Customer Reviews

Beauty Is A Rare Thing: The Complete Atlantic Recordings

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ornette Coleman's arrival in New York in 1959 signalled a change in the jazz world, a change whose rippling effects are still felt to this day. His legendary residency at the Five Spot club and his recordings with Atlantic Records polarized the jazz community at large-- some heralded him as the next logical step from the innovations of Parker and Gillespie, some heralded him as an upstart with no real theory behind him and no mastery of his instrument. One thing is certain, Coleman's music has had long-lasting effects, and his influence can be heard throughout jazz with musicians as diverse as Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, John Zorn and Branford Marsalis all citing Coleman as an influence. During these first years in New York, Coleman was signed to Atlantic Records, where he released six groundbreaking albums and had enough leftover material for three further albums and half a dozen further tracks. Such prolificness he'd never repeat in his career-- indeed the two and a half years he spent on Atlantic accounts for about a third of his released studio recordings. All of this material is collected here as "Beauty is a Rare Thing".

The music of Ornette coleman is actually much easier to digest than most people would give it credit-- loosely stated, the critical part of his music is that the soloist determines the direction of the piece, not chord changes or some other limitation. The rest-- the odd harmonies, the intentional off key playing, etc., are all less essential. If this idea of spontaneous structure is something you can accept, you'll likely be able to enjoy Coleman's music.

The records on here include several of his classics-- the six studio albums released during his tenure on Atlantic-- "The Shape of Jazz to Come", "Change of the Century" (both featuring the quartet of Ornette Coleman on alto, Don Cherry on trumpet, Charlie Haden on bass, and Billy Higgins of drums), "This is Our Music" (with Coleman, Cherry, Haden, and drummer Ed Blackwell), "Free Jazz" (featuring a double quartet of Coleman, bass clarinetist Eric Dolphy, Cherry, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, Haden, bassist Scott LaFaro, Higgins and Blackwell), "Ornette!" (Coleman, Cherry, LaFaro, Blackwell) and "Ornette on Tenor" (Coleman on tenor, Cherry, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Blackwell). Additionally, the three extras albums-- "To Whom Keeps a Record", "Twins" and "The Art of the Improvisers" are here in their entirity (although all material is presented in chronological order). Many classic and groundbreaking performances are contained here-- standards "Lonely Woman", "Peace", "Focus on Sanity", several takes on "Revolving Doors" under different titles, lovely ballad "Just For You", and of course, the stunning "Free Jazz" session.

Of course, included in the set is the obligatory liner note essays, including pieces by Coleman and Cherry, and some quotes from musicians about Coleman, positive and negative.

Is this for everyone? Probably not. If you're curious, pick up "The Shape of Jazz to Come", it'll give you an idea. If you're exploring Coleman, this material is all essential and probably worth the investment.

This set is one of the most important reissues of the 1990s, the beneficiary of increasingly intelligent reissue policies by the major record companies. _Beauty Is a Rare Thing_ finally does justice to Coleman's principal body of work, recorded for Atlantic from 1959 to 1961. CD reissues of the original albums have flitted in & out of existence with maddening unpredictability over the years, so this set is the only easy way to obtain the whole body of work. In addition it has many previously unreleased tracks.

Perhaps it's superfluous to comment closely on the music inside. I once commented to a friend that it's music that seems to me strikingly _complete_. That perception is hard to unpack entirely, perhaps, but speaks of how the music seems both coherent & integral & yet surprising & raw after even many listens. While certainly it's a long distance from the aggressive "energy" playing of the mid-1960s of Coltrane, Sanders &c, every time I listen to Coleman's music it still sounds almost alien, with a strangeness at its heart that is hard to dispel.

The first two discs, _The Shape of Jazz to Come_ & _Change of the Century_, were recorded with the Cherry/Haden/Higgins band in 1959; they remain his most popular quartet discs, & contain most of his best-known compositions--"Ramblin'", "Una Muy Bonita" & the immortal "Lonely Woman". These three tracks are exemplary showcases for the brilliance of Charlie Haden: "Ramblin'" for instance is a classic dissection of the blues, where Haden ignores the codified 12-bar form but instead marks the divisions between choruses by switching between rhythmic stops & a walking line. "Lonely Woman" is an intricate exercise in multiple rhythmic layers, a desolate ballad performed by the horns, who float over Haden's out-of-tempo stops (which sonds like they're coming from some middle-eastern instrument) & the unexpectedly fast & tense rhythms of Higgins' drums.

Coleman may have arrived in New York with his concept fully formed, but his recordings are anything but static expositions of this concept, & the 3rd album, _This Is Our Music_, is already stranger & more alien than the previous recordings. The key to this is the replacement of Higgins with Ed Blackwell, a drummer who sounds unsettlingly different from any other drummer of the period. This date (actually three sessions from July & August 1960--the nearly 2 CDs' worth of tracks from this date, including 5 previously unreleased ones, are the key recoveries of this boxed set) is especially notable for his one quartet rendition of a standard, "Embraceable You"--one of those versions of a much-loved standard which is both a desecration & elevation, rather like Charlie Parker's "All the Things You Are" or Coltrane's "My Favourite Things".

The set presents the next bit of material out of order. Disc six contains two "third-stream" scores by Gunther Schuller from December 19th & 20th of 1960, performed by a large ensemble including a stirng quartet, Jim Hall on guitar & Bill Evans on piano. The first is "Abstraction", a palindromic musical construct which cracks open to yield an acappella Coleman solo; the 2nd is a 15-minute set of variations on Monk's "Criss Cross". These two tracks form a suggestive context for the date recorded the next day (the 21st), which is Coleman's own effort at a large-scale music: _Free Jazz_ (on disc 4). This features a double quartet: Coleman, Cherry, Dolphy, Hubbard, La Faro, Haden, Blackwell, Higgins. It's hard to comment on this, some of the most difficult music Coleman recorded in his career. Even those who find it hard going should persist--not least because of the conclusion, one of the best moments in recorded jazz: the alternate bass solos & drum solos remain unrivalled for vibrancy, colour & imagination.

The increasing abstraction of Coleman's music at this point is marked by _Ornette!_, a quartet with Cherry, La Faro & Blackwell. By now the more obviously blues-based early music has been replaced by something much more oblique & enigmatic, a change felt both in La Faro's quizzical, unpredictable bass playing, & in Blackwell's prominence in the music. Though the music swings forcefully, both bass & drums often break from a conventional time-keeping role, & the music has a raw, almost primitive edge to it that wasn't as apparent with the warm-toned Haden & the sweet cymbal work of Higgins. "C. & D." is a drum feature, & Blackwell's performance sounds like something off an ethnographic recording, not a jazz disc. This is potent & disconcerting music, & it's fortunate that another 10-minute track has been rediscovered, the previously unknown "Proof Readers".

The last music included here is _Ornette on Tenor_, which besides the change of the leader's instrument features a change of bassist--Jimmy Garrison, who didn't last much longer with the group (he famously quit onstage in frustration one night, & later that year began work with Coltrane). His driving, uncomplicated bass playing is appropriate to an album which emphasizes the R&B element in Coleman's music.

In addition to the principal albums, this set includes the contents of several earlier albums that contained previously unused material from these sessions, _Twins_, _The Art of the Improvisers_, & _To Whom Who Keeps a Record_ (the last is very rare, a Japan-only release from 1975). The most important track among these is the "First Take" of _Free Jazz_ (half the length), though really all of the material is just as good as the original albums.

This set is not the best way to begin acquaintance with the music--rather like Parker's infinite variations on the blues & "I Got Rhythm" when collected into a mammoth boxed set, the music here can seem too much of a piece to the uninitiated. But the more it's explored, the more this music seems almost limitless in its nuance & range.

Alto saxophonist Ornette Coleman broke new boundaries for Jazz music when he burst onto the music scene in 1958. His radical approach stripped the music of any fixed melody or harmony in favor of pure spontaneous improvisation. This was the birth of Free Jazz and was quite innovative and nearly unheard of for its time.
Ornette's recordings for Atlantic Records are not only milestones for the label but for Jazz music in general. His quartet did not include a pianist which immediately throws out chordal structures altogether. The groundbreaking "Free Jazz" recording of 1961 finds Ornette in a 'double-quartet' setting consisting of two reeds, two trumpets, two bassists and two drummers all going head-to-head in a monumental epic improvisation. This recording as well as his smaller quartet recordings are included in the 6-CD boxed set "Beauty Is A Rare Thing" - a thorough detailed musical history of Ornette's complete recordings for Atlantic Records (1959-1962).
Each track in this set is presented in the order that it was recorded beginning in mid-1959 with the sessions that produced the pioneering classic "The Shape Of Jazz To Come" and ending in late-1961 with his lone tenor sax album "Ornette On Tenor" as well as two 'avant-garde' classical style pieces composed by Gunther Schuller which Ornette contributed to. While it may seem odd for devotees to hear this music in a different order than what's on the original albums, it doesn't get in the way of making this an absolute enjoyable listening experience. While some tracks are without a doubt better than others, nearly every piece of music in this boxed set is a gem.
The extensive booklet included in this set includes an extended essay by music critic Robert Palmer as well as commentary from those who know Ornette. Even Ornette himself contributes to the liner notes. There are also small details on the recording sessions as well as a discography and some rare photos of Ornette and his quartet.
With all this said, this is an extraordinary set from one of Jazz's controversial but acclaimed pioneers. This is definitely a must for the die-hard Coleman fan. If you've got the bucks to shell out for this set, this also serves as the perfect introduction to his music as well.

...Here you have some of the greatest music that ever was or will be. I have already written more indepth reviews of individual albums contained here: Change of the Century, Free Jazz & The Shape Of The Jazz To Come, all essentials. But there's another 6 full albums included here as well as inexplicably previously unreleased gems like Revolving Doors. I'll admit I haven't listened to it all in 1 setting & probably some tracks hardly ever but if you're into the man, or indeed that thing called jazz in general, this box is the Bible. Unfortunately there are not alternate takes of favourites like Lonely Woman or Una Muy Bonita, although some tracks with completely different titles have the same tune to introduce & conclude the song, just w/ totally different solos in between [Little Symphony & The Tribes of New York, I think]. I know the curious should just get TSOJTC or something instead of forking out for this, but eventually you will succumb so if you can afford it I recommend it, the only problem being everything in chronological session order rather than the order on the albums but the detailed booklet tells you what's what as well as a good bio, photos & quotes. These 6 CDs were all recorded in just 2 years, which is astounding considering the amount of quality material & the shift to further abstraction [although I must admit I prefer the classic sound & rarely visit discs 5 & 6]. But beauty indeed is quite present here, & we should thank Ornette, Don, Charlie, Billy, Ed & co for this life-affirming genius music. Other box sets I recommend are Peel Slowly & See + Grow Fins.

500 years from now, historians will look back on the tumultuous 20th century and ask, "Yeah, but did they accomplish anything?" My suspicion is, these recordings will be the answer. It's amazing that these recordings raised such a brouhaha in the early sixties. The handsome notes booklet includes both defenders and detractors quotes to give you the essence of the debate. My personal favorite is Miles very disparaging remark. But strip away the objections to free jazz, plastic altos, and off note phrasing and you are left with startling compositions, telepathic interaction, and the unique vision of a jazz giant who actually had the guts to improvise on the melody, rather than a bunch of chord changes. If that doesn't convince you, how about the fact that Ornette plays deep blues better than most bop musicians think they can. Beauty trully is a very, very rare thing, indeed.

You have to be dedicated Ornette fan to commit to a box set of this size and price. The problem is, most dedicated fans probably already own many, if not all, of these recordings. After all, we are talking about the essential material he cut for Atlantic from '59-'61. Still, the prospect of having all of these recordings together in one deluxe package is tempting, indeed. The real dangling carrot here is the previously unreleased material which may or may not appear as bonus tracks on the single CD's (I have the LP's, so I can't say for sure). So, if you are sure you are into free jazz and Mr. Coleman, in particular, and you don't already have alot of his Atlantic material, then this just might be the collection for you.

To any fan of jazz and especially of free jazz, this is one of the most essential box set you can get. It contains all of Ornette's Atlantic recordings (hence the title). It contains the albums The Shape of Jazz to Come, Change of the Century, This is Our Music, the famous (or infamous) Free Jazz, Ornette!, Ornette on Tenor, The Art of the Improvisers, Twins (with the first take of Free Jazz, literally called "First Take", which I think is better than the longer one), and To Whom Who Keeps a Record. It has a handful of unreleased tracks, including two superb classical/jazz recordings called Abstraction and Variations on a Theme by Thelonious Monk (Criss-Cross), which are conducted by Gunther Schuller.

One of the amazing aspects of this music is that it doesn't date. It still seems as fresh and as innovative as it was when it was released. Ornette was so prolific during these sessions (1959-1961) that Atlantic released the material over a 15 year period. The last album of this material was released in 1975. Of course, this set has the famous (or infamous, according to some people) Free Jazz track. As much as I like this song, there's tons of greater music in this set. Ornette's music reminds me of the intricate arrangements of Zappa and progressive rock (which both of them had a huge jazz influence). Ornette shines here, playing, as he puts it, pure emotion. Cherry, Blackwell, and Haden play extremely well too. They are some of the best jazz players ever, and they compliment the genius Ornette so well. This is wonderful stuff.

Let me first say that I am generally not a fan of boxed sets. Most are crammed with pointless alternate takes and "previously unreleased" filler. Not here. This set, which contains basically every tune recorded by this band within a two-year period, is consistently great from beginning to end. Never mind the fact that it represents a historic turning point in jazz; this is brilliant, swinging music that gets better with each listen. Newcomers to Ornette's music (and modern jazz in general) might find it chaotic and overwhelming. After one accepts the fact that there are no chord progressions for the soloists to play over, certain things come into focus. One can hear Ornette constructing his solos by stringing together an endless variety of melodic phrases. What is most amazing is how bluesy most of his playing is. I could go on and on, but you really should discover this music for yourself.

Ornette Coleman is not easy to peg musically. He was a pioneering leader in the avant-guarde movement in jazz and is still on the scene.

These early recordings feature his work mostly on alto sax, but one recording boxed here has him on tenor. (He later took up trumpet and violin.) He played a plastic alto, which gave it a different, warmer--less metalic--tone. You can hear the blues in Ornette's playing; he knows how to swing. But he also charted new territory. His attack, phrasing, and compositions are quite original. He has sparked controversy, even getting beaten up for his playing in the early days! He also jammed (only once) with Coltrane and gave Trane lessons for a time. "Free Jazz" (included here) was quite influential on Trane's later "Ascension" recording.

On the small group and double quartet recordings (most of the box set), the group performs without a piano. With a smaller group, this can make the music seem somewhat stark or thin. There is no chordal backdrop. On the other hand, the bass and drums take on a saliency that is rewarding, particularly the playing of drummer Ed Blackwell. Blackwell, who also did fine work with Eric Dolphy, had a soft but confident and articulate touch that was distinctive and fitting for Coleman's sound.

Trumpeter Don Cherry appears on most every cut. I'm more of a Mile's man myself--favoring a rich, warm tone--but Cherry explores and soars with his more raspy stylings.

These are historic recordings (not to abuse an overused phrase) that stand up very well forty years after they were recorded.

Douglas Groothuis

Track for track, note for note, this collection is a remarkable peephole into jazz as it has evolved to today. This group's output in the two years that comprise this collection is noticably uncanny, and one gets a much stronger footing on the origins of today's music when listened to through this six-CD collection. That is from a historical standpoint. The music? Words fail me. All six albums are absolutely stunning.