The Jazz Composer's Orchestra (album)

The Jazz Composer's Orchestra
Studio album by Jazz Composer's Orchestra
Released	1968
Recorded	January - July, 1968
Genre	Free jazz
Length	73:40
Label	JCOA Records
Jazz Composer's Orchestra chronology
Communication (1965) The Jazz Composer's Orchestra (1968) Relativity Suite (1973)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[2]

The Jazz Composer's Orchestra is a 1968 double album from the Jazz Composer's Orchestra recorded over a period of six months with Michael Mantler as composer, leader and producer.^[3] Many of the key figures in avant-garde jazz from the time contributed on the album including Don Cherry, Pharoah Sanders, Gato Barbieri, Larry Coryell, Roswell Rudd and Carla Bley. The album's finale features a two-part concerto for Cecil Taylor and orchestra.

Mantler "updated" the album in 2014 as "The Jazz Composer's Orchestra Update" on ECM Records. It features the Nouvelle Cuisine Big Band, a new orchestra with completely parallel orchestra instrumentation conducted by Christoph Cech, and new soloists: Michael Mantler (trumpet), Bjarne Roupé (guitar), Wolfgang Puschnig (alto saxophone), Harry Sokal (tenor saxophone), David Helbock (piano), and the radio.string.quartet.vienna.^[4]

Reception

Langdon Winner's Rolling Stone review stated "This is a record which all rock musicians as well as general audiences should listen to with care. The first JCOA album is a summit meeting on the Mount Olympus of contemporary jazz which deserves wide attention... By any standard of musical excellence it is a masterpiece."^[5] Brian Olewnick of Allmusic stated: "The breadth of this piece, its expansiveness, and its tension between order and chaos is one of the single high-water marks of avant-garde jazz. Communications is a masterwork in and of itself and laid the basis for stunning work by others in decades hence, notably Barry Guy and his London Jazz Composer's Orchestra. It's an essential document for anyone interested in avant jazz and late-20th century creative music"^[6]

Track listing

All tracks by Michael Mantler.

1. "Communications #8" – 14:03
2. "Communications #9" – 8:14
3. "Communications #10" – 13:42
4. "Preview" – 3:29
5. "Communications #11" (part 1) – 15:32
6. "Communications #11" (part 2) – 18:14

Personnel

• Gato Barbieri – tenor saxophone
• Carla Bley – piano
• Ron Carter – bass
• Don Cherry – cornet, trumpet
• Larry Coryell – guitar
• Andrew Cyrille – drums
• Richard Davis – bass
• Eddie Gómez – bass
• Beaver Harris – drums
• Jimmy Knepper – trombone
• Steve Lacy – soprano saxophone
• Jimmy Lyons – alto saxophone
• Michael Mantler – conductor, producer, coordination, project coordinator
• Roswell Rudd – trombone
• Steve Swallow – bass
• Lew Tabackin – tenor saxophone
• Cecil Taylor – piano, liner notes
• Julius Watkins – French horn
• Howard Johnson – tuba
• Reggie Johnson – bass
• Steve Marcus – soprano saxophone
• Charles Davis – baritone saxophone
• Alan Silva – bass
• George Barrow – tenor saxophone
• Randy Brecker – flugelhorn
• Kent Carter – bass
• Bob Cunningham – bass
• Bob Donovan – alto saxophone
• Stephen Furtado – flugelhorn
• Al Gibbons – soprano saxophone
• Paul Goodman – engineer
• Charlie Haden – bass
• Paul Haines – liner notes
• Gene Hull – alto saxophone
• Jack Jeffers – bass trombone
• Lloyd Michels – flugelhorn
• Bob Northern – French horn
• Reggie Workman – bass
• Pharoah Sanders – tenor saxophone
• Frank Wess – alto saxophone
• Timothy Marquand – liner notes
• Paul McDonough – artwork, cover design

References

1. Olewnick, Brian (2011). "Communications - Jazz Composer's Orchestra | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
2. Swenson, J. (Editor) (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 189. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
3. ECM Catalogue accessed August 11, 2010
4. Michael Mantler Music, 2014
5. Winner, L., Rolling Stone, February 21, 1970 p.52
6. Olewnick, B. Allmusic Review; accessed 10 July 2009.