Ornette Coleman

Ornette Coleman literally defined Free Jazz. An absolute visionary who carved his own path because he knew he was right. His influence is felt throughout so much of the music we love. He died today at the age of 85.

Free Jazz remains a revolutionary idea. Initially, this was released as an LP in 1961. It is recorded in stereo. Big deal, you might say. However, this is two quartets with one playing in either channel. In the left channel, you have Ornette Coleman on alto saxophone, Don Cherry on pocket trumpet, Scott LaFaro on bass and Billy Higgins on drums. In the right channel, you have Eric Dolphy on bass clarinet, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Charlie Haden on bass and Ed Blackwell on drums. It was a continuous piece of improvisation split across two sides of vinyl. In 1998, Rhino released it on CD as it was originally intended with a bonus 17 minutes of the "First Take". This is what you have here and it remains one of the most spectacular compositions ever recorded.

Free Jazz

Chappaqua Suite was recorded in 1965 and released as a double LP throughout Europe from 1966 onwards. Originally it was recorded with the intention of providing a soundtrack to the film Chappaqua. Once the director heard the proposal he knew that the beauty of the music would overshadow his own efforts and it remained unused. It is still largely unreleased and ignored in the country of his own birth.

Chappaqua Suite