The Shape of Jazz to Come
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| The Shape of Jazz to Come | ||
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| Studio album by Ornette Coleman | ||
| Released | 1959 | |
| Recorded | May 22 1959, United States | |
| Genre | avant-garde jazz | |
| Length | 37:59 | |
| Label | Atlantic Records | |
| Producer(s) | Nesuhi Ertegun | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| Ornette Coleman chronology | ||
| Tomorrow Is the Question! (1959) | The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959) | Change of the Century (1960)
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The Shape of Jazz to Come is an album by Ornette Coleman. It was his debut album for Atlantic Records, who released it in late 1959.
The Shape of Jazz to Come was one of the first avant-garde jazz albums ever recorded. It was recorded in 1959 by Ornette Coleman's piano-less quartet. The album was considered shocking at the time, because it had no recognizable chord structure and included simultaneous improvisation by the performers in a much freer style than previously in jazz. However, the album is probably also one of the most accessible free jazz albums ever recorded. It is nothing like the later free jazz albums by Ornette and others which are more typically avant-garde.
The breakthrough that Ornette made was to leave out the chord-playing instruments from the band. There is a brief melody, much like the tune to a typical jazz song, and then several minutes of free improvisation follows, and then the tune is played again, much like a bebop format, where the form is melody/solos/melody. However, unlike the bebop tune, where the chords and song form are repeated throughout the solos, Ornette's music leaves the chords and song form by the wayside.
The album was a breakthrough work, in that it founded the avant-garde & free jazz movement. Later avant-garde jazz was often very different from this, but the work laid the foundation for the format in which nearly all later avant-garde and free jazz would be played.
In 2003, the album was ranked number 246 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
All tracks written by Ornette Coleman.
[edit] Side A
- "Lonely Woman"
- "Eventually"
- "Peace"
[edit] Side B
- "Focus on Sanity"
- "Congeniality"
- "Chronology"
