Ornette Coleman / Town Hall 1962 (Tape)

Description

2017 reissue – Limited edition / Chrome tape with Dolby

ESP-Disk’ Cassette Collection – Officially licensed from ESP-DISK’ 2017

Recorded on December 12, 1962 at Town Hall, NYC

1965-USA

Format: Cassette Tape

#Ref: PAESP-003

Release date: 2017

Release notes

In 1961, trumpeter Don Cherry had left Coleman’s band, and its membership morphed into this trio. The following year, Ornette, tired of receiving lower fees than white musicians drawing smaller crowds, tripled his fee. After the resulting booking drought, in December 1962, Coleman produced and recorded his own concert at Town Hall in New York City.

For the next two years, he made no appearances other than informally sitting in on others’ gigs on occasion. Thus, when ESP-Disk’ acquired some of the tracks from the Town Hall concert (in return for legal work ESP owner Bernard Stollman had done for Coleman) and issued them in the label’s first batch of releases in 1965, it was important documentation of Coleman’s evolution since the end of his time on Atlantic Records. Not only was it the first recording of his trio with Izenzon and Moffett, who were extremely compatible with the leader’s new direction, it also included Coleman’s first classical composition, “Dedication to Poets and Writers” (played by a string quartet), which anticipated elements of its composer’s later style.

Personnel: Ornette Coleman, alto sax / David Izenzon, bass / Charles Moffett, drums

Tracklisting

Side A) 1. Doughnut (9:28) 2. Sadness (4:20) 3. Dedication to Poets and Writers (9:17)

Side B) 1. The Ark (23:46)