Ornette Coleman - New York Is Now!

Ornette's "Hidden" Gem

I say "hidden" because Ornette fanatics have always known about this record and it's magic. However, to people just discovering Ornette this one tends to fall beneath the cracks. This point of view is a shame as everyones playing is coherent,ever shifting, and swinging. Dewey's solo intro into Garden of Souls quite frankly is worth the record alone. February 28, 2004

Four great souls & soul to spare

Ornette holds on to Dewey & borrows Jimmy Garrison & Elvin Jones from Trane's side of the tracks for some steamy blowing sessions (see Love Call). The disciplined playing of Jimmy & Elvin keep the horns from wandering too far out in these riff driven compositions. No attempts are made to disguise the Southwest boogie 'n' blues roots. An exceptional one-time quartet collaboration. "Garden of Souls" indeed. Four great souls & soul to spare. Essential Sixties improvisational music.

Bob Rixon August 19, 2003

Great Late 60s Jazz

Recorded on the same dates in 1968 as "Love Call," "New York Is Now" pairs Ornette with Dewey Redman (yes, Joshua's father) on tenor sax, and two-thirds of the late 'Trane quartet (Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones). Tracks "The Garden of Souls" and "Broad Way Blues" are the stand outs, with Ornette and Dewey taking flight. My reservation at awarding a fifth star for this recording comes from the fact that this "second" pianoless quartet just doesn't quite measure up to the Atlantic group of the early 60s (Cherry, Haden and Higgins). Despite the fact that Garrsion and Elvin feed the group creative foundations to build upon, it just seems to me that Ornette is running out of new ideas. Perhaps this is why he made such drastic changes in a few years time. July 8, 2000

More reviews at Amazon.com ...