Tomorrow Is the Question!
| Tomorrow Is the Question! | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Ornette Coleman | ||||
| Released | 1959 | |||
| Recorded | January 16, February 23 and March 9–10, 1959 at Contemporary's Studio, Los Angeles | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 42:22 | |||
| Label | Contemporary (S 7569) | |||
| Producer | Lester Koenig | |||
| Ornette Coleman chronology | ||||
| ||||
Tomorrow Is the Question!, subtitled The New Music of Ornette Coleman!, is the second album by American jazz musician Ornette Coleman, originally released in 1959 by the Contemporary label. It is Coleman's last album for the label before he began a highly-successful multi-album series for Atlantic Records in 1959.
As well as regular sideman Don Cherry on trumpet, the album features bassists Percy Heath and Red Mitchell, and drummer Shelly Manne. Unlike Coleman's debut Something Else!!!!, on which he was contractually obliged to feature a pianist, there is no piano on the album.[1]
Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [2] |
| Yahoo! Music | (favorable)[3] |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [4] |
The album generally received better press than did Something Else!!!!. Allmusic's Thom Jurek notes the interplay of Coleman and Cherry on tunes he described as "knottier and tighter in their arrangement style" than those of the previous album.[5] Ekkehard Jost, in his book Free Jazz, noted that "as early as the 1958/59 recordings for Contemporary, the most pronounced features of Coleman's saxophone playing were set. His bent for improvisations that were largely unrestrained harmonically is evident, even in pieces whose outward make-up is anything but revolutionary."[6] Others have hailed the removal of the piano as a positive move: for Mike Andrews, "a marked conceptual improvement can be immediately recognized" as the lack of harmonic instrument allowed greater freedom for the soloists.[1]
Release history
Originally released as an LP by Contemporary Records in 1959, the album was later reissued on the Original Jazz Classics label on July 1, 1991.
Track listing
All pieces written by Ornette Coleman.
- "Tomorrow Is the Question!" – 3:09
- "Tears Inside" – 5:00
- "Mind and Time" – 3:08
- "Compassion" – 4:37
- "Giggin'" – 3:19
- "Rejoicing" – 4:01
- "Lorraine" – 5:55
- "Turnaround" – 7:58
- "Endless" – 5:18
Track 7 recorded on January 16, 1959; tracks 8 and 9 on February 23; tracks 1-6 recorded on March 9 and 10, 1959.
Personnel
Performance
- Ornette Coleman – alto saxophone, soprano saxophone
- Don Cherry – trumpet
- Percy Heath – bass (tracks 1–6)
- Shelly Manne – drums
- Red Mitchell – bass (tracks 7–9)
Production
- Roy DuNann – engineer
- Nat Hentoff – liner notes
- Lester Koenig – producer
References
- 1 2 Andrews, Mike (1996-10-23). "Historical Perspective". Retrieved 2008-01-26.
- ↑ Allmusic review
- ↑ Yahoo! Music review
- ↑ Swenson, J. (Editor) (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 44. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
- ↑ Jurek, Thom. "Tomorrow Is the Question! > Overview". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
- ↑ Jost, Ekkehard (1974). Free Jazz. Da Capo Press.