Ornette Coleman - An Evening With Ornette Coleman, Vol. 1 - 180g Vinyl LP

Release date 2016

Released as a double LP in the U.S. on the Arista Freedom label in the early '70s, this live concert captures Coleman in a transitional period that found him experimenting with contemporary classical forms as well as making more frequent use of the violin and trumpet. In many ways, it can be heard as an extension of the ideas first encountered on the ESP Town Hall Concert recording. It begins with a lengthy piece for wind quintet (on which neither Coleman nor his partners for this event, bassist David Izenson and drummer Charles Moffett, perform) that foreshadows later work such as Skies of America. While it's somewhat derivative of, even at that point, rather clichéd modernist styles, it still possesses a uniquely Coleman-ish verve and lilt. This is followed by his harrowing "Sadness," led in by Izenson's grinding arco and launched into the ether by Coleman's bone-piercing alto; it's an amazing performance.

by Brian Olewnick