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.

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 TRIO - Live At The Tivoli '65 (1992) RM | Unofficial Release | FLAC (tracks), lossless

Tracklist :
1    Lonely Woman    12:11
 Ornette Coleman
2    Clergyman's Dream    19:03
 Ornette Coleman
3    Sadness    4:05
 Ornette Coleman
4    Falling Star    14:23
Ornette Coleman
5    Interview    3:10
Credits :
Bass – David Izenson
Drums – Charles Moffett
Alto Saxophone (1 to 3), Trumpet, Violin (4)  – Ornette Coleman
Notas.
Tivoli, Copenhagen, Denmark, November 30, 1965.
Issued for the first time.

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 - Croydon Concert (2008) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tracklist :
1    Forms And Sounds For Wind Quintet (In Ten Movements) 25:03
Bassoon – Cecil James
Clarinet – Sidney Fell
Flugelhorn – John Burden
Flute – Edward Walker
Oboe – Derek Wickens
Performer – The Virtuoso Ensemble
2    Sadness    3:40
3    Clergyman's Dream    12:22
4    Falling Stars    9:02
5    Silence    9:17
6    Happy Fool    7:13
7    Ballad    5:20
8    Dough Nuts    6:15
Credits :
Bass – David Izenzon
Drums – Charles Moffett
Trumpet, Violin (4), Alto Saxophone, Composed By – Ornette Coleman
Notas.
Live at Fairfield Hall, Croydon, England, August 29, 1965.
Track 1 is an extended Ornette Coleman composition performed by the Virtuoso Ensemble.

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)

ORNETTE COLEMAN - Dedication To Poets And Writers (1990) Unofficial Release | FLAC (tracks), lossless

Tracklist :
1    Doughnut    9:00
2    Sadness    4:00
3    Dedication To Poets And Writers    8:50
4    The Ark    23:24
Credits :
Bass – David Izenzohn
Cello – Kermit Moore
Saxophone [Sax], Composed By [All Compositions By] – Ornette Coleman
Percussion – Charles Moffet
Viola – Julian Barber
Violin – Nathan Goldstein, Selwart Clark

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 - The Paris Concerts 1965-1966 (2007) Unofficial Release | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tracklist :
1    Sadness 3'19
2    Lonely Woman 11'42
3    Falling Stars 14'39
4    Clergyman's Dream 12'16
5    Reminiscence (Originally Untitled Tune) 7'47
6    Doughnut (First Issued As "All Day Affair") 15'23
7    14 Juillet (Originally Untitled Tune) 6'43
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Ornette Coleman
Bass – David Izenzon
Drums – Charles Moffett
Notas.
1 to 4 Salle de la Mutualité, Paris France, November 4, 1965
5 to 7 Radio Broadcast from Paris, France, February 12, 1966

ORNETTE COLEMAN - The Music Of Ornette Coleman : Forms & Sounds (1967-1987) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tracklist :
1    The Philadelphia Woodwind Quintet– Forms And Sounds 20:57
Bassoon – Bernard Garfield
Clarinet – Anthony Gigliotti
Flute – Murray Panitz
French Horn – Mason Jones
Trumpet [Interludes] – Ornette Coleman
2    The Chamber Symphony Of Philadelphia String Quartet–    Saints And Soldiers    19:32
3    The Chamber Symphony Of Philadelphia String Quartet–    Space Flight    3:45
Credits :
Cello – Willem Stokking (pistas: 2, 3)
Composed By – Ornette Coleman
Viola – Carlton Cooley (pistas: 2, 3)
Violin – Stuart Canin (pistas: 2, 3), William Steck (pistas: 2, 3)
Notas.
Track 1 recorded live at the Village Theater, NYC on March 17, 1967.
Tracks 2, 3 recorded live at Webster Hall, NYC on March 31, 1967.
Previously released on the LP The Music of Ornette Coleman (LM/LSC-2982)

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 - Tomorrow Is the Question! (1959-1988) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

On his second outing for the Contemporary label, Ornette dusted the piano from the bandstand and focused instead on a quartet. For some unexplained reason, Billy Higgins was replaced by Shelly Manne; the only constants remain Coleman and Don Cherry. The focus, then, is on the interplay between the altoist and trumpeter in executing Ornette's tunes, which were, more than on the preceding album (Something Else!, recorded a year earlier), knottier and tighter in their arrangement style. The odd-syncopation style of the front line on numbers such as "Tears Inside," which comes out of the box wailing and then simmers down into a moody, swinging blues, was a rough transition for the rhythm section. And the more Ornette and Cherry try to open it up into something more free and less attached to the tune's form, the more Manne and especially bassist Percy Heath hang on. Still, there are great moments here: for example, the celebratory freedom of "Giggin'," with its wonderful trumpet solo, and "Rejoicing," which has become one of Coleman's classics for its elongated melody line and simple obbligato phrasing, which become part of a wonderfully complex solo that keeps the blues firmly intact. The final track, "Endless," is pure magic. After Manne carries it in 6/8, Coleman uses a nursery rhyme to move to the solo terrain and, when he does, the solo itself becomes a part of that rhyme as even Don Cherry feels his way through it in his break. And, if anything, this is one of the things that came to define Ornette -- his willingness to let simplicity and its bright colors and textures confound not only other players and listeners, but also him too. In those days, Coleman's musical system -- although worked out in detail -- always left room for the unexpected and, in fact, was played as if his life depended on it. As a result, Tomorrow Is the Question! was a very literal title; who could have guessed the expansive, world-widening direction that Coleman's system would head into next?
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
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, Composed By – Ornette Coleman
Bass – Percy Heath (pistas: 1 to 6), Red Mitchell (pistas: 7 to 9)
Drums – Shelly Manne
Trumpet – Don Cherry

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 - Chappaqua Suite (1966-2014) RM | 2CD | Jazz Collection 1000 | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This four-part suite is actually a film soundtrack to the debut feature by Conrad Rooks, though it was never used as such. Recorded in 1965, it was performed by the Ornette Coleman Trio with Charles Moffett on drums and David Izenson on bass; augmenting the session were Pharoah Sanders on tenor and a large studio orchestra arranged by Joseph Tekula. What is most notable is the kind of control Coleman has over the orchestra. His trio is playing by intuition, which was normal for them, but they open to accommodate the more formal constructs of a band who knows little about improvisation and how it works in the free jazz context. Sanders' interaction with Coleman is startling too, in that his normally overpowering voice is tempered here, playing along with the nuances and odd harmonic figures Coleman suggests and then blatantly states from his alto. The improvisation is complementary, not a cutting contest at all. Most of all, the rhythm section carries the balance of power and keeps the entire thing moving, handling the dynamic changes with a feral grace while at the same time suggesting a knottier path for Coleman to follow in the tempting pastoral sections of the work. While not considered a masterwork of Coleman's, perhaps because of its unavailability in the United States in its entirety, Chappaqua Suite is a testament to Coleman's vision as a composer and the power of his orchestral direction. Very worthwhile indeed.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Chappaqua Suite   
1-1    Part I    21:25
1-2    Part II    19:00
2-1    Part III    17:40
2-2    Part IV    21:58
Credits :
Alto Saxophone, Trumpet – Ornette Coleman
Bass – David Izenzon
Drums – Charles Moffett
Tenor Saxophone – Pharoah Sanders

THE ORNETTE COLEMAN QUARTET - Ornette (1962-2003) RM | Atlantic Jazz Masters | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Recorded a little over a month after his groundbreaking work Free Jazz, this album found Coleman perhaps retrenching from that idea conceptually, but nonetheless plumbing his quartet music to ever greater heights of richness and creativity. Ornette! was the first time bassist Scott LaFaro recorded with Coleman, and the difference in approach between LaFaro and Charlie Haden is apparent from the opening notes of "W.R.U." There is a more direct propulsion and limberness to his playing, and he can be heard driving Coleman and Don Cherry actively and more aggressively than Haden's warm, languid phrasing. The cuts, with titles derived from the works of Sigmund Freud, are all gems and serve as wonderful launching pads for the musicians' improvisations. Coleman, by this time, was very comfortable in extended pieces, and he and his partners have no trouble filling in the time, never coming close to running out of ideas. Special mention should be made of Ed Blackwell, with one of his finest performances. Ornette! is a superb release and a must for all fans of Coleman and creative improvised music in general. Brian Olewnick  
Tracklist :
1     W.R.U. 16'25
Ornette Coleman
2     T. & T. 4'35
Ornette Coleman
3     C. & D. 13'10
Ornette Coleman
4     R.P.D.D. 9'39
Ornette Coleman
- BONUS TRACK -
5    Proof Readers 10'25
Ornette Coleman
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Ornette Coleman
Bass – Scott LaFaro
Drums – Ed Blackwell
Trumpet [Pocket] – Donald Cherry