Beauty Is a Rare Thing | |
---|---|
Box set by | |
Released | November 16, 1993 |
Recorded | May 22, 1959 – March 27, 1961 |
Studio | Radio Recorders (LA) Atlanic (NYC) A & R (NYC) |
Genre | Jazz |
Length | 7:04:09 |
Label | Rhino Records |
Producer | Yves Beauvais |
Beauty Is a Rare Thing: The Complete Atlantic Recordings is a box set by American jazz saxophonist and composer Ornette Coleman compiling his master recordings made for Atlantic between 1959 and 1961, released on Rhino Records on November 16, 1993. [1] [2]
Prior to signing with Atlantic in 1959, Coleman and his group had recorded Something Else!!!! and Tomorrow Is the Question! for the Los Angeles-based label Contemporary Records. Coleman had not been completely pleased with either, and he found audiences dwindling at the Hillcrest Club (not the Hillcrest Country Club) in Los Angeles where he played regularly. [3] However, one evening, pianist John Lewis of the Modern Jazz Quartet saw the Coleman group and immediately became an evangelist for Ornette's new approach, securing Coleman both a summer residency at the Tanglewood Music Center and a recording contract with the MJQ's label, Atlantic, through the label's executive in charge of jazz, Nesuhi Ertegun. [4]
Recording sessions took place at Radio Recorders in Los Angeles on May 22, and October 8 and 9, 1959, at Atlantic Studios in New York City on July 19 and 26, and August 2, 1960, and January 31, and March 22 and 27, 1961, and at A&R Studios in New York on December 19, 20 and 21, 1960. The producer of the original recording sessions was Nesuhi Ertegun.
The box presents the material in chronological recording order. The set includes the total tracks from all six of his Atlantic albums, The Shape of Jazz to Come (October 1959), Change of the Century (June 1960), This Is Our Music (February 1961), Free Jazz (September 1961), Ornette! (February 1962), and Ornette on Tenor (December 1962), as well as the later compilations The Art of the Improvisers (November 1970), Twins (October 1971), and the Japan-only To Whom Who Keeps A Record (1975). Two additional tracks were released on the Gunther Schuller album John Lewis Presents Contemporary Music: Jazz Abstractions – Compositions by Gunther Schuller and Jim Hall of 1961, and six previously unreleased performances appear here for the first time. The insert booklet contains text by Robert Palmer, forewords by Coleman and trumpeter Don Cherry, as well as various quotes of reaction to Coleman's music by Paul Bley, Miles Davis, Roy Eldridge, Gil Evans, Maynard Ferguson, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Haden, Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson, John Lewis, Shelly Manne, Jackie McLean, Charles Mingus, and Thelonious Monk.
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [5] |
The Penguin Guide to Jazz | 👑 [6] |
The AllMusic review by Thom Jurek states that "this is, along with John Coltrane's Atlantic set and the Miles and Coltrane box, one of the most essential jazz CD purchases". [5]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz in all editions prior to its ninth awarded the set one of its rare crown accolades. [7]
All tracks are written by Ornette Coleman, except as noted.
No. | Title | Original release | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Focus on Sanity" | The Shape of Jazz to Come | 6:49 |
2. | "Chronology" | The Shape of Jazz to Come | 6:04 |
3. | "Peace" | The Shape of Jazz to Come | 9:02 |
4. | "Congeniality" | The Shape of Jazz to Come | 6:44 |
5. | "Lonely Woman" | The Shape of Jazz to Come | 4:57 |
6. | "Monk and the Nun" | Twins | 5:53 |
7. | "Just for You" | The Art of the Improvisers | 3:51 |
8. | "Eventually" | The Shape of Jazz to Come | 4:20 |
9. | "Una Muy Bonita" | Change of the Century | 5:59 |
10. | "Bird Food" | Change of the Century | 5:28 |
11. | "Change of the Century" | Change of the Century | 4:41 |
12. | "Music Always" | To Whom Who Keeps a Record | 5:29 |
No. | Title | Original release | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "The Face of the Bass" | Change of the Century | 6:55 |
2. | "Forerunner" | Change of the Century | 5:13 |
3. | "Free" | Change of the Century | 6:20 |
4. | "The Circle with a Hole in the Middle" | The Art of the Improvisers | 4:52 |
5. | "Ramblin'" | Change of the Century | 6:35 |
6. | "Little Symphony" | Twins | 5:14 |
7. | "The Tribes of New York" | previously unreleased | 4:33 |
8. | "Kaleidoscope" | This Is Our Music | 6:34 |
9. | "Rise and Shine" | previously unreleased | 6:11 |
10. | "Mr. and Mrs. People" | previously unreleased | 4:40 |
11. | "Blues Connotation" | This Is Our Music | 5:17 |
12. | "I Heard It Over the Radio" | previously unreleased | 6:24 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original release | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "P.S. Unless One Has (Blues Connotation No. 2)" | To Whom Who Keeps a Record | 5:53 | |
2. | "Revolving Doors" | previously unreleased | 4:26 | |
3. | "Brings Goodness" | To Whom Who Keeps a Record | 6:38 | |
4. | "Joy of A Toy" | Twins | 4:55 | |
5. | "To Us" | To Whom Who Keeps a Record | 4:32 | |
6. | "Humpty Dumpty" | This Is Our Music | 5:21 | |
7. | "The Fifth of Beethoven" | The Art of the Improvisers | 6:37 | |
8. | "Motive for Its Use" | To Whom Who Keeps a Record | 5:39 | |
9. | "Moon Inhabitants" | The Art of the Improvisers | 4:31 | |
10. | "The Legend of Bebop" | The Art of the Improvisers | 7:15 | |
11. | "Some Other" | To Whom Who Keeps a Record | 7:20 | |
12. | "Embraceable You" | This Is Our Music | 4:55 | |
13. | "All" | To Whom Who Keeps a Record | 4:30 |
No. | Title | Original release | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Folk Tale" | This Is Our Music | 4:47 |
2. | "Poise" | This Is Our Music | 4:37 |
3. | "Beauty Is a Rare Thing" | This Is Our Music | 7:13 |
4. | "First Take" | Twins | 17:03 |
5. | "Free Jazz" | Free Jazz | 37:03 |
No. | Title | Original release | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Proof Readers" | previously unreleased | 10:25 |
2. | "W.R.U." | Ornette! | 16:24 |
3. | "Check Up" | Twins | 10:10 |
4. | "T & T" | Ornette! | 4:35 |
5. | "C & D" | Ornette! | 13:10 |
6. | "R.P.D.D." | Ornette! | 9:38 |
7. | "The Alchemy of Scott LaFaro" | The Art of the Improvisers | 9:50 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original release | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "EOS" | Ornette on Tenor | 6:35 | |
2. | "Enfant" | Ornette on Tenor | 6:26 | |
3. | "Ecars" | Ornette on Tenor | 7:35 | |
4. | "Cross Breeding" | Ornette on Tenor | 11:17 | |
5. | "Harlem's Manhattan" | The Art of the Improvisers | 8:10 | |
6. | "Mapa" | Ornette on Tenor | 9:05 | |
7. | "Abstraction" | Gunther Schuller | Jazz Abstractions | 4:07 |
8. | "Variants on a Theme of Thelonious Monk (Criss Cross)" | Schuller | Jazz Abstractions | 15:22 |
Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman was an American jazz saxophonist, trumpeter, violinist, and composer. He was best known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation. His pioneering works often abandoned the harmony-based composition, tonality, chord changes, and fixed rhythm found in earlier jazz idioms. Instead, Coleman emphasized an experimental approach to improvisation, rooted in ensemble playing and blues phrasing. AllMusic called him "one of the most beloved and polarizing figures in jazz history," noting that while "now celebrated as a fearless innovator and a genius, he was initially regarded by peers and critics as rebellious, disruptive, and even a fraud."
Rocco Scott LaFaro was an American jazz double bassist known for his work with the Bill Evans Trio. LaFaro broke new ground on the instrument, developing a countermelodic style of accompaniment rather than playing traditional walking basslines, as well as virtuosity that was practically unmatched by any of his contemporaries. Despite his short career, he remains one of the most influential jazz bassists, and was ranked number 16 on Bass Player magazine's top 100 bass players of all time.
The Shape of Jazz to Come is the third album by jazz musician Ornette Coleman. Released on Atlantic Records in 1959, it was his debut on the label and his first album featuring the working quartet including himself, trumpeter Don Cherry, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Billy Higgins. The recording session for the album took place on May 22, 1959, at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, California. Although Coleman initially wished for the album to be titled Focus on Sanity after the LP's fourth track, Atlantic producer Nesuhi Ertegun suggested the final title, feeling that it would give consumers "an idea about the uniqueness of the LP."
Oh Yeah is a studio album by the American jazz bassist and composer Charles Mingus, released in April 1962 by Atlantic Records. It was recorded in 1961, and features Mingus singing on three of the cuts and playing piano throughout.
Blues & Roots is an album by Charles Mingus, recorded in 1959 and released on the Atlantic label in 1960. It has been reissued on CD by both Atlantic and Rhino.
This Is Our Music is the fifth album by saxophonist Ornette Coleman, recorded in 1960 and released on Atlantic Records in March 1961. It is the first with drummer Ed Blackwell replacing his predecessor Billy Higgins in the Coleman Quartet, and is the only one of Coleman's Atlantic albums to include a standard, in this case a version of "Embraceable You" by George and Ira Gershwin.
Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation is the sixth album by jazz saxophonist and composer Ornette Coleman, released on Atlantic Records in September 1961: the fourth of Coleman's six albums for the label. Its title named the then-nascent free jazz movement. The recording session took place on December 21, 1960, at A&R Studios in New York City. The sole outtake from the album session, "First Take," was later released on the 1971 compilation Twins and subsequent CD reissues of Free Jazz.
The Avant-Garde is an album credited to jazz musicians John Coltrane and Don Cherry that was released in 1966 by Atlantic Records. It features Coltrane playing several compositions by Ornette Coleman accompanied by the members of Coleman's quartet: Cherry, Charlie Haden, and Ed Blackwell. The album was assembled from two unissued recording sessions at Atlantic Studios in New York City in 1960.
Expectations is an album recorded by Keith Jarrett in 1972 and released on Columbia Records the same year. In addition to Jarrett, musicians on the recording include his "American quartet": Dewey Redman on tenor saxophone, Charlie Haden on bass, and Paul Motian on drums. Also featured are Sam Brown on electric guitar, Airto on percussion, as well as brass and string sections whose members are not credited in the album information. Expectations was produced by George Avakian, Jarrett's manager since 1966.
Twins is an album credited to jazz composer and saxophonist Ornette Coleman, released by Atlantic Records in 1971. The album was assembled without Coleman's input, comprising outtakes from recording sessions of 1959 to 1961 for The Shape of Jazz to Come, This Is Our Music, Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation, and Ornette! Sessions for "Monk and the Nun" took place at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, California; for "First Take" at A&R Studios in New York City, and all others at Atlantic Studios also in Manhattan. The track "First Take" was a first attempt at "Free Jazz" from the album of the same name.
Discography for American jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman.
Ornette! is the seventh album by alto saxophonist and composer Ornette Coleman, released in February 1962 on Atlantic Records. The album features Scott LaFaro in place of Charlie Haden, who had left the Quartet but would work again with Coleman in the future.
Rush Hour is an album by the American jazz saxophonist Joe Lovano, featuring an orchestra arranged and conducted by Gunther Schuller, recorded in 1994 and released on the Blue Note label.
The Art of the Improvisers is an album credited to jazz composer and saxophonist Ornette Coleman, released by Atlantic Records in 1970. The album was assembled without Coleman's input, comprising outtakes from recording sessions of 1959 to 1961 for The Shape of Jazz to Come, Change of the Century, This Is Our Music, Ornette!, and Ornette on Tenor. Recording sessions in 1959 took place at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, California; those in 1960 and 1961 at Atlantic Studios in New York City.
To Whom Who Keeps a Record is an album credited to jazz composer and saxophonist Ornette Coleman, originally released by the Japanese subsidiary Warner Pioneer of Warner Bros. Records in 1975. The album, which was assembled by Atlantic producer İlhan Mimaroğlu without Coleman's input, comprises outtakes from Atlantic Records recording sessions of 1959 and 1960 for Change of the Century and This Is Our Music. Sessions for "Music Always" took place at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, California with Billy Higgins on drums; all others took place at Atlantic Studios in New York City with drummer Ed Blackwell.
Science Fiction is an album by the American jazz saxophonist and composer Ornette Coleman, recorded in 1971 and released on the Columbia label.
In Angel City is an album by the American jazz bassist Charlie Haden's Quartet West, recorded in 1988 and released on the Verve label.
Jazz Abstractions is a third stream album combining elements of jazz and classical music recorded in late 1960 for the Atlantic label.
The Love Revolution: Complete 1968 Italian Tour is a two-CD live album by the Ornette Coleman Quartet. Three tracks were recorded on February 5, 1968, in Milan, Italy, while the remaining four tracks were recorded on February 8, 1968, in Rome. The album was released in 2005 by Gambit Records, and was reissued in 2015 by Solar Records. The quartet format is unusual in that it features Coleman with two bassists, Charlie Haden and David Izenzon, along with drummer Ed Blackwell. On the Milan tracks, Coleman is heard on alto saxophone, while on the Rome tracks, he also plays trumpet and, on a track titled "Buddha Blues," shehnai.
The Complete Science Fiction Sessions is a two-CD compilation album by Ornette Coleman. Released by Columbia Records in 2000, it brings together tracks recorded during September and October 1971 and September 1972 sessions at Columbia Studios in New York City. The album includes all of the music that was originally issued on Science Fiction and Broken Shadows, along with previously unreleased material. On the album, Coleman is joined by a core group of long-time associates consisting of trumpeters Don Cherry and Bobby Bradford, saxophonist Dewey Redman, double bassist Charlie Haden, and drummers Billy Higgins and Ed Blackwell. Guest artists include guitarist Jim Hall, pianist Cedar Walton, trumpeters Carmine Fornarotto and Gerard Schwarz, and vocalists David Henderson, Asha Puthli, and Webster Armstrong.