Ornette Coleman Atlantic

Recorded a little over a month after his groundbreaking work Free Jazz, this album found Coleman perhaps retrenching from that idea conceptually, but nonetheless plumbing his quartet music to ever greater heights of richness and creativity. Ornette! was the first time bassist Scott LaFaro recorded with Coleman, and the difference in approach between LaFaro and Charlie Haden is apparent from the opening notes of "W.R.U." There is a more direct propulsion and limberness to his playing, and he can be heard driving Coleman and Don Cherry actively and more aggressively than Haden's warm, languid phrasing. The cuts, with titles derived from the works of Sigmund Freud, are all gems and serve as wonderful launching pads for the musicians' improvisations…

Ornette Coleman - The Empty Foxhole (1966) {Blue Note Japan SHM-CD UCCQ-5121 rel 2015} (24-192 remaster)
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 249 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 92 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 167 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24-bit 192 kHz remaster
© 1966, 2015 Universal Japan / Blue Note | BN 75th The Masterworks | UCCQ-5121
Jazz / Post Bop / Avant-Garde Jazz / Saxophone

Features the high-fidelity SHM-CD format (compatible with standard CD player) and the latest 24bit 192kHz remastering. One of our favorite Ornette Coleman albums of the post-Atlantic 60s years – a set that still hangs onto some of the bold rhythmic conception of his previous records, but also points the way towards his freer jazz modes to come! The group's a trio – with really tremendous work from Charlie Haden on bass, able to match Coleman's energy with effortless ease, and really getting a lot of room to leave his mark on the music – plus the very young (10!) Denardo Coleman, who plays drums here with this stark, simple style that's not only completely unique, but which also leaves a lot of open room left for Haden and Ornette to really stretch out. Ornette plays his usual alto, plus trumpet and violin – and titles include "Good Old Days", "The Empty Foxhole", "Zig Zag", and "Freeway Express".

The second album by Ornette Coleman's legendary quartet featuring Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, and Billy Higgins, Change of the Century is every bit the equal of the monumental The Shape of Jazz to Come, showcasing a group that was growing ever more confident in its revolutionary approach and the chemistry in the bandmembers' interplay. When Coleman concentrates on melody, his main themes are catchier, and when the pieces emphasize group interaction, the improvisation is freer. Two of Coleman's most memorable classic compositions are here in their original forms - "Ramblin'" has all the swing and swagger of the blues, and "Una Muy Bonita" is oddly disjointed, its theme stopping and starting in totally unexpected places; both secure their themes to stable, pedal-point bass figures…

Ornette Coleman and Prime Time - Virgin Beauty (1988) {Columbia COL 489433 2 rel 1998}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks) +CUE+LOG -> 262 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 109 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 63 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1988, 1998 Portrait Records / Columbia / Sony Music | COL 489433 2
Jazz / Fusion / Free Funk / Avant-Garde Jazz / Saxophone

After making a comeback to the world of recording in 1987 with In All Languages, Ornette and Prime Time return a year later with this substantially different recording, Virgin Beauty. Fortunately on Beauty Ornette and his producer son Denardo quit trying to sound so 'modern' and dispose of the huge gated snare sound and the sampled 'hits' that made Languages a bit clumsy. The result is a return to a more natural and relaxed sound that fits Ornette's playing much better than all that forced trendiness.