VARIOUS ARTISTS
The Blue Note Years Vol. 5
The Avant-Garde (Blue Note)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

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Though some of this music almost belongs on the hard bop set, there is plenty of avant-garde magic on this two-CD collection. Just about everyone represented was extremely important in the development of this much misunderstood form of jazz. Innovators like Andrew Hill, Eric Dolphy and Cecil Taylor forever changed the accepted boundaries of their instruments and showed young players what was possible when roadmaps were ignored. This collection is a must for those who love the form, but more importantly it is the perfect vehicle for fans of hard and post bop who want to explore the avant-garde, because most of the songs stay within loose structures. If newbies run up against, say, Borah Bergman on the first attempt at appreciating avant-garde, the shock could just about kill them, or at least turn them forever away from what may be the most rewarding of all jazz forms. Organist Larry Young's percussive, modal "Moontrain" eases the listener in nicely, opening the door for the looser structures of Eric Dolphy, Andrew Hill, Jackie McLean, Don Cherry, Ornette Coleman, Sam Rivers, Tony Williams, Cecil Taylor and Graehan Moneur III. It's not a complete education in the avant-garde, but it isn't supposed to be. It IS a great collection of music recorded in this genre at Blue Note between 1963 and 1967. As part of the Blue Note Years series it comes in a classy gate-fold package with good liners and it has been created with tender loving care, much like the music within.

Track List:

Disc One: The Moontrain (Larry Young) * Black Fire (Andrew Hill) * Siete Ocho (Andrew Hill) * Frankenstein (Jackie McLean) * Kahlil The Prophet (Jackie McLean) * Tomorrow Afternoon (Tony Williams) * Luminous Monolith (Sam Rivers) * Thandiwa (Graehan Moneur III)

Disc Two: Hat and Beard (Eric Dolphy) * Monk In Wonderland (Graehan Moneur III) * New Monastery (Andrew Hill) * Out To Lunch (Eric Dolphy) * Dawn (Ornette Coleman) * Broad Way Blues (Ornette Coleman) * There Is The Bomb (Don Cherry) * Steps (Cecil Taylor)

(C) 1999 - DJ Johnson