Customer Reviews

Free Jazz (With Bonus Tracks)

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Let's get rid of some myths about this great CD.

First of all, "Free Jazz" is NOT CHAOS. Listening to this all the way proves it; "First Take" is the same piece, and if you compare "Free Jazz" and "First Take," you will see similarities and structure. So let's get rid of the idea that this was "totally improvised" first. There is an underlying structure to this piece, and you can figure it out if you try.

Secondly: it is NOT ATONAL. What is happening here is that several different melodies are going on all at the same time, but each melody that each musician plays is meant to interact with the melodies the other musicians are playing. There are no chords, and there is no ESTABLISHED, FORMAL tonal center. But just because there is no FORMAL tonal center, doesn't mean there isn't one.

Third: It is NOT AMELODIC. There are lots of melodies here. If you listen to it, you can find lots of melody. They may be odd melodies, but they are there. In particular, everything that Eric Dolphy plays and everything that Don Cherry and Ornette Coleman play makes perfect sense melodically. You may not agree with their tone choices or with the concept of "harmolodics" that underlies this piece, but listening to it, you will find melody.

Fourth: IT IS NOT DIFFICULT TO LISTEN TO. The other reviews compare this music to higher mathematics and imply that listening to this is impossible unless you're an intellectual. The best way to approach this music is with NO PRECONCEPTIONS, including the preconception that you have to be an "intellectual" to appreciate this music. "Free Jazz" is a futuristic version of the early jazz bands, where everyone played solos all the time over a melody that was not played but generally understood. The only difference is that here, there are several melodies, all of which interact, and the piece is set free from strict 4/4 time.

The best way to listen to this is to forget what everyone tells you about it, and just let it happen in the room. Let it play all the way out, even the "dissonant" parts, and listen to it. Listen for the funny parts, the humorous asides, the way Ornette's wry lemony sax contrasts with the dry growl of Eric Dolphy's bass clarinet and Don Cherry's rounded trumpet. And please, don't miss Scott LaFaro and Charlie Haden having a bass conversation, or the way that Billy Higgins and Ed Blackwell interact with each other; these four people are counted among the best on their instruments, ever, and what they do here counts.

Don't treat this as abstract, intellectual, "weirdo" music. Listen to it without any preconceived notions. Don't compare it to anything else. Let "Free Jazz" be free; that's part of the meaning of it. Just listen. Then listen again. Then you'll get it. Promise.

I write with the new Ornette listener in mind -- don't be misled by the title, this is not the place to start with Ornette (let alone the Rosetta Stone!). "Free Jazz" is a very interesting experiment with a double quartet, but it does not measure up to Ornette's quartet recordings for Atlantic. "The Shape of Jazz to Come," "Change of the Century," "This Is Our Music" (available on import), "On Tenor," and "Ornette!" are all superb, and any of them (but of course "Shape" has pride of place because it was first) would be much better places to start listening to Ornette Coleman. The splendid 6 disc box "Beauty Is a Rare Thing" includes everything Ornette recorded for Atlantic from 1959-1961, including both versions of "Free Jazz," but presumably if you're just checking out his music you're not going to go straight for the box. My recommendation would be, check out for starters "Shape," with Billy Higgins on drums, and "This Is Our Music," the same quartet except with the late, great Ed Blackwell on drums. Yes, the music Ornette helped create is often called Free Jazz, but this particular recording is not The Essential Free Jazz Recording. (For what it's worth, I don't think Coltrane's large ensemble "Ascension" is one of his best outings either.)

"Free Jazz" is not an easy piece of music to listen to. I am a very big fan of jazz in the avante garde and love "the new thing" on Impulse! in the late 1960's. I am a fan of Coltrane, Kirk, Dolphy and Mingus and embrace their experiments. For me, Coleman is a challenge.

Coltrane's work on "Meditations" follows a developmental process, a prayer, a mini symphony with movements that indicate mood. I am drawn to this piece because my soul can follow along with it, I am catapulted into different emmotions and my being must adjust as I go. For "Free Jazz" everything is completely different.

For me, "Free Jazz" is something radically different from the fairly melodic chaos of Mingus, a melodic composer always! "Free Jazz" lives in the realm of Cecil Taylor and the "Interstellar Space" of 1967 Coltrane, not the emmotional movements of a philosphical Coltrane or a gospel tinged Mingus. This is almost like complex number theory, something purely numerical and beyond the reach of immediate understanding. This music requires discipline and training in its listeners. I know no number theory and so, my subjective connection to jazz in the avante garde places me on the outside (at first) to this music.

Coleman was acting analytically. His approach to music was not for the possible signification ofethereal possibilities, like Coltrane, but was an innovative approach by which he wanted to test whether or not music could remain cohesive when the sounds were stretched further. The concept that flat notes could hold a composition together had not been tried before. Not only is it not immediately smooth and aesthtic listening, but is actually dissonant and can even hurt ones ears. However, it is intelligent music and does work. Over time people have come to understand and appreciate this idea.

"Free Jazz" is an excellent investment because it is a seminal album in the history of music and its influence continues to expand, transcending all genres of music. I recommend giving it a listen and continuing to work with it. The Jackson Pollack painting "White Light" which is on the cover, is an excellent clue to the workings and ideas of Coleman.

(not to be forgotten, the musicians involved on this recording are phenomenal, particularly Eric Dolphy and Scott LaFaro.)

By the way, I like this album too!

This is a magnificent CD. It contains music made by a group of some of the best minds in Jazz: Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy, Freddy Hubbard, Charlie Haden, Ed Blackwell, Scott La Faro, Billy Higgins and Don Cherry. The music is actually composed - though not in the traditional sense of the word. The order of the soloists is clear. The bridge is repeated between every solo, the rhythm is coherent. There is an emotional continuity throughout the whole CD. What makes the music here so special is the interplay between the musicians, the way each of them supports and adds behinds each solo. When you hear Dolphy's Bass Clarinet laughing in the background it has to make you smile. The joy that the musicians must have felt while recording the music is heard beautifully. The drums and bass (each doubled) participate in the celebration in a way that should be studied by every modern composer - they are equal members while being fully aware of each instrument's strength and limitations. A must for every fan of non-commercial music, and for EVERY musician from any genre.

Awesome Beauty, indeed!! In the 60's, Ornette's small quartets and trio's were not enough. When this beautiful album was recorded, he got two outstanding quartets of daring musicians into the studio at the same time. He put one on the left stereo channel and one on the right channel, gave them a structured framework with lots of "free jazz" latitude and turned them loose, with the tape recorders running to catch it all. And the results are Awesome! Seem in the prism of the 21st century, it almost seems tame and serene now, but it set off a firestorm of controversy in the early 60's.

There is plenty of individual and collective brilliance, most of it taking place simultaneously, but a curious thing was taking place. The opposite instruments, instead of flying apart in confusion, began to simultaneously "cooperate and anticipate" both the opposite number's intentions and the arc of the entire ensemble flight, twisting and turning in free jazz unison, while not playing the same notes until the structured breaks. And even then, there is a planned delay that stretches similar notes between instruments. (Sorry, that's as close as I can explain something that is almost inexplicable) This is a prime example of the mental telepathy that some musicians seem to have. Coleman, Hubbard, and Dolphy are exceptional, but the interplay of the basses during their collective solo (Wow, Scott Lefaro is a pistol!) and the drums (the cymbal solo in particular) are mesmerizing. Not to be missed by the adventurous jazz fan who can track the collective direction of a free jazz ensemble. A one word review: BEAUTIFUL !!!

Post Script: When this album was made, Ornette was the hottest jazz musician alive and the most controversial. His audiences contained a large number of musicians, jazz and classical, struggling to take it all in and hoping they weren't going to miss the train, like many did when BeBop started. The Coltrane controversy paled in comparison to the Ornette Coleman lightning rod. Coltrane started with Earl Bostic "honky-tonk" bands, went more complex with Miles and Monk, and then got even more complex as he leaped into free jazz with no parachute and no intention of coming back. Ornette, however, started complex from the very beginning and headed out of the known solar system. But his music had always had an underlying simplicity and curious poignancy. Other curious musicians followed suit, if only for a short time: Sonny Rollins, who synthesized a wonderfully inventive take on the "new thing" with "Our Man in Jazz", using Coleman's rhythm section; and Jackie McLean who had his own particular take on the "cosa nova" with the sizzling "Let Freedom Ring", among many other more traditional dudes. Thank goodness for Ornette Coleman who had the vision and the guts from the very beginning!!!

By 1960, Ornette Coleman had already stirred an enormous controversy in the jazz world-- his first three albums on Atlantic (two early recordings on Contemporary failed to garner much attention) and tenure at Manhattan's Five Spot club had polarized musicians, critics, and listeners. And yet, over forty years later, it's clear that Coleman was onto something, and his influence can be felt throughout music afterwards, whether acknowledged by the musician or not, whether accepted and adopted or rejected. After 1960, Coleman rejected most of the expectations for a musician-- playing clubs, touring, album after album, mellowing with age, regurgitation of old songs, etc. Indeed, throughout the years he has continued to stir the pot, if a bit more gently than he did when he first reached New York. But nothing he has done has created such an enormous polarizing effect as this record, "Free Jazz".

Conceptually, the idea is a retread on the collective improvisations of the swing era-- the piece features several motifs, separated by lengthy improvisations, during which other members of the band were encouraged to offer counterpoint, melodic invention, echo, whatever. To increase the possibility of interaction, his then working quartet (Coleman on alto, Don Cherry on trumpet, Charlie Haden on bass and Ed Blackwell on drums) were augmented by a second quartet of Eric Dolphy (performing on bass clarinet), Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Scott LaFaro (soon to replace Haden in Coleman's working band) on bass, and Coleman's former drummer Billy Higgins.

So now you know the concept, the question is how does it work? It depends, largely on your point of view. Certainly the music is engaging, intriguing, and fills your ears with quite a bit to listen to. The responsiveness of the playing works better at some times than it does during others-- Dolphy and Cherry both seem to do the best responding to other soloists and inspire the best responses to their soloing. Certainly everyone's playing is filled with an ecstatic spirit that maintains the excitement of the piece. And I personally find the recording far superior to all works of collective "free" improvisation that it inspired (Coltrane's "Ascension", Ayler's "New York Ear & Eye Control", etc.).

There's also a bunch of points made by other reviewers that should be reiterated. This isn't chaos, the music is organzied, but again just not in the way anything previous to it was. Also, and perhaps more importantly, this is not for everyone. It's not "difficult" per se, anymore than any of the other free jazz stuff is (although it is moreso than most of Coleman's other works), but it IS a 40 minute sustained performance, and certainly that alone is unusual to hear. It's also in an idiom outside of conventional listening-- if you're not familiar with Coleman, pick up "The Shape of Jazz to Come" and see what you make of that before this one, it's more likely to inspire a positive reaction, and if you're not familiar with jazz, this is probably not the place to start (I know folks who did pick this up first). Finally and most importantly, don't think too much about what this is supposed to be and what it's not supposed to be, enjoy it for what it is.

Personally, I find it one of the most consistently interesting and rewarding records Coleman did during his tenure with Atlantic, and the concepts on here informed his music for years to come (Prime Time in particular is very much an electric version of this record). This CD adds the bonus of the rehearsal for the piece-- it's significantly briefer (under twenty minutes), but no less interesting. For the adventerous and the fan of avant-garde jazz, this is an essential recording. Highly recommended.

An album of undeniable historical importance, Free Jazz is also not likely to be one you'll listen to often. It inspired, and continues to inspire, countless great recordings of collective improvisations, including a number of far greater albums that followed immediately in its wake in the 1960s. Sun Ra's Magic City (and his other experiments in conduction), John Coltrane's Ascension (and Live in Seattle), Albert Ayler's New York Eye and Ear Control, and Peter Brotzmann's Machine Gun are all more spiritually searching, musically soaring and just plain searing experiences, and, while Ornette deserves all the props for doing it first, you can hear all the musicians on Free Jazz concentrating too hard as they try to make their solo statements or comment on what the other players are doing. It's all a bit tentative compared to what would come later, and, as a maelstrom, it's all rather polite. Interestingly, Eric Dolphy's bass clarinet comes off as the dominant and most confident voice. He's seems to have been born to channel some sort of ineffable cry from the soul, and it's no wonder that Coltrane wanted to be near him.

Do not brush this recording off as noisy and chaotic - I must reiterate what other reviewers have stated, which is that this music does have a fair amount of structure to it, and upon a few serious listens, it is easy to see how this style was built on with later free jazz releases, most notably Coltrane's work in the late 60's. Jazz legends such as Miles Davis would constantly turn away from Ornette's music, but it is evident in his later recordings that he would borrow elements from Ornette even if he was too hot-headed to admit it himself.

In 1961, Ornette assembled this double-quartet. In the left speaker is a quartet featuring Ornette (alto sax), Don Cherry (trumpet), Scott LaFaro (bass), and Billy Higgins (drums). In the right speaker, we have Eric Dolphy (bass clarinet), Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), Charlie Haden (bass), and Ed Blackwell (drums). Although the music is stretched out and abstract at times, there are brilliant harmonies and an obvious structure to it. We are given a taste of mid-50's Ornette like SHAPE OF JAZZ TO COME but the majority of the music is a free improvisation that sounds like a party of horns, with duels between Coleman, Cherry, and Hubbard plus the occasional deep moans from Eric Dolphy. The soloists on this record appear to have no boundaries set for themselves in their improvisation, and it sounds as if other musicians jump in and out in an almost comical manner. It should also be noted that the only original track, 'Free Jazz' is almost 40 minutes long - which was quite an accomplishment considering the era in which it was recorded.

The bonus track 'First Take' is the same song as 'Free Jazz,' evident by the familiar harmonies close to the beginning, however, I agree with the liner notes that it does not fully explore the depths that the title track does.

I would not recommend this recording to someone who is totally new to jazz, but if you're checking out this album, you're probably an experienced listener. I consider this release to be 'difficult' only in the context of those not familiar with free jazz. Coleman was, and still is often misunderstood, but if you can open your mind, this record is an exceptional gateway to some other amazing music of the genre.

Listening to this CD in the car on the way home from the record store, I found myself cracking up. It was noise to me, pure noise that seemed totally unenjoyable. I sat there for what seemed like hours and when I looked at the CD player only 4 minutes had gone by. However, after listening to it again later that day, my attitude changed.

I felt myself getting progressively more in-tune with the attitude of the players. The mess of horns is at first repulsive, then bareable, and as you continue to listen, it becomes just plain awesome. Each horn has a different sound, and the sounds interact and weave together. It's really like listening to a conversation. One horn makes a statement, the others comment on it or interrupt it entirely. The horn reactions are very human, while the basses and drums provide the background (with that beast Scott LeFaro soloing a good deal of the time, if you can hear it over the horns).

It really takes a keen ear to hear these things, or repeated listenings. It takes a sense of listening for not melody, but timing and texture. If you're into free jazz its a must. It's definitely its own specific genre... it sure as heck ain't bebop, people. A creative noise masterpiece.

A poet in my country said (free english version, please!) that "one day the mass will eat the fine biscuit I make...". This may be the case. I am not an intellectual, and I don't know what it means to say that a music is "tonal" or "atonal", but I'm fascinated by this work. Set yourself free to listen to it.