About

Blue Note founders Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff had open ears and open minds, as they proved time and time again through the early part of the 1960s as they documented some of the most adventurous players of the modern jazz scene including Andrew Hill, Eric Dolphy, and Tony Williams. But it wasn’t until they brought Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry to the label in 1965 that they fully embraced the avant-garde. Coleman and Cherry had made history together years prior as the frontline of Coleman’s revolutionary quartet that turned the jazz world on its ear in 1959 when it arrived at the Five Spot Café in NYC. 

Though Cherry co-led the album The Avant-Garde with John Coltrane for Atlantic Records in 1961, his career as a bandleader began with his bold Blue Note debut Complete Communion recorded in December 1965 (Coleman had documented his new trio live at the Golden Circle in Stockholm for his own Blue Note debut just weeks before). On two extended side-long suites—“Complete Communion” and “Elephantasy”—Cherry expounds upon his expansive musical vision with a quartet of intrepid companions: tenor saxophonist Leandro “Gato” Barbeiri, bassist Henry Grimes, and drummer Edward Blackwell. — (via Label)

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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. — (via AllMusic)

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About the Blue Note Tone Poet Series:

The Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series was born out of Blue Note President Don Was’ admiration for the exceptional audiophile Blue Note LP reissues presented by Music Matters. Was brought Joe Harley, a.k.a. the “Tone Poet,” on board to curate and supervise a series of reissues from the Blue Note family of labels.

Extreme attention to detail has been paid to getting these right in every conceivable way, from the jacket graphics and printing quality to superior LP mastering (direct from the master tapes) by Kevin Gray to superb 180g audiophile LP pressings by Record Technology Inc. Every aspect of these Tone Poet releases is done to the highest possible standard. It means that you will never find a superior version. This is IT.

This stereo Tone Poet Vinyl Edition was produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray (Cohearent Audio) from the original analog master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at Record Technology Inc. (RTI), and packaged in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket. — (via Label)

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Label: Blue Note Records
Series: Blue Note Tone Poet Series
Format:  Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Stereo, Gatefold, 180g
Reissued: 2015 / Original: 1966
Genre: Jazz 
Style: Avant-Garde, Free Jazz

File under: Jazz // Blue Note Tone Poet series
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