Don Cherry • Complete Communion

 

 

Review
by Steve Huey  
Not counting a couple of sessions he co-led with John Coltrane and Albert Ayler, Complete Communion was the first album Don Cherry recorded as a leader following his departure from the Ornette Coleman Quartet. It was also one of the earliest showcases for the Argentinian tenor saxophonist Gato Barbieri, who Cherry discovered during a stay in Rome. While the music on Complete Communion was still indebted to Coleman's concepts, Cherry injected enough of his own personality to begin differentiating himself as a leader. He arranged the original LP as two continuous side-long suites, each of which incorporated four different compositions and was recorded in a single take. In practice, this meant that several melodic themes popped up over the course of each side; all the musicians free-associated off of each theme, engaging in intense, abstract dialogues before moving on to the next. As the album's title suggests, every member of the group not only solos, but shares the total space selflessly. Bassist Henry Grimes and drummer Ed Blackwell both play extremely active roles, especially Grimes, who solos powerfully and sometimes carries the main riffs. Often the music sounds more like a conversation, as opposed to a solo with support, because the musicians make such intelligent use of space and dynamics, and wind up with a great deal of crackling, volatile interplay as a result. The leader remains recognizably himself, and his burnished tone is a nice contrast with Barbieri's fiery approach; for his part, Barbieri's playing has a lot of speechlike inflections, and he spends a lot of time in the upper register of his horn, which makes him sound quite similar to Ornette at times. As a whole, the project comes off remarkably well, establishing Cherry as an avant-garde force to be reckoned with in his own right.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/complete-communion-mw0000051472

///////

Reseña
por Steve Huey  
Sin contar un par de sesiones que codirigió con John Coltrane y Albert Ayler, Complete Communion fue el primer álbum que Don Cherry grabó como líder tras su salida del Ornette Coleman Quartet. También fue uno de los primeros escaparates para el saxofonista tenor argentino Gato Barbieri, a quien Cherry descubrió durante una estancia en Roma. Aunque la música de Complete Communion seguía siendo deudora de los conceptos de Coleman, Cherry inyectó lo suficiente de su propia personalidad para empezar a diferenciarse como líder. Organizó el LP original como dos suites laterales continuas, cada una de las cuales incorporaba cuatro composiciones diferentes y se grababa en una sola toma. En la práctica, esto significaba que aparecían varios temas melódicos a lo largo de cada cara; todos los músicos se asociaban libremente a partir de cada tema, entablando diálogos intensos y abstractos antes de pasar al siguiente. Como sugiere el título del álbum, cada miembro del grupo no sólo hace solos, sino que comparte el espacio total desinteresadamente. El bajista Henry Grimes y el batería Ed Blackwell desempeñan papeles extremadamente activos, especialmente Grimes, que hace solos potentes y a veces lleva los riffs principales. A menudo, la música suena más como una conversación que como un solo con apoyo, porque los músicos hacen un uso muy inteligente del espacio y la dinámica y, como resultado, acaban con una gran cantidad de crepitantes y volátiles interacciones. El líder sigue siendo reconocible, y su tono bruñido contrasta con la fogosidad de Barbieri; por su parte, la interpretación de Barbieri tiene muchas inflexiones discursivas, y pasa mucho tiempo en el registro superior de su trompa, lo que le hace sonar bastante parecido a Ornette en algunos momentos. En conjunto, el proyecto resulta notablemente bien, estableciendo a Cherry como una fuerza vanguardista a tener en cuenta por derecho propio.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/complete-communion-mw0000051472

Tracks:
 - Complete Communion - 20:38
1.1 - Complete Communion
1.2 - And Now
1.3 - Golden Heart
1.4 - Remembrance
 - Elephantasy - 19:36
2.1 - Elephantasy
2.2 - Our Feelings
2.3 - Bishmallah
2.4 - Wind, Sand And Stars

    Record Company – Capitol Records, Inc.
    Manufactured By – Capitol Records, Inc.
    Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Capitol Records, Inc.
    Copyright © – Capitol Records, Inc.
    Recorded At – Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey

    Bass – Henry Grimes
    Cornet, Composed By – Don Cherry
    Design [Cover] – Reid Miles
    Design [Reissue] – Patrick Roques
    Drums – Edward Blackwell*
    Engineer [Recording] – Rudy Van Gelder
    Liner Notes [Original] – Nat Hentoff
    Mastered By [Transferred Using 24-bit Resolution] – Ron McMaster
    Photography By [Cover And Liner Photographs] – Francis Wolff
    Producer [Original Session] – Alfred Lion
    Reissue Producer – Michael Cuscuna
    Tenor Saxophone – Leandro "Gato" Barbieri

Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on December 24, 1965

Label:    Blue Note – 7243 5 22673 2 3
Series:    Blue Note Connoisseur Series
Country:    US
Released:    Feb 15, 2000
Genre:    Jazz
Style:    Free Jazz
https://www.discogs.com/release/3024696-Don-Cherry-Complete-Communion

This file is intended only for preview!
I ask you to delete the file from your hard drive or device after reading it.
thank for the original uploader