian Tour is a worthy addition to the catalog of European concert recordings documenting this era, sound quality and all. Fussy or audiophile ears are hereby forewarned, though. Don Snowden  
Tracklist :
1-1    Lonely Woman    10:32
1-2    Monsieur Le Prince    9:48
1-3    Forgotten Children    11:08
1-4    Buddha Blues    13:12
2-1    Tutti    23:05
2-2    Three Wisemen And The Saint    13:48
2-3    New York    18:48
Credits :
Alto Saxophone, Composed By – Ornette Coleman
Bass – Charlie Haden, David Izenzon
Drums – Ed Blackwell
Trumpet, Shenai – Ornette Coleman (pistas: 1-1 to 1-4)

20.12.22

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

ESBJÖRN SVENSSON TRIO — Winter In Venice (1997) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Esbjörn Svensson has stood not only once on stage in Montreux. He was already a guest in the summer of 1998 at the jazz festival on Lake Gen...