Jazz Archives

John Coltrane - The Mastery Of John Coltrane / Vol. III Jupiter Variation (1967)

1. Number One (11:58) John Coltrane
2. Peace On Earth (7:12) John Coltrane
3. Jupiter (variation) (6:49) John Coltrane
4. Leo (11:02) John Coltrane

Credits
Rashied Ali - Drums
Alice Coltrane - Piano
John Coltrane - Sax (Tenor)
Charlie Haden - Bass
Pharoah Sanders - Tambourine, Flute (Wood), Shaker

Notes
Recorded at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, N.J on March 7, 1967 (A1), February 22, 1967 (B1, B2).
Peace On Earth recorded at Coast Recorders, San Francisco on February 2, 1966.
Alice Coltrane replaced her piano part and Charlie Haden replaced Jimmy Garrison's bass part at Village Recorders, Los Angeles in April, 1972.
Previously released on AS-9225 with a string section overdubbed in April, 1972. It is released here without the strings.

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.

:::Review by Steven McDonald:::

Charlie Haden - Liberation Music Orchestra (1969)

1 . The Introduction 1:15
2. Song Of The United Front 1:52
3a. El Quinto Regimento (The Fifth Regiment) 20:58
3b. Los Cuatro Generales (The Four Generals)
3c. Viva La Quince Brigada (Long Live The Fifteenth Brigade)
4. The Ending To The First Side 2:07
5. Song For Chè 9:29
6. War Orphans 6:42
7. The Interlude (Drinking Music) 1:24
8. Circus '68 '69 6:10
9. We Shall Overcome 1:19

Credits
Bass, Producer - Charlie Haden
Clarinet - Perry Robinson
Cornet, Flute [Indian Wood Flute, Bamboo Flute] - Don Cherry (tracks: 3, 5)
French Horn, Percussion [Hand Wood Blocks, Bells], Performer [Crow Call], Whistle [Military Whistle] - Bob Northern
Guitar, Percussion [Thumb Piano] - Sam Brown (tracks: 1, 3 to 7)
Percussion - Andrew Cyrille (tracks: 8) , Paul Motian
Percussion [Tambourine], Arranged By - Carla Bley
Saxophone [Tenor], Clarinet - Gato Barbieri
Saxophone [Tenor], Saxophone [Alto] - Dewey Redman
Trombone - Roswell Rudd
Trumpet - Michael Mantler
Tuba - Howard Johnson

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

:::Review by Steve Huey:::

Ornette Coleman - Free Jazz (1961)

1. Free Jazz 37:03
2. First Take 17:00

Credits
Bass - Charlie Haden , Scott LaFaro
Clarinet [Bass] - Eric Dolphy
Drums - Billy Higgins , Ed Blackwell
Engineer - Tom Dowd
Producer - Nesuhi Ertegun
Saxophone [Alto] - Ornette Coleman
Trumpet - Freddie Hubbard
Trumpet [Pocket] - Don Cherry

This was the first real indication to the world that Keith Jarrett was an ambitious, multi-talented threat to be reckoned with, an explosion of polystylistic music that sprawled over two LPs (now squeezed onto a single CD). Using his classic quartet (Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden, Paul Motian) as a base, Jarrett occasionally adds the biting rock-edged electric guitar of Sam Brown and always-intriguing percussionist Airto Moreira, and indulges in some pleasant string and brass arrangements of his own, along with some grinding organ smears and acceptable soprano sax. Jarrett again turns his early rampant eclecticism loose -- from earthy gospel-tinged soul-jazz to the freewheeling atonal avant-garde -- yet this time he does it with an exuberance and expansiveness that puts his previous solo work in the shade. "Common Mama," a spicy Latin workout with brass punctuations, "Take Me Back," driving soul jazz with streaks of electric jazz-rock, and the lengthy, nearly free "Nomads" are the most invigorating tracks.

:::Review by Richard S. Ginell:::

Keith Jarrett – Expectations (1971)

1. Common Mama (8:11)
2. The Magician In You (6:52)
3. Roussillion (5:22)
4. Expectations (4:26)
5. Take Me Back (9:30)
6. The Circular Letter (For J.K.) (5:04)
7. Nomads (17:21)
8. Sundance (4:27)
9. Bring Back The Time When (If) (9:51)
10. There Is A Road (God's River) (5:32)

Credits
Arranged By - Keith Jarrett
Bass - Charlie Haden
Composed By - Keith Jarrett
Drums - Paul Motian
Engineer - James Green , Tim Geelan
Guitar - Sam Brown
Mastered By [Remaster] - Mark Wilder
Other [Back Cover Photo] - Urve Kuusik
Other [Cover Art] - Robert Horvitz
Percussion - Airto Moreira
Piano - Keith Jarrett
Producer [Digital] - Nedra Neal
Producer [Original Recordings] - George Avakian
Saxophone [Soprano] - Keith Jarrett
Saxophone [Tenor] - Dewey Redman

German-born composer/trumpeter Michael Mantler and his then-wife Carla Bley were instrumental in developing within jazz the idea of self-sufficiency and independence from established record companies. Their creation of the Jazz Composer's Orchestra, with recordings released on their own label, was the culmination of this endeavor, and the first recording was one of the masterpieces of creative music in the '60s. Mantler had come from the European avant-classical tradition and sought to provide an orchestral framework supporting some of the most advanced musicians in avant-garde jazz -- and he succeeded magnificently. His style tends toward the brooding and darkly romantic with harsh, cynical edges, a perfect foil for the robust, shackle-breaking improvisations found herein. The cloudy, roiling swirls that open "Communications #8," echoed by Bley's stabbing piano chords, lay the groundwork for inspired soloing by Don Cherry and the pre-Last Tango and still extremely fiery Gato Barbieri. Subsequent pieces include an amazing feedback showcase for Larry Coryell and a gorgeous, somber work featuring bassist Steve Swallow and trombonist Roswell Rudd. All of this is a preview for, well, "Preview," an utterly incendiary flight by Pharoah Sanders over a pounding rhythm by the orchestra, a piece that will leave the listener bruised, battered, and exhilarated. Except that the best is yet to come: a 34-minute, two-part composition, a concerto for Cecil Taylor and orchestra, that finds the pianist at the height of his powers, just beginning to enter the third phase of his development where he fused ultra-high energy playing with rigorous logic and heartbreaking beauty. The breadth of this piece, its expansiveness, and its tension between order and chaos is one of the single high watermarks of avant-garde jazz. Communications is a masterwork in and of itself and laid the basis for stunning work by others in decades hence, notably Barry Guy and his London Jazz Composer's Orchestra. It's an essential document for anyone interested in avant jazz and late-20th century creative music.

:::Review by Brian Olewnick:::

The Jazz Composer's Orchestra – s/t (1968)

A1. Communications # 8 (13:52)
A2. Communications # 9 (8:08)
B1. Communications # 10 (13:26)
B2. Preview (3:23)
C. Communications # 11 Part 1 (15:10)
D. Communications # 11 Part 2 (17:47)

Credits
Bass - Alan Silva (tracks: C, D) , Bob Cunningham (tracks: C, D) , Charlie Haden , Eddie Gomez (tracks: A2, B1, B2) , Kent Carter (tracks: A1) , Reggie Johnson (tracks: C, D) , Reggie Workman , Richard Davis (tracks: A1) , Ron Carter (tracks: A1, A2, B1, B2) , Steve Swallow (tracks: A2, B1, B2)
Conductor, Producer - Michael Mantler
Cornet - Don Cherry (tracks: A1)
Drums - Andrew Cyrille (tracks: A1, C, D) , Beaver Harris (tracks: A2, B1, B2)
Flugelhorn - Lloyd Michels , Randy Brecker (tracks: A1) , Stephen Furtado (tracks: A2, B1, B2, C, D)
French Horn - Julius Watkins , Bob Northern
Guitar - Larry Coryell (tracks: A2, B1, B2)
Piano - Carla Bley (tracks: A1, A2, B1, B2) , Cecil Taylor (tracks: C, D)
Saxophone [Alto] - Bob Donovan , Frank Wess (tracks: A2, B1, B2) , Gene Hull (tracks: A1) , Jimmy Lyons (2) (tracks: C, D)
Saxophone [Baritone] - Charles Davis
Saxophone [Soprano] - Steve Lacy (tracks: A1) , Steve Marcus (tracks: A2, B1, B2, C, D)
Saxophone [Tenor] - Gato Barbieri (tracks: A1, C, D) , George Barrow (tracks: A1, A2, B1, B2) , Lew Tabackin , Pharoah Sanders (tracks: B2)
Trombone - Jimmy Knepper , Roswell Rudd (tracks: B1)
Trombone [Bass] - Jack Jeffers
Tuba - Howard Johnson

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.

:::Review by Steve Huey:::

Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959)

1. Lonely Woman (4:59)
2. Eventually (4:20)
3. Peace (9:04)
4. Focus On Sanity (6:50)
5. Congeniality (6:41)
6. Chronology (6:05)

Credits:
Bass - Charlie Haden
Cornet - Don Cherry
Drums - Billy Higgins
Engineer [Recording] - Bones Howe
Producer - Nesuhi Ertegun
Saxophone [Alto] - Ornette Coleman

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

1. Brown Rice (5:14)

Bass [Acoustic] - Charlie Haden

Bongos [Electric] - Bunchie Fox

Drums - Billy Higgins

Electric Piano - Don Cherry , Ricky Cherry

Saxophone [Tenor] - Frank Lowe

Trumpet - Don Cherry

Voice - Don Cherry , Verna Gillis

2. Malkauns (13:58)

Bass [Acoustic] - Charlie Haden

Drums - Billy Higgins

Tambura - Moki Cherry

Trumpet - Don Cherry

3. Chenrezig (12:50)

Bass [Acoustic] - Hakim Jamil

Drums - Billy Higgins

Electric Piano - Ricky Cherry

Saxophone [Tenor] - Frank Lowe

Trumpet - Don Cherry

Voice - Don Cherry

4. Degi-Degi (7:06)

Bass [Acoustic] - Charlie Haden

Drums - Billy Higgins

Electric Piano - Ricky Cherry

Piano [Yamaha] - Don Cherry

Saxophone [Tenor] - Frank Lowe

Voice - Don Cherry

Co-producer - Beppe Muccioli

Mastered By [Digital] - John Snyder , Rudy Van Gelder

Mixed By - Corrado Bacchelli , Kurt Munkacsi

Producer - Corrado Bacchelli

Recorded By - Kurt Munkacsi

Originally released in 1976 by A & M Records, Inc. Los Angeles.

Recorded by Kurt Munkacsi at the Basement Recording Studios, New York.

Digitally mastered by John Snyder and Rudy Van Gelder at the Van Gelder Recording Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, April 1988.

Charlie Haden brings back yet 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.

1. Not In Our Name (6:19) Written-By - Charlie Haden

2. This Is Not America (6:39) Written-By - David Bowie , Lyle Mays , Pat Metheny

3. Blue Anthem (7:49) Written-By - Carla Bley

America The Beautiful (Medley) (16:54)

4A. America The Beautiful Written-By - Gary McFarland , Augustus Ward*

4B. Lift Every Voice And Sing Written-By - Weldon Johnson*

4C. Skies Of America Written-By - Ornette Coleman -

5. Amazing Grace (7:12) Written-By - John Newton (2)

6. Goin' Home (From The Largo Of The New World Symphony) (7:49) Written-By - Antonín Dvořák

7. Throughout (8:55) Written-By - Bill Frisell

8. Adagio (The Adagio For Strings) (7:25) Written-By - Samuel Barber

Bass - Charlie Haden

Drums - Matt Wilson

Engineer [Assistant] - David Abbruzzese

Engineer [Assistant], Mixed By [Assistant] - Nicolas Baillard

Engineer, Mixed By - Gérard De Haro

Executive Producer - Daniel Richard

French Horn - Ahnee Sharon Freeman

Guitar - Steve Cardenas

Mastered By - Thomas Verdeaux

Other [Art Director] - Patrice Beauséjour

Photography - Thomas Dorn

Piano - Carla Bley

Producer - Charlie Haden , Ruth Cameron

Producer, Arranged By, Conductor - Carla Bley

Saxophone [Alto] - Miguel Zenon

Saxophone [Tenor] - Chris Cheek , Tony Malaby

Trombone - Curtis Fowlkes

Trumpet - Michael Rodriguez , Seneca Black

Tuba - Joe Daley

Recorded July 19-22, 2004 at Studio Forum Music Village, Rome Italy. Mixed July 27-29, 2004 and mastered October 22, 2004 at Studio La Buissonne, Pernes Les Fontaines, France.

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.

 

1 Fire (11:07)

2 Air (9:53)

3 Water (7:33)

4 Earth (13:15)

Bass - Charlie Haden

Congas, Bells, Gongs, Sakara Drum, Percussion - Kenneth Nash

Drums - Leon Ndugu Chancler (tracks:1, 3

Engineer - Rick Heenan

Flute [Wood] - Kenneth Nash (tracks: 3)

Narrator - Kenneth Nash (tracks: 4)

Piano, Harp, Tamboura, Harmonium - Alice Coltrane

Producer - Orrin Keepnews

Saxophone [Tenor], Flute, Flute [Alto] - Joe Henderson

Tabla, Percussion - Baba Duru Oshun

Violin - Michael White

All music composed by Joe Henderson

Recorded at Village Recorders, Los Angeles, Ca., on October 15, 16, 17, 1973

Remix Engineer: Skip Shimmin (at Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, Ca.)

Guitarist Pat Metheny had long expressed admiration for Ornette Coleman's music, had recorded his compositions, and had worked extensively with bassist Charlie Haden, so a collaboration was not totally unexpected, though who would have guessed that it would be on the Geffen label? Metheny's almost rock star status has worked against him in other partnerships from time to time (notably, his overbearing playing on his project with Derek Bailey, The Sign of 4), but here he happily sublimates his showier instincts and works as sympathetic co-leader, deferring to Coleman's experience and genius. The music itself bears strong similarities to that of Coleman's Prime Time ensembles wherein all players solo at once, bracketed by the themes of the piece. Metheny often manages to be a quite expressive second voice, racing along beside the master saxophonist, offering alternative strategies and never showboating. The tandem percussion team of Jack DeJohnette and Coleman's son Denardo are ferocious when need be, and Charlie Haden is his standard exemplary self. Metheny fans owe it to themselves to listen to some of his most exploratory and least "pastel" playing and, in fact, the album also contains some of Coleman's best work since the mid-'70s.