Jazz Archives

An innovative vibraphonist who has traveled his own musical path throughout his career, Karl Berger is heard on this Black Saint release performing seven of his diverse pieces in trios with bassist Dave Holland and the colorful drummer Ed Blackwell. Many moods are explored; there is a feature for Blackwell and also a tribute piece for Ornette Coleman. Recommended as an excellent example of Karl Berger's inside/outside playing.

:::Review by Scott Yanow:::

Karl Berger - Transit (1986)

1. Dakar Dance 4:49
2. Transit 6:34
3. Chimney Road 6:58
4. Ornette 3:56
5. Out There Alone 3:31
6. Drum First 6:46
7. Change 5:49

Credits
Bass - Dave Holland
Composed By - Karl Berger
Drums - Ed Blackwell
Piano - Karl Berger (tracks: 1, 3)
Vibraphone - Karl Berger (tracks: 2, 4-7)

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