Search - Ornette Coleman;Don Payne;Red Mitchell;Walter Norris;Percy Heath;Charlie Haden;Billy Higgins;Shelly Manne :: Ornette Coleman - Too Much, Too Soon (Something Else + Tomorrow Is the Question + The Shape of Jazz to Come + Twins + The Art of the Improvisers)

With his harsh, shrill tone and weird white plastic alto saxophone, Ornette Coleman s sudden arrival on the unsuspecting late 50s jazz scene came as an out-of-the-blue shock. On his first album, Something Else! he was accompanied by his pocket-trumpet-playing partner Don Cherry and a traditional piano-bass-drums rhythm section. In the light of his later work it was an immature debut. The feel of his themes recalled the early Parker- Gillespie quintets, unjustly casting him back to the days of early bop. His subsequent albums Tomorrow Is the Question and The Shape of Jazz to Come dropped the piano, and a responsive bass allowed his music to come through vividly, more reassuring and provocative. His voice was his alone, and the quartet s playing as a unit was cohesive and empathetic. He proved he was not just another Parker . His essential contribution to jazz was himself. Many critics and musicians thought he would point the way to a new direction in jazz, while others felt he had been pushed into the limelight before his time. Ornette Coleman has always been bigger than life and, quite often, far ahead of his peers. But his debut was, for some, too much, too soon. CD1 ORNETTE COLEMAN QUINTET Tracks #1-9: Don Cherry (pocket tp) Ornette Coleman (as) Walter Norris (p) Don Payne (b) Billy Higgins (d) Recorded in Los Angeles, 1958 ORNETTE COLEMAN QUARTET Tracks #10-12: Don Cherry (pocket tp) Ornette Coleman (as) Red Mitchell (b) Shelly Manne (d) Recorded in Los Angeles, 1959 CD2 ORNETTE COLEMAN QUARTET Tracks #1-6: Don Cherry (pocket tp) Ornette Coleman (as) Percy Heath (b) Shelly Manne (d) Recorded in Los Angeles, 1959 Tracks #7-14: Don Cherry (pocket tp) Ornette Coleman (as) Charlie Haden (b) Billy Higgins (d) Recorded in Los Angeles, 1959 Includes a 40-page booklet with extensive notes and rare photos