Vintage Coleman
Byron the Bulb | 07/24/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This album is a bit pricey, and I wish it would be re-leased at a cheaper price or as part of a box-set. Nevertheless, I recently purchased this CD and it is one of my favourite Coleman offerings. The CD begins with two short, lyrical pieces featuring a trio of Coleman, David Izenzon on bass, and Charles Moffet on percussion. The third track is a piece for a string quartet and sounds to me closer to a through-composed contemporary classical piece than a free jazz performance (this is not a complaint, merely an observation). The CD ends with another piece by the trio, a magnificent, fiery, 23 minute improvisation. I was particularly impressed by the interplay between David Izenzon bowed bass and Charles Moffet's polyrhythms throughout the trio sections of the album. This is free jazz, but it doesn't sound at all like dense, difficult earlier albums like "Free Jazz." Instead the music is often quietly eerie, with Coleman freely exploring themes over Izenzon's long, winding notes."
Jazzical??
Funkmeister G | 01/17/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Recorded in New York, partly as a trio [w/ bass & percussion] & also as a string section, this is not as immediately appealing or likely to receive as much repeated playing as say The Shape of Jazz To Come, but it is some brilliant music nevertheless. It opens w/ a 9-minute track called Doughnut which spirals up & down very stylishly, & is probably my favourite track off the album. Sadness + Dedication to Artists & Writers both feature a lot of violin & are slow, brooding & moody, something rather different to the other stuff he was doing but very powerful, I think he himself isn't playing, maybe conducting his composition [he has said he wants to be known as more than just a saxophonist]. Side 2 features a 23-minute piece called The Ark which lets him fully explore the outer reaches of the sax playing spectrum & mixes both styles. The audience is polite in that it waits until each piece is over then applauds loudly. I know I would I had been there."
Track Listings (4) - Disc #1