Ornette Coleman The Atlantic Years 180g 10LP Box Set (Vinyl)

TAS Super LP List! Special Merit: Informal
Limited Edition 180g Vinyl 10LP Box Set!
10 Essential LPs From The Free Jazz Pioneer!
Includes 6 Tracks On Vinyl For First Time + Several Titles Long Out-Of-Print On Vinyl!

One of the most important (and controversial) innovators of the jazz avant-garde, Ornette Coleman gained both loyal followers and lifelong detractors when he seemed to burst on the scene in 1959 fully formed. Originally inspired by Charlie Parker, he started playing alto at 14 and tenor two years later. His early experiences were in R&B bands in Texas, including those of Red Connors and Pee Wee Crayton, but his attempts to play in an original style were consistently met with hostility both by audiences and fellow musicians. Coleman moved to Los Angeles in the early '50s, where he worked as an elevator operator while studying music books.

Coleman recorded one of the greatest bodies of work in jazz during a 22-month-long burst of creativity. Between 1959 and 1961, the saxophonist and composer released six studio albums on Atlantic Records that helped usher in the avant-garde, free jazz movement. Those albums, along with more than two hours of session outtakes, are featured together in the 10-LP boxed set ORNETTE COLEMAN: THE ATLANTIC YEARS, featuring newly remastered audio by John Webber at AIR Studios. Several of these titles are long out-of-print on vinyl. The Ornette Coleman Legacy, featuring six songs originally released for the first time in 1993 as part of Rhino's CD boxed set Beauty Is A Rare Thing, is making its vinyl debut.

The LPs are presented in replica European-style 1960s jackets in a side-loading slipcase along with a 12 x 12 booklet with new liner notes written by renowned author-music critic Ben Ratliff, plus rare pictures taken by legendary jazz photographer Lee Friedlander. The albums featured in the set are: The Shape Of Jazz To Come (1959), Change Of The Century (1959), This Is Our Music (1960), Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation (1960), Ornette!(1961), Ornette On Tenor (1961), The Art Of Improvisers (1970), Twins (1971), To Whom Who Keeps A Record (1975), and The Ornette Coleman Legacy (1993).

On most of his Atlantic albums, Coleman recorded with a quartet that included trumpeter Don Cherry, plus either Charlie Haden or Scott LaFaro on bass, and either Billy Higgins or Ed Blackwell on drums. One notable exception is Free Jazz, a ground-breaking single-track album where Coleman led a double quartet through a nearly 40-minute collective improvisation. The stereo mix used for the album separates the quartets into different channels; one on the right and the other on the left.

Coleman worked extensively with producer Nesuhi Ertegun on the music featured in this collection. Their partnership began in 1959 with Coleman's Atlantic debut, The Shape of Jazz To Come, an album the Library of Congress added to its National Recording Registry in 2012.

Among the albums included in THE ATLANTIC YEARS are three compilations that Atlantic released in the 1970's: The Art Of Improvisers (1970), Twins (1971), and To Whom Who Keeps A Record (1975.) These albums include outtakes from recording sessions for all six of Coleman's studio albums.

Features:
• Limited Edition
• 10LP Box Set
• 180g Vinyl
• Newly Remastered Audio by John Webber at AIR Studios
• Deluxe Vintage-Style Jackets
• Side-Loading Slipcase
• 12x12 Booklet with new liner notes by Ben Ratliff and rare photos by legendary jazz photographer Lee Friedlander
• Includes The Ornette Coleman Legacy - featuring 6 tracks available for the first time on vinyl

Selections:
LP 1 - The Shape Of Jazz To Come:
1. Lonely Woman
2. Eventually
3. Peace
4. Focus On Sanity
5. Congeniality
6. Chronology
Musicians:
Ornette Coleman, alto saxophone
Don Cherry, cornet
Charlie Haden, bass
Billy Higgins, drums

LP 2 - Change Of The Century:
1. Ramblin'
2. Free
3. The Face Of The Bass
4. Forerunner
5. Bird Food
6. Una Muy Bonita
7. Change Of The Century
Musicians:
Ornette Coleman, alto saxophone
Don Cherry, pocket trumpet
Charlie Haden, bass
Billy Higgins, drums

LP 3 - This Is Our Music:
1. Blues Connotation
2. Beauty Is A Rare Thing
3. Kaleidoscope
4. Embraceable You
5. Poise
6. Humpty Dumpty
7. Folk Tale
Musicians:
Ornette Coleman, alto saxophone
Don Cherry, pocket trumpet
Charlie Haden, bass
Ed Blackwell, drums

LP 4 - Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation By The Ornette Coleman Double Quartet:
1. Free Jazz (Part 1)
2. Free Jazz (Part 2)
Musicians:
Ornette Coleman, alto saxophone
Don Cherry, pocket trumpet
Scott LaFaro, bass
Billy Higgins, drums
Eric Dolphy, bass clarinet
Freddie Hubbard, trumpet
Charlie Haden, bass
Ed Blackwell, drums

LP 5 - Ornette!:
1. W.R.U.
2. T. & T.
3. C. & D.
4. R.P.D.D.
Musicians:
Ornette Coleman, alto saxophone
Don Cherry, pocket trumpet
Scott LaFaro, bass
Ed Blackwell, drums

LP 6 - Ornette On Tenor:
1. Cross Breeding
2. Mapa
3. Enfant
4. EOS
5. Ecars
Musicians:
Ornette Coleman, tenor saxophone
Don Cherry, pocket trumpet
Jimmy Garrison, bass
Ed Blackwell, drums

LP 7 - The Art Of The Improvisers:
1. The Circle With A Hole In The Middle
2. Just For You
3. The Fifth Of Beethoven
4. The Alchemy Of Scott LaFaro
5. Moon Inhabitants
6. The Legend Of Bebop
7. Harlem's Manhattan
Musicians:
Ornette Coleman, alto & tenor saxophone
Don Cherry, pocket trumpet, cornet
Charlie Haden, bass
Scott LaFaro, bass (4)
Jimmy Garrison, bass (7)
Billy Higgins, drums
Ed Blackwell, drums

LP 8 - Twins:
1. First Take
2. Little Symphony
3. Monk And The Nun
4. Check Up
5. Joy Of A Toy
Musicians:
Ornette Coleman, alto saxophone
Don Cherry, pocket trumpet, cornet
Charlie Haden, bass
Scott LaFaro, bass (1, 4)
Billy Higgins, drums (1, 3)
Ed Blackwell, drums
Freddie Hubbard, trumpet (1)
Eric Dolphy, bass clarinet (1)

LP 9 - To Whom Who Keeps A Record:
1. Music Always
2. Brings Goodness
3. To Us
4. All
5. P.S. Unless One Has (Blues Connotation No. 2)
6. Some Other
7. Motive For Its Use
Musicians:
Ornette Coleman, alto saxophone
Don Cherry, pocket trumpet
Charlie Haden, bass
Billy Higgins, drums (1)
Ed Blackwell, drums

LP 10 - The Ornette Coleman Legacy:
1. Rise And Shine
2. The Tribes Of New York
3. I Heard It Over The Radio
4. Revolving Doors
5. Mr. And Mrs. People
6. Proof Readers