Complete Communion
Complete Communion is a 1966 album by American jazz composer Don Cherry, his debut as a bandleader and his first release on Blue Note Records. Each side of the original LP were suites, side-long compositions[2] working with several themes. Critics have proposed this recording as an important innovation in the free jazz of the time, introducing "an alternative both to athematic improvising and to monothematic pieces".[3] The tracks on Complete Communion were included in the compilation The Complete Blue Note Recordings of Don Cherry.[4] In 2021, the Ezz-thetics label reissued Complete Communion along with Symphony For Improvisers on the compilation Complete Communion & Symphony For Improvisers Revisited.[5] Reception
In a review for AllMusic, Steve Huey wrote the music had clear origins in Cherry's time with saxophone player Ornette Coleman, but "...Cherry injected enough of his own personality to begin differentiating himself as a leader... 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... As a whole, the project comes off remarkably well, establishing Cherry as an avant-garde force to be reckoned with in his own right."[2] The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz commented: "The aim... is to give each member of the group an equal role in the improvising process, to let the simple thematic material roll round the ensemble in the freest way. It is, as yet, an experimental aesthetic, which accounts for the raw immediacy of the set... Barbieri, whom Cherry met during their respective Italian sojourns, is at his most unfettered and Ayler-like, vocalizing intensely through the horn and producing chordal effects when the horns are in unison. Grimes was poorly audible on the original LP but he comes through strongly on the reissues and one tends to listen to him now, knowing how extraordinary his future story was."[12] Ekkehard Jost wrote that Complete Communion and the follow-up album Symphony for Improvisers are "among the most important LPs Don Cherry made, if not among the most important in free jazz of the Sixties."[3] According to Jost, the central idea is that "monothematic pieces are dropped and several thematic complexes are integrated into a suite whose 'movements,' while clearly identifiable thanks to their contrasted thematic material, are linked with one another."[3] Jost commented:
InfluenceOn the DKV Trio album Live in Wels & Chicago, 1998, the group interprets the entire "Complete Communion" suite. In 2001, horn player Tom Varner released the album Second Communion (Omnitone), consisting of new arrangements of Cherry's compositions.[14][15] Varner recalled the impact of Cherry's recording: "Fall 1977, Boston. I'm a transfer student at New England Conservatory. My buddy, baritone-sax-player Jim Hartog, played me Complete Communion. It blew me away. It swung, and was abstract, focused, fresh, full of humour and life, joy and great beauty. It gave me direction in my life, as an improvising 'weird' brass-player. Thank you, Don Cherry!"[12] In 2006, a Norwegian trio featuring Atle Nymo on saxophone, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten on bass, and Håkon M. Johansen on drums released an album titled Complete Communion (Bolage) featuring re-workings of the original tracks.[16] In 2010, drummer Aldo Romano released Complete Communion To Don Cherry (BMG / Dreyfus) with saxophonist Géraldine Laurent, trumpeter Fabrizio Bosso, and bassist Henri Texier.[17] Track listingAll compositions by Don Cherry
Personnel
References
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