John Coltrane - Ascension (1966)

"John Coltrane began using LSD fairly regularly some time in 1965. Although it has been stated by some that he took it only when he recorded OM later that year, he actually took it far more often during the last few years of his life, according to a number of people, including a member of his quartet who would prefer, like others, not to be quoted directly on this subject." 

- Coltrane biographer Eric Nisenson

John Coltrane - Ascension (1966; Impulse! Records)

Sonny Sharrock - Ask the Ages (1991)

When I discovered this record I saw who played on it: Pharoah Sanders on sax, Elvin Jones on drums and Charnett Moffett on bass (son of Charles who played drums on several Ornette Coleman records in the 1960s). 

Then there's the inimitable Sonny Sharrock- his playing is fire. 

Sadly, he died a few years after this record so this stands as his final testament.
Sonny Sharrock - Ask the Ages (1991; Axiom Records)

Archie Shepp - Fire Music (1965)

Archie Shepp was one of the cats back in the early-60's doing that "new thing" and earned his stripes playing with Cecil Taylor's band. He would go on to play with the New York Contemporary Five alongside Don Cherry and ultimately catch the attention of some of the vanguards of the new school; most notably Ornette (Shepp would play a Coleman composition on his first "solo" record, credited alongside the Bill Dixon Quartet) and Coltrane (playing on the Love Supreme sessions but not making the final cut- he would appear on the 2002 out-takes of that record), playing on John's Ascension album as well as a split with the 'Trane titled New Thing at Newport from 1965.

Shepp's finest moment would be this record, Fire Music; cut at a time when his political consciousness and burgeoning Afrocentricity was reaching a fever pitch- Archie would include an homage to Malcolm X as well as a Duke Ellington standard and the premier bossa nova song of all-time (The Girl from Ipanema). Considered groundbreaking as well as erratic, it showcases a legend at the height of his creativity- done right after his Four for Trane sessions (revolutionary reworkings of some Coltrane tunes from earlier in the decade).

Archie Shepp - Fire Music (1965; Impulse! Records)

The Golden Palominos - The Golden Palominos (1983)

I'm obviously drawn to things in the avant vein, so when I see an album that has a bunch of previously featured Out Sounds artists, I most definitely sit up and take notice. Two members of the early-80's downtown New York collective known as The Golden Palominos have already gotten their due; you may remember my Passover-related John Zorn post, or my tribute to prepared guitar wizard (and Oakland resident) Fred Frith. Those two musicians, along with drummer/composer (and former member of seminal new wave band The Feelies) Anton Fier, bassist Bill Laswell (who I learned of through his more recent work with Tabla Beat Science) and guitarist/singer Arto Lindsay (of No Wave-legends DNA) came together in 1981 to create an experimental funk-rock-jazz band that borrowed greatly from the No Wave movement as well as the avant-garde music and performance art of that whole downtown scene.

Conceptually; it's one piece of music that is broken up into its constituent parts; stylistically it flows pretty seamlessly from one track to the next- it sounds like a highly structured jam session where the bass and drum interlock perfectly with Laswell and Fier creating a pocket in which all the soloists improvise their respective parts; Frith and Lindsay weave guitars around each other, sounding at times like buzz saws and electric drills and other times hashing out intense riffs. Zorn's sax is either bubbling just below or comes at you full-force in the face, and "guests" like Jamaaladeen Tacuma on bass, Nicky Skopelitis on guitar and percussionist David Moss are all featured on various tracks. Knowing a little something about the nature of the musicians involved, I can almost guarantee that none of it is really "structured" per se; all the artists involved have carved out huge followings for their improvisational skills.

Now to the "why this record is important"; it features the first turntable scratching (from turntablist M.E. Mitchell) outside of a hip-hop record- and it doesn't sound the least bit out of place. Remember, rap music was still pretty new in 1983, so to hear this outside of a Grandmaster Flash or Rammellzee record might catch ears as strange.

The Golden Palominos - The Golden Palominos (1983; Celluloid Records)

Duke Ellington with Charles Mingus and Max Roach - Money Jungle (1962)

Instead of Charlie Mingus and Max Roach being at the beck-and-call of a then already legendary Duke Ellington; it's sort of the other way around, and you can hear that right off the bat with the opening (and title) track on this awesome collaboration album. Mingus and Roach both had tremendous egos, as they were the young, hot-shot composers/band leaders on the scene, just coming into their prime at the time of this recording. And nobody ever second-guessed the Duke, so for all three to put their egos aside and let creativity take over makes for an amazing listen right here.

Ellington has been primarily known for his swinging big band music, so for him to join up with two hard bop legends was certainly a stretch for him; he actually shows his chops, and he's really an under-rated pianist (he let Billy Strayhorn do most of the work for the 30 years they played together in his orchestra). Let's face it, as a ballad writer The Duke was unrivaled for decades, likewise with swing and that big band Cotton Club stuff; but as bebop and eventually hard bop would take over the jazz-scape, he was more or less pushed aside. This was his way of catching up with the pack, and it's a creative high point for the man.

I've already posted a Mingus album (1963's The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady) and I'll eventually get around to posting a Max Roach-Clifford Brown album in the near future, but for now, here's the 2002 re-mastered edition with alternate takes...

Duke Ellington with Charles Mingus and Max Roach - Money Jungle (1962; United Artists)

Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963)

Probably my favorite jazz record of all-time; either this or A Love Supreme depending on what kind of mood I'm in. This is actually a lot more than just straight jazz, and if you've never heard this one your ears probably hate you in advance. It's an album that sits at the crossroads between the avant-garde, big band music and that whole Third Stream movement that incorporated classical elements into free jazz by using traditional classical instrumentation (an eleven-piece "orchestra" performed this record) by experimenting and improvising, definitely not trademarks of classical music.

Charles Mingus was at the forefront of this school of thought, his friend Gunther Schuller coined the term after Mingus' 1955 record Jazzical Moods. Here on The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, Charlie took it a step further than ever before; re-imagining this suite as a free jazz-classical ballet piece to actually be performed by dancers (it never was because it was considered too emotionally intense!).

This is why Mingus is the greatest composer in the history of modern music; he could swing like Bird and Ellington, but he had Mozart and Beethoven in his blood...

Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963; Impulse! Records) 

Albert Ayler - Spiritual Unity (1964)

This album sounds like how Gumby feels. I don't mean how he feels emotionally, I mean how Gumby would feel if you touched his green skin.

The tone of Albert Ayler's saxophone has that Gumby-esque texture, it squeaks and squonks and blurts its way into your brain. If you dig free jazz, then this may be one of the crowning achievements of the genre.

...and to answer your question; yes- I used to do a lot of LSD.

Albert Ayler - Spiritual Unity (1964; ESP-Disk)

Andrew Hill - Point Of Departure (1965)

I buy a lot of jazz records based on the line-up; after all- an album is only as good as the sum of its parts.

But I don't need to rattle off a bunch of names here; just one: Eric Dolphy.

He totally steals the show. Yes, it's an Andrew Hill record, but it could be under Dolphy's name just the same because the brother shines. Completely awesome. After Out To Lunch and the stuff he did with Mingus, this is one of Dolphy's finest moments. Apologies to Hill, he's a pretty awesome pianist, too- his compositions are wonderful; but they exist so Dolphy can stretch out his unique voice and imaginative soloing. Listen closely during the track Spectrum, when the bass solo ends and Dolphy takes over- that's as sublime a moment on record you'll ever find. I'd be remiss to not mention Tony Williams' amazing drumming, but you'll just have to listen to understand this...

This is the 1999 Rudy Van Gelder re-issue with alternate takes of three tracks. Check this record out right now!

Andrew Hill - Point Of Departure (1965; Blue Note Records)

Bobby Hutcherson - Dialogue (1965)

The best thing about record shopping for jazz albums is that you have plenty of elbow room; no one listens to it anymore. Well, old dudes and guys like Jimmy Mac do. So, every once in a while I find something that I shouldn't in there, some rare out-of-print limited edition original copy of something, but mostly I'm a listener- I'll leave the collecting to the nerds, I need these records to actually listen to.

You might find a Bobby Hutcherson record, or a record he played on every now and again. Buy it. Even this record, his under-rated debut solo outing. It features no numbers written by Hutch, but just take a look at that line-up! Andrew Hill (composed four of these pieces) on piano, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Sam Rivers on sax, Joe Chambers on drums and Richard Davis on bass.

I wish more people listened to jazz...

Bobby Hutcherson - Dialogue (1965; Blue Note Records)

Grachan Moncur III - Evolution (1964)

It's my pleasure to bring you one of my favorite albums of all-time; one look at this line-up and your ears should start watering. Grachan Moncur III as leader and on trombone, Lee Morgan on trumpet (sounding uncharacteristically avant-garde dare I say?), Jackie McLean on alto saxophone (him and Moncur play off each other so well, check out McLean's albums Destination Out! and One Step Beyond for more of their interplay), Bobby Hutcherson on vibraphone (the king of the vibes, hands down), Tony Williams on drums (only 18 at the time of this session and already a seasoned pro) and the ever-steady Bob Cranshaw on bass. This is the perfect aural embodiment of the intersection of post-bop and avant-garde out there.

When I think of what the 1960s actually looked like, this album is it.

Grachan Moncur III - Evolution (1964; Blue Note Records)

Cecil Taylor - Unit Structures (1966)

This man can play some piano. Cecil Taylor brought something different to jazz in that he approached his instrument differently than anyone before him; his piano was almost like a drum to him- he played it like it was percussion; and in the all-encompassing realm of "free jazz", that works to great advantage here. His idea that tiny fragments of previously rehearsed songs (called "unit structures") could be improvised up into fully realized songs.

So here's Taylor's Unit Structures, a ferocious blend of high-energy and atonal "out sounds"...

Cecil Taylor - Unit Structures (1966; Blue Note Records)

Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus (1956)

I realized the other day that for the last six months or so, all I've really been listening to is jazz (and if you've been keeping up with these posts, about a third of them are jazz). I haven't gone through such an intense jazz listening period in about five or six years, so it's been nice to re-acquaint myself as well discover a bunch of new (old) stuff.

I was record shopping one day (circa 2004) and had a few albums in my hand (if I can remember it accurately it was Joy Division's Closer, King Crimson's In The Court Of The Crimson King and Dead Kennedys' Frankenchrist); I found myself in the jazz section, picking up a copy of Saxophone Colossus. 

There was this really old guy looking at record next to me, saw what I had and said, "oh, that's a good one- Max Roach plays on that." It was an '87 re-issue copy for $6.00. So I put the King Crimson record back and got the Sonny Rollins instead.

That was a great idea. Dear old dude that told me to get it, wherever you are- thanks...

Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus (1956; Prestige Records)

Supersilent - 6 (2003)

Free-improvisational Norwegian quartet Supersilent bridges the gap between jazz, rock and electronica so perfectly it's surprising they come up with this stuff on the spot. They don’t rehearse or discuss the music at all before recording so it remains as random and free as possible; here on 6 it can be dark and foreboding, yet at times has a strong tribal element to it. Other times it's as cold and inorganic as rusted metal from a polar ice station.

Anytime a group of people are improvising musically, there's a point when the madness becomes beautiful; it's like taking too much acid and becoming crippled by the sheer terror of staring into the abyss, seeing the world as it is and then deciding "it's only the drugs... I'm totally fine" as the smiling breaks into laughter, realizing you just spent the last 45 minutes in your best friend's parents bedroom, tracing a recursive pattern over and over on their Persian rug.

Yeah. This album is the soundtrack to those times... 

Supersilent - 6 (2003; Rune Grammofon)

Lennie Tristano - Crosscurrents (1949)

"Pianist Lennie Tristano is heard with his finest group, a sextet with altoist Lee Konitz, tenor-saxophonist Warne Marsh, guitarist Billy Bauer, bassist Arnold Fishkin, and either Harold Granowsky or Denzil Best on drums. Their seven selections include some truly remarkable unisons on "Wow," memorable interplay by the horns on "Sax of a Kind," and the earliest examples of free improvisation in jazz: "Intuition" and "Digression."

- Scott Yanow, Allmusic.com

"Here is another first for Lennie Tristano. "Intuition" represents the first collective improvisation in the history of recorded jazz. Only the order in which the instruments would enter was determined beforehand. Everything else was created on the fly. Tristano had been experimenting with this type of total improv in private, and now put it on record at this path-breaking 1949 session. This song was a radical move in the 1940s, and still sounds futuristic today. Put this up on the shelf with other Tristano breakthroughs, including the first recorded example of atonal piano jazz, and that earth-shattering version of "I Can't Get Started" from 1946. But this artist's recorded legacy is more than a matter of being first. The sheer brilliance of Tristano's conception is evident time and time again on these seminal recordings. Why this artist doesn't figure more prominently in the jazz history books remains one of the great mysteries of 20th-century music." 

- Ted Gioia, Jazz.com

Lennie Tristano - Crosscurrents (1949; Capitol Records)

Krzysztof Komeda - Astigmatic (1966)

Considering the harsh and oppressive social and cultural climate in Poland during the '60s, it's a wonder any of this extraordinary music ever saw the light of day, let alone actually got made. Komeda (born Krzysztof Trzciński in 1931) is more well-known for his film scores than jazz excursions, and especially for his work on the soundtrack for his friend Roman Polanski's movie Rosemary's Baby.

Astigmatic is an interesting find because of the secrecy of these recording sessions, pushing them underground by the Soviet-occupied regime's assertion that jazz was for the bourgeois and avant-garde jazz would incite free thinking. Add to that the sheer isolation of Eastern Bloc countries and their citizens' inability to buy any good "western" music, and what you have is a surprisingly awesome album.

The finest jazz ever made from behind the Iron Curtain...

Krzysztof Komeda - Astigmatic (1966; Polskie Nagrania Muza)

Ornette Coleman - The Shape Of Jazz To Come (1959)

Uh oh. People are resistant to change. They don't like to be uncomfortable. They like reliability...

Considering the other "top" records from 1959; Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue, Charles Mingus' Mingus Ah Um, Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers' Moanin' and The Dave Brubeck Quartet's Time Out; the world wasn't exactly ready for Ornette's "changes". He was giving clues (mostly hidden in plain view; the titles of his albums for one- Something Else!!!! and Tomorrow Is The Question: The New Music of Ornette Coleman are as obvious as it gets) as well as the clues in his music; abandoning structure ever so slightly, it's not as "free" as Coleman would eventually become (or as out there as Ayler, Sun Ra and eventually Coltrane) but these are the seeds being planted in the soil, right next to all those other big trees that have their roots planted firmly in the earth of hard bop; it would shake their foundation to the core and by 1964 the entire jazz community would embrace "free" jazz.

So yeah, this kind of started it all...

Ornette Coleman - The Shape Of Jazz To Come (1959; Atlantic Records)

Sam Rivers - Contours (1965)

Sam Rivers is the man.

This is his second solo album, recorded in '65 right after he left the Miles Davis Quintet (he appears on only one Quintet record, Miles In Tokyo). It wasn't that Rivers wasn't up to snuff with Davis, it was that he was too "free" to play Miles' compositions the way they were intended- that and; frankly, he was too good to be a sideman any longer. Take this record by itself (or as a companion piece to Fuchsia Swing Song, also released in 1965) and you have some of the finest avant-garde post bop of the mid-60s.

The line-up here is spectacular as well, Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass) and Joe Chambers (drums).

Sam Rivers - Contours (1965; Blue Note Records)