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ORNETTE COLEMAN
The Complete Science Fiction Sessions (Columbia)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale
Ornette Coleman was only with Columbia Records for a year before being caught up in the label's jazz purge of '72, which saw the departure of Coleman, Charles Mingus, Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett. While someone in Columbia A&R is no doubt given the daily assignment to curse his predecessors, the year they got out of Ornette was an exceptional one.
His first release for the label was Science Fiction, which found him in the midst of developing his Harmolodic Theory and just prior to the formation of Prime Time, the group that would propel that theory into the jazz stratosphere. Harmolodics were formally introduced the following year on Skies Of America, a sweeping work featuring the London Symphony Orchestra. Then came the purge...
But that wasn't all there was for Ornette Coleman and Columbia. Those Science Fiction sessions in September of 1971 produced enough material for two albums, and though it took a decade for the music to get out to the world, the remaining tracks from the sessions were eventually released as Broken Shadows, along with a few tracks recorded a year later.
This two disc collection combines all of the material released on Science Fiction and Broken Shadows along with three previously unreleased tracks that complete the tracks laid down during the 1971 sessions. A variety of lineups are featured, most notably the reunion of the great quartet of the sixties featuring Charlie Haden (bass), Billy Higgins (drums) and Don Cherry (pocket trumpet). They appear as a unit and as parts of various other ensembles, with other noteworthy contributions from Bobby Bradford (trumpet), Cedar Walton (piano) Jim Hall (guitar) and Ed Blackwell (drums).
The material is vintage Ornette, adventurous, challenging and looking forward even today, 30 years after it was committed to tape. It's the kind of music that takes a certain amount of effort to appreciate, but it's effort well rewarded. This is the first US CD release of this material, and it's long overdue. If you're ready to know more about jazz than Burns and Marsalis are willing to tell you, this is a good place to start.
Track List:
Disc One: What Reason Could I Give * Civilization Day * Street Woman * Science Fiction * Rock The Clock * All My Life * Law Years * The Jungle Is A Skyscraper * School Work * Country Town Blues * Street Woman (alternate take) * Civilization Day (alternate mix)
Disc Two: Happy House * Elizabeth * Written Word * Broken Shadows * Rubber Gloves * Good Girl Blues * Is It Forever
© 2001 - Shaun Dale