Customer Reviews

At the Golden Circle, Vol. 1

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A true definition of Ornette Coleman 's idiosyncratic theory of harmolodics eluded this listener in the spring of -66 when I bought this record. The leader's R&B Texas wail, the bassist David Izenson plays as if every note was his last. It's all here: the nascent bag of bends, trills, and double stops that mark Coleman's later work, the weaving of others' solos into the evolving quilt of composition, the ardent commitment to unchained melody on all levels, and a deep, soulful tone that embraces gospel and the Deep South. Couldn't get it. Then in the winter of -67 I was stationed up north in Finland, was in the army and there was a jazz... as a sergeant and he, of all people in the universe, played this music in his room. Amazin stuff, it hit me, and out went the Beatles, Stones, Animals, at least for a while and I realized that I'd finally found the music that speaks directly to your gut. Music that comes from soewhere deep inside Coleman, and not only him, but from some form a collective subconscious of wishes and dreams that he can connect with. I salute the sergeant and still remember with fondness our colemanesque moments in a not so jazz-friendly environment. True, great music is like that. It touches you deep inside and you come out of it a different person.

Blue Note did a great job with the reissue of this music. Actually it seems to have been one of the really rare occasions, when Ornette Coleman accepted to perform at a Jazz Club, since it is a known fact, that he feels about his music as being more suitable for concert halls. Playing a club date, Ornette obviously felt about sounding a little more "in the groove" than usually. That's just the way, how things start off with "Faces and Places". Nevertheless, he remains faithful to his style, namely to his harmolodic explorations while improvising. This group was really a great one, both David Izenzon on bass with his immaculate arco playing and Charles Moffett with some very powerful drumming are fascinating. Sometimes their telepatic understanding (abrupt changes of key and tempo) can be compared to the legendary teamwork of Mingus and Richmond. "Down" is one of those really haunting ballad compositions, just beautiful. Listening to "Dee Dee" with it's latin-based theme, one can imagine hearing this kind of music being interpretated by one of Coleman's later "Prime Time"-groups, it's really suitable for both acoustic and electric surroundings. As usual for the wonderful RVG-Reissues, we have the opportunity to listen to lengthy bonus tracks, among them a really long version of "European Echoes".

The gigs the Ornette Coleman Trio played at the Golden Cirkeln must have been very memorable for those in attendance. I enjoy most the way Ornette, bass-player Izenzon, and drummer Moffett take on the task of remaining in synch in this free-jazz type setting. Both Moffett and Inzenzon seem to always know how to recover during Ornette's many spontaneous excursions.
Furthermore, there is nothing pretentious about this music. Ornette seems to have a theme for each song, and the trio takes it from there. "European Echoes" is my favorite because of its simplicity and humor. I think all musicians should listen to Coleman's music as a means for understanding how to make good music through being real and spontaneous, for those qualities seem to be at the heart of the creative process.

Ornette Coleman emerged from retirement in 1965 with one of his most exciting groups -- a trio featuring bassist David Izenzon and drummer Charles Moffett. It's great to hear Ornette stretch out more than in the early Atlantic recordings and his interplay with Izenzon and Moffett is practically telepathic. Ornette's playing is lively, humorous, and very melodic; he plays alto sax exclusively on this CD.

This RVG reissue almost doubles the playing time of the original CD issue, with alternate takes of the freebop gem "Faces and Places" and the goofy waltz "European Echoes" as well as the previously unreleased "Doughnuts". Volume 2 is also great though slightly more "out".

This live performance, recorded at a club in Stockholm in 1965, has three tracks on it that I think are the best Ornette Coleman ever played. Two are definitely "bebop on high ethyl" - 'Dee Dee' & 'Doughnut' - while the third, 'Dawn', is Coleman's most convincing demonstration that he could play lyrically when he so chose. The trio that Ornette took to Europe included Charles Moffet on drums, for the octane drive, and David Izenson on bass, for the suave conceptual lyricism. They were a remarkable mesh of contrasts.

Ornette's first LP, "The Shape of Jazz to Come", caught me in my first year of college still listening mostly to West Coast melancholia. Ornette was playing a plastic alto sax that had all the tonal beauty of a hamster on a rusty exercise wheel, but that woke my ears to a kind of music made from raw energy. As it turned out, Ornette's sound wasn't "the shape of jazz" for long, not even for Coleman himself. It was too ornately crude, too obviously effortful, and by 1965 Ornette was ready to "fess up" that he really could play the saxophone with grace, that he had not only energy but also fresh harmonic and rhythmic ideas. That was also the decade of Albert Ayler, Cecil Taylor, and other outrageously bold innovators, but Ornette Coleman has remained for many jazz fans the outer limit of comprehensibility. 'Farther out' than Ornette, there are only the European "Free Jazz" musical terrorists.

If you've never heard Ornette Coleman, I can't guarantee that you'll love him on first or second listening. His music may seem deliberately crude and/or chaotic. On this CD at least, on the three tracks I named, it's certainly not chaotic, and the more I listen, the more of Charlie Parker's ghost I hear. Coleman has shaped jazz over the last 40 years, not exactly in his acoustic image but with nervous attention to his fierce independence from any pop crossover commercial impulses. Coleman is more than free; he's pure.

When Ornette blasted on the scene with his quartet's Atlantic recordings in the late 1950s (now gathered on the spectacular Beauty is a Rare Thing box set), a lot of people were still listening, if only to criticise. By the time the Golden Circle set came around, Ornette was essentially preaching to the converted, but he was testifying with an astonishing truth and beauty. (This has been my 2-year-old son's "favorite" of my jazz CDs since he was old enough to respond to music. He always smiles and dances when I put it on. It's as if Ornette has bypassed music as an art or science, and returned it to something primal and childlike in people.) And Moffett and Izenzon are with him every step, adopting an approach that has been highly influential on subsequent "avant garde" jazz. By creating a sort of polyrhythmic, textural carpet, constantly shifting beneath Ornette, they helped redefine the role of the rhythm section in the new music. If you own the Beauty is a Rare Thing box and this disc, you've got the essential core of Ornette's work.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with altoist/multi-instrumentalist composer Ornette Coleman, he is that rare musical breed, a "maverick" of rare originality as composer Virgil Thomson stated in an interview. Together with another revolutionary musician, Cecil Taylor, Coleman turned the musical world upside down with his Harmelodic theory. If you are hesitant about Ornette Coleman, then this classic recording might be the best place to start. Recorded in two nights at the Golden Circle in Stockholm, Swedan; Coleman and his trio which included 2 now long departed musicians, David Izenson on bass and Charles Moffet on drums, mesmerized audiences every night with their music. I was long turned off to Ornette even with his early Atlantic recordings since I thought he was out of tune but when I heard the first track, "Faces & Places", I was hooked and started to re-examine those early recordings. The first volume I would recommend since on most of the tracks, Ornette is playing alto an instrument I prefer to hear him on rather than violin or trumpet which is more prevalent on Vol 2. Anyway, Ornette has moved on to a different group of musicians nowadays with a electric guitar and 2 bassists. So if you want to hear him at his peak--do check this one out!!

Ornette Coleman only brought a trio to Stockholm, but since he was playing at such a high level, it was all that was needed. The songs are all catchy, and it's simply great saxophone to carry it all through. "Faces And Places" and "Dee Dee" are outstanding, the reasons I give four instead of five stars are the cutesy note-jumps in "European Echoes" and some dragginess in "Dawn". I saw a passing online comment equating Ornette with scary music. The best way to refute that misnomer is with this CD.

To get the full effect, I bought this recording together with At The Golden Circle Vol. 2. Throughout both, the crowd is somewhat reserved, despite the fact that Coleman is metaphorically blowing his brains out. I think it comes from them not really knowing when to clap because the "songs" are so obfuscated, it's hard to tell where anything stops, begins, segues, or whatever. Eventually, the audience starts to get into it, if for no other reason than the sheer amount of energy and verve being put out by Ornette and his band. Personally, I will never be the greatest proponent of live jazz recordings, simply because they are often too haphazard and even more often, inadequately, if not badly, recorded. I can't complain too much about this recording, however, as it is a Van Gelder remaster of a clean and whistle free Blue Note recording. The music in this set is certainly different, and for me, I must admit that at times it becomes very tiring to listen to. Like I said, Coleman is very energetic, and there's a lot to be said for that, but without being able to follow the songs, I just get sonically worn out listening to this. I come from a school of thought that says just because a saxophone can be made to screech, squeal, scream, and buzz, doesn't mean that it has to - ALL THE TIME. Coleman delights in getting every nuance of sound out of his axe, and for that, I'm sure many jazz fans love him (and this recording). For me, it is all just a little too much, and listening to this (as good as it is) just makes me want to pull out some Stan Getz, Lester Young, or even Charlie Parker. Sax and bop/post-bop fans will delight and revel in this and its sister recording. When all is said and done, it is a very good recording, but it won't break into my list of favorites.