In case you haven’t been told by Giles Peterson, The Guardian, or Leaving Records, we are right now in the middle of a pretty kickass jazz renaissance right now — which is a great reason to double back to the another great purple patch in the early 1960s when free jazz turned the scene upside down laid the foundations for Thurston Moore and every second record in your current collection.
And who best to acquaint yourself with than Ornette Coleman — the saxophonist who freaking named free jazz and shaped one of the art’s most radical and amazing sub-genres?
Conveniently, Rhino are re-issuing a box set of Coleman’s recordings with Atlantic Records, the hottest of all hot-streaks between 1959 and 1961 in which one man and his band literally altered the direction of music.
The 10(!) LP set is coming May 11 and features the six original albums released over a 22 month period (yes, that’s an album released less than 4 months apart during this period) and three compilations. The gargantuan compilation features Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation which saw Coleman pit two improvisation quartets against each other, assigning each unit a channel on the stereo spectrum and letting the wild and awesome ride run free over a 40 minute improvisation. There are also long out-of-print rarities all housed with new liner notes and photos.
There is no excuse not to be immersed in one of the most thrilling creative bursts of all time. Get to it.
ORNETTE COLEMAN: THE ATLANTIC YEARS Album Listing:
The Shape Of Jazz To Come (1959)
Change Of The Century (1959)
This Is Our Music (1960)
Free Jazz (1960)
Ornette! (1961)
Ornette On Tenor (1961)
The Art Of Improvisers (1970)
Twins (1971)
To Whom Who Keeps A Record (1975)
The Ornette Coleman Legacy (1993)
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