Frans Bruggen, Orchestra Of The XVIII Century – Haydn: Symphonies (2019) SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Skies of America is the 17th album by jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman, released on Columbia Records in 1972. It consists of one long composition by Coleman taking up both sides of the album, played by the London Symphony Orchestra and conducted by David Measham. Coleman himself only plays on a few segments, and there is no other jazz instrumentation.

Here’s what is known about Ornette Coleman’s first recorded orchestral symphonic work (he had written others previously and had them performed but never put on tape): After hiring conductor David Measham and the London Symphony Orchestra, British musicians’ union rules prohibited Coleman from using his own quartet to play on the record. As a result, he had to re-examine the work without the concerto grosso form and, to fit the work on a single LP, he had to cut many of the recurrent themes of the work. It is also known that the recording quality isn’t the greatest. So what? The bottom line is this: In the 21st century, Skies of America, which was Ornette’s first attempt at employing his newly developed harmolodic theory (whereby using modulation many players could solo at once using different keys), still sounds ahead of its time. Though there are 21 bands marked on the cover, this is a single unbroken work with many of the themes recurring – either in that they had long been present in Ornette’s musical iconography, or would become so. (Check the theme in “The Good Life,” as it evolved from “School Work” from 1962 and became “Dancing in Your Head” in the late ’70s.) Coleman himself solos beautifully in the middle of the disc, from “The Artist in America” on and off until the work’s end with “Sunday in America.” This is loaded music: politically, emotionally, and also spiritually. The dissonance doesn’t seem so profound now, but it still rubs against the grain of Western harmonic principles in all the right ways. It’s difficult to find the sense of what chord is dominant in Coleman’s composition, and for that alone it’s valuable. But also, it’s compelling listening on a level that music such as this is not yet the cultural norm or even close to approaching its standard – which means that it is not yet fully possible. Ornette’s was an opening volley, thrown down as a gauntlet that has yet to be picked up. This is still dangerous and rewarding music.

Tracklist:

01. Skies Of America
02. Native Americans
03. The Good Life
04. Birthdays And Funerals
05. Dreams
06. Sounds Of Sculpture
07. Holiday For Heroes
08. All Of My Life
09. Dancers
10. The Soul Within Woman
11. The Artist In America
12. The New Anthem
13. Place In Space
14. Foreigner In A Free Land
15. Silver Screen
16. Poetry
17. The Men Who Live In The White House
18. Love Life
19. The Military
20. Jam Session
21. Sunday In America