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 Amazon.com essential recording
 |  | Diametrically Opposed Forces |  |
Two of the albums most influential to my understanding of jazz both came in 1959. Bill Evans masteripiece Portrait in Jazz and Ornette Coleman's The Shape of Jazz to Come. Bill defined the piano as the well-spring of jazz, Ornette thought the piano was the whole problem. Ornette's frentic solos were a stark contrast Bill's cyborg-like restraint. For all their differences, one thing on which the could agree was that traditional chord voicing had to go. These are both great ablums in their own right, but its all the more exciting to listen to them in context with full knowelge of all that they would inspire in other artists. To be sure, there are a great number of other highly influential albums of that time, but for me, these two stand apart from the pack.
June 25, 2008| | | SNAFS thinks of Coleman's early detractors *snickers* | |
I think a lynching (at least verbal) would be appropriate for the people who said he should be burned and destroyed for messing with the precious jazz formula. I think the risks Ornette Coleman took are VERY appropriate. Besides, unpredictability can be fun, and Ornette Coleman demonstrates this with glee. He does know too much is just _________ annoying and it doesn't sound daring or challenging, it just sounds bad, or _____. Unlike his most famous album (maybe, Free jazz, there isn't two seperate quartets for each channel. There are also only four members. The sound is very clean on this album, but there is a sense of adventure on this album.
Whenever I listen to it, there's always something to listen to. This is one of those albums like that, but this album really is just FUN. Now, introspection is awesome. But I appreciate music on pretty much all of it's fronts, those deep meanings, those messages, the dancing, or just plain on listening how people use their voices as instruments. Such as this. Don Cherry and Ornette Coleman do that, but they really just seem to have fun. The drums and bass are focused and run like the wind. Only in Lonely and Lonely Women are they toned down to beauty and melancholy, respectfully. The rest just rip, glide, and go insane.
Ornette Coleman and company deliver a well rounded, excellent, focused jazz album, not bound by any scales or time signatures. They build on the bebop/hardbop and modal jazz and add a bit of raw, addicting dissonants, and a great sense of freedom. That's my favorite thing about this album, is that it has plenty of that, but there is a great sense of freedom and very tuneful.
It's really not just a great way to slowly get into the world of free jazz and noisy music (everything from later Coleman to John Zorn's Naked City). Besides, it's not one album you'll forget after using as a stepping stone. It's not really a stepping stone, it's just an album that happens to be a good introduction for some people. I don't care what your excuse is (as long as it's not to be "cool". If so, your a _________ moron), get it.
9/10
June 16, 2008| | | Consider the Remastered Version | |
I expect that enough has already been said about this music and its importance in the development of jazz. Chances are you'll either love it (like me) or hate it. If you're planning to buy this recording, I'd highly recommend getting the 2005 remastered version, in the Atlantic Masters series. The sound quality is noticeably better than in this older version--it's not "enhanced," there's just more information. Sort of like the difference between regular TV and HDTV. Last time I checked, it was only 3 or 4 bucks more than this one--and well worth it. (If you upgrade, like I did, I can almost guarantee you'll be delighted.) Unfortunately this item doesn't show up under Ornette Coleman, but it comes up when you type in Shape of Jazz to Come. Coleman's CHANGE OF THE CENTURY is also available in this remastered series, and it also sounds wonderful.
February 25, 2008It's like nothing I've ever heard before, and in the most astonishing ways I could've ever thought possible. This and "Free Jazz" are two of the best albums I've ever heard in my entire life, and THAT IS NO OVERSTATEMENT! It's beautiful, and at times it will make you giggle and predominantly throughout it will just plain inspire. Inspire your mind to go out and wander around, in this guy's head. Ornette Coleman, you are truly a talented and accomplished inovator in not just jazz but in modern music, and you probably have a pretty good sense of humor, as we can see from such playful melodies and sounds. If you haven't please listen to these albums, and feel a wave of a new chapter in your music listening habits. One where you're reaching for Coleman, more than anything else.
November 26, 2007I wonder if Ornette knew that his title was true, that this album really did change a lot in jazz. This is arguably the first free jazz album, and it contains three of Ornette's very best songs. First off is Lonely Woman, a slow, tender song that's arguably his signature tune; then there's the lengthy Peace, which is a superb tune highlighted by Coleman's sax and Don Cherry's trumpet. Finally, Focus on Sanity is a beautiful piece of chaos that gives us a sneak preview of what Free Jazz: A Collective Improvization would be like. Those three songs are all, in my mind, jazz classics. Plus I really like Ornette's sax tone, on a plastic alto to make it REALLY unique. There are three other songs here, and they're all pretty good too: my favorite out of them is Eventually, which again has great playing from everyone. Chronology is a bit of a stereotypical Coleman song, it says nothing that this album doesn't say any better, but it's all right.
The interesting thing about this album, other than the fact that the songs are so GOOD, is that it abandons traditional harmonic structure: no piano, for instance, which was downright revolutionary for the time. Not even John Coltrane, my favorite free jazz artist, dropped the piano. This isn't my favorite Ornette album (that's Free Jazz), but I really like it just the same. It's an essential jazz classic. Even Rolling Stone admits it in their woefully incomplete "500 greatest albums" book. Highly recommended.
July 31, 2007More reviews at Amazon.com ...
