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I love this album. I've listened to it for many years now and the music still delights me. The star here is Don Cherry, moving from pocket trumpet to piano to wordless singing. The rest of the band is really in top form, too. The textures change from tune to tune and the melodies are simple, melodic and likable. If you've never heard Old and New Dreams, this is the place to start.

This album contains a piece, Mopti, that truly illustrates the African roots of Jazz music. All in all a great album that will become historic after the death of some of the musicians.

This music, recorded live (and well) in Germany in the '80's, presents this "Ornette repertoire" group to great advantage. Don Cherry (trumpet, flute, piano) the great Ed Blackwell (drums), Charlie Haden (upright bass) & Dewey Redman (tenor and musette (like a bagpipe)) all play with brio and precision. With all due respect for Ornette Coleman's great innovations, I find this Cherry-led group exhibits a much saner and deeper musicality than the Ornette-led groups ever did. Definitely a creature of Ornette, but where would Ornette himself have gotten without these superb musicians, all among the most remarkable on their instruments.

Check out the record these guys made with John Coltrane in the place of Ornette, all those years ago.