Originally issued as a two-LP attempt to give the skinny on Ornette Coleman's very different electric and acoustic musical languages, this set catches the "classic" acoustic quartet and the electric Prime Time band as alte... more »r egos of one another. Coleman's compression of harmony and melody in the acoustic quartet was always groundbreaking and remains no less so in this slightly varnished recording of the group (with Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, and Billy Higgins). Without the raw production qualities of the Atlantic-era quartet LPs, the quartet sounds strangely clean but still paints Coleman as a top-drawer harmonic (er, harmolodic) theorist. The bouncing gait of the tunes and their irrepressible fun is about all that remains constant once guitarist Bern Nix, Jamaaldeen Tacuma, and the other Prime Timers plug in, playing many of the same songs the quartet play on the CD's first half. Coleman's electric funk band managed to sound wiry and fuzzy in equal (large) portions, and here they paddle in lakes of rhythms that will energize James Brown fans and West African percussion aficionados. Its odd studio polish aside, this is a stunner. --Andrew Bartlett« less
Originally issued as a two-LP attempt to give the skinny on Ornette Coleman's very different electric and acoustic musical languages, this set catches the "classic" acoustic quartet and the electric Prime Time band as alter egos of one another. Coleman's compression of harmony and melody in the acoustic quartet was always groundbreaking and remains no less so in this slightly varnished recording of the group (with Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, and Billy Higgins). Without the raw production qualities of the Atlantic-era quartet LPs, the quartet sounds strangely clean but still paints Coleman as a top-drawer harmonic (er, harmolodic) theorist. The bouncing gait of the tunes and their irrepressible fun is about all that remains constant once guitarist Bern Nix, Jamaaldeen Tacuma, and the other Prime Timers plug in, playing many of the same songs the quartet play on the CD's first half. Coleman's electric funk band managed to sound wiry and fuzzy in equal (large) portions, and here they paddle in lakes of rhythms that will energize James Brown fans and West African percussion aficionados. Its odd studio polish aside, this is a stunner. --Andrew Bartlett
Karl Rosenberg | Wahington, DC and Haiti | 12/16/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I need to chime in here to counteract the review below. This album (along with Ornette's gritty collaboration with Pat Metheny on 1986's Song X which I'm sure sent many a Metheny fan to change the record during dinner parties across the world...those not hip enough to know anything about Orntte anyway)was a personal starting point in developing a deeper understanding of the avant garde movement. I had heard Free Jazz, but wasn't prepared to digest all it had to say at the time. In In all Languages (and Don Cherry's wonderful Art Deco)I found a basis for appreciation of what Ornette, Cherry, Haden and Higgins represented to the history of the music. The Prime Time Cuts of roughly the same song list gave me further insight into a musician not willing to stand pat at a time when young Jazz revisionists were taking the movement backwards (no disrespect to the great work of the Marsalis brothers intended). 1989's Virgin Beauty doesn't quite live up to the Prime Time magic here.So, while arguably not the greatest of Ornette's efforts...probably not as good even as Tone Dialing (for Prime Time fans) or either of the recent Sound Museums (for acoutic Ornette fans), and certainly not the statement that Something Else! or the Shape of Jazz to Come were in "the begining," In All Languages is a VERY worthwhile ride!Long live Ornette and all hail the continuing growth of appreciation for Eric Dolphy. Peace"
Funk meets free jazz
Jonathan Mayhew | Lawrence, KS USA | 05/04/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"It's great to hear Ornette's classic quartet (Haden, Cherry, Higgins) get together again. The other disk features some of the same compositions played by Ornette's funk group "Prime Time." This is great music--the 4 stars indicates only that it cannot match the achievement of the original Atlantic recordings of 1959-1960."
Ornette Coleman: In All Languages
Dan | 03/30/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Since my introduction to Ornette Coleman's art, I haven't been able to get enough recordings of his various groups and projects. This album brought so many things together for me and offered a new understanding of Harmelodic music. Hearing the two varied perspectives of the same concepts between Prime Time of 1987 and the original quartet of 1957 was astonishing. Hearing the varience from his original quartet to his experimentation with the two bass players and extravegent rhythm section including one my favorite bass players of all time: Jamaaladeen Tacuma was almost more than I could handle. If you're a true lover of harmelodic music or free jazz or the avant-garde, you've got to have this album. If you have this album or are getting it and like the stylings of Jamaaladeen Tacuma as much as I do, check out his other albums (Dreamscape is one of my favorites)."
Beatiful music, harmolodic joy
Eric Wagner | Freetopia | 02/08/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I keep coming back to this recording, finding more magic in. Great playing from both bands. I learn more each time I hear it."
Track Listings (23) - Disc #1
