Track Listing

1. Lonely Woman
2. Eventually
3. Peace
4. Focus on Sanity
5. Congeniality
6. Chronology

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28089 in Music
• Brand: Coleman
• Released on: 1990-10-25
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Amazon.com essential recording
On this highly influential 1959 album, Ornette Coleman's unique writing style and idiosyncratic solo language forever changed the jazz landscape. On classics such as "Lonely Woman," "Congeniality," and "Focus on Sanity," Coleman used the tunes' moods and melodic contours, rather than their chords, as a basis for his improvisations. In so doing, he opened up jazz soloing immensely and ushered in new freedoms--both individually and collectively. Lest these innovations sound too dry or abstract, it must be noted that both Coleman and trumpeter Don Cherry play with a deep-felt emotion and joy that is as infectious today as it was then. This is truly an essential jazz recording, marking the end of one era, providing the blueprint for the next. --Wally Shoup

Customer Reviews

Still Shapely after all these years
A lot of people are unnecessarily afraid of Ornette Coleman because the words "free jazz" and "avante-garde" have been applied to his music. But his music is quite approachable. This album is a great place to start for people who are new to Ornette. This album caused a stir in 1959 when it was released, with jazz critics exploding in wrath. The reason for all this furor? Ornette chose not to use a chordal instrument on this music. No piano, no guitar. He and Don Cherry harmonize to imply chords, and occasionally Charlie Haden (bassist supreme!) supplies the occasional three or four note chordal riff, but mostly the music consists of melodies (and very melodic solos) played over an implied structure. Ornette's tone is sharp and lemony on the sax, while Don Cherry's cornet tone is sweeter and more rounded. They state themes and then toss melodies back and forth, while Haden and drummer Billy Higgins interject and support. The music on this album is like listening to four intelligent, funny people having a conversation. The musicians are obviously listening to each other and bouncing ideas off one another, which is exactly as it should be in jazz. The music is played with wit, soul, and emotion, and in spite of the skeleton crew instrumentation, the melodic and rhythmic ideas are of such quality that you can listen to this CD many times, and get something new out of it every time. How many records can you say that about? I wish more of the new jazz artists would base their creations on this kind of innovative, interesting music, instead of rehashing the same old swing and bop cliches as they tend to do. Ornette's "Shape of Jazz to Come" is still as relevant as ever. Listen especially closely to Charlie Haden's bass playing on this CD and note how far ahead of his time he was; there wouldn't be a more innovative jazz bassist until Jaco Pastorius came along twenty years later. This is indeed the shape of Jazz to Come; hopefully one day the rest of the music world will catch up, because I guarantee you the world will be a better place when they do.

Plastic Axe Attacks
Because it is populated by drug addicts, ne-er do wells, misogynists, slackers, and people who wear sunglasses after dark, the world of jazz is thought of as a "cool" place where anything goes. Surprisingly enough, there is stodginess, conservatism, and resistance to change in the world of jazz just as there is everywhere else. No one knows this better than Ornette Coleman.

In the late `50s, sporting a plastic alto sax and some wild new ideas, Coleman blew onto the scene and was quickly fed into the teeth of a whirring buzz saw. Jazz insiders disagreed about Ornette Coleman; some saw him as a deranged savage with no grounding in jazz traditions, others saw him as a grandstanding opportunist attempting to pass off bizarre behavior for avante garde music, and frightening the dogs in the process. Both groups agreed he should be burned at the stake. A smattering of advocates knew better than to speak up.

What's so funny is that 40 plus years later, everyone admits he's a giant of jazz and hugely influential, but nobody listens to him. (He's like PBS in this respect). Two things jump out. When he kicked the piano out of the ensemble, the chords, the musical foundation, went too. Heresy. Next, as good as Don Cherry is, Coleman put all the musical pressure on himself, his alto carries everything. This might be thought of as chutzpah or recklessness except that he really is that good.

The Shape Of Jazz To Come proves this beyond all debate. Though Coleman is considered "way out," this CD is thoroughly listenable and exquisitely beautiful. Coleman's abilities as a solo artist are absolutely stunning, in a class with giants like Coltrane, Parker, and Young. In later efforts, like the Stockholm recordings, he would venture even further off of Main Street, and at times the results are not mellifluous. It doesn't matter. Coleman is the real thing, a fearless originator, a prodigy, and a national treasure. He is like the film director Terry Gilliam in that even his failures are better than the successes of almost all his colleagues. With The Shape Of Jazz To Come, Ornette Coleman succeeds unequivocally.

Title of this album is no mere boast.
Ornette Coleman is a name frequently associated with the very challenging world of avante-garde jazz. But The Shape Of Jazz To Come, while certainly revolutionary and groundbreaking, is not difficult music at all to listen to. Later records such as 1960's Free Jazz would fit that bill, but this is a splendidly accessible post-bop jazz album. Even people who hate Coleman's later work and the whole concept of free jazz (I'm sort of mixed on the idea myself) will probably love this.

The main breakthrough of this album is the idea of implied chords. Rather than placing a conventional chord under each note, Coleman chooses instead to only imply the existence of the chord and in so doing leaves open many different possible melodies to improvise with. While this could seemingly invite chaotic dissonance within the framework of a quartet, the band plays with fluidity throughout. Every track is full of easy melodies, which is not something you could say for a lot of Coleman's other albums.

Of course, when you have a band this talented (Don Cherry on trumpet, Charlie Haden on bass, Billy Higgins on drums) it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. Each player is among the cream of the crop on their respective instruments, and Ornette himself is no slouch either. Every track is a stone-cold classic--the elegant opener Lonely Woman, hard bop numbers like Eventually, Focus On Sanity, and Congeniality, the graceful ballad Peace, and the solid closer Chronology.

Along with other landmark jazz albums released in 1959 (Giant Steps, Kind Of Blue, Time Out etc.) this is vital to the casual listener's collection and the one Coleman disc I'd reccommend to even a novice jazzer. At the same time, if you are a fan of later Coltrane, Sun Ra, Dolphy etc. this is where it all started, so dig in and enjoy.