''Symphony for Improvisers'' is an album by American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

trumpeter

Don Cherry Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. He played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins. After concluding a playing career in the A ...

, released by

Blue Note Records Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by History of the Jews in Germany, German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it deriv ...

in August 1967. It features

Gato Barbieri Leandro "Gato" Barbieri (November 28, 1932 – April 2, 2016) was an Argentine jazz tenor saxophonist who rose to fame during the free jazz movement in the 1960s and is known for his Latin jazz recordings of the 1970s. His nickname, Gato, is Spa ...

Henry Grimes Henry Grimes (November 3, 1935 – April 15, 2020) was an American jazz double bassist and violinist. After more than a decade of activity and performance, notably as a leading bassist in free jazz, Grimes completely disappeared from the music sc ...

, and

Ed Blackwell Edward Joseph Blackwell (October 10, 1929 – October 7, 1992) was an American jazz drummer, best known known for his work with saxophonist Ornette Coleman. Biography Blackwell was born in New Orleans on October 10, 1929. His career began ther ...

, all of whom appeared on Cherry's previous album ''

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 working with several themes. Cri ...

'', along with

Karl Berger Karl Hans Berger (March 30, 1935 – April 9, 2023) was a German-American jazz pianist, vibraphonist, composer, and educator. He was a leading figure in jazz improvisation from the 1960s when he settled in the United States for life. He founde ...

Jean-François Jenny-Clark Jean-François "J.F." Jenny-Clark (12 July 1944 in Toulouse, France – 6 October 1998 in Paris) was a French double bass player. He was estimated as one of the most important bass players of European jazz. Allmusic credits/ref> Together with drum ...

, and

Pharoah Sanders Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", San ...

. ''Symphony for Improvisers'' was recorded in 1966. The front cover photograph was taken at

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, is located at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, in the Lincoln Center complex on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, New York City. Situated between the Metropolitan O ...

, Upper West Side, New York City. The tracks on ''Symphony for Improvisers'' were included in the compilation ''The Complete Blue Note Recordings of Don Cherry''. In 2021, the

Ezz-thetics ''Ezz-thetics'' is a studio album by the George Russell sextet, released on Riverside Records in mid-1961. Recording and music The album was recorded in May 1961. In addition to himself on piano, Russell's sextet contained trumpeter Don Ellis, ...

label reissued ''Symphony For Improvisers'' along with ''

'' on the compilation ''Complete Communion & Symphony For Improvisers Revisited''.

Reception

The

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

review by Steve Huey states: "Even though the album is full of passionate fireworks, there's also a great deal of subtlety — the flavors added to the ensemble by Berger's vibes and Sanders' piccolo, for example, or the way other instrumental voices often support and complement a solo statement. Feverish but well-channeled, this larger-group session is probably Cherry's most gratifying for Blue Note". Ollie Bivens, writing for

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

, commented: "''Symphony for Improvisers'' is a lesson in controlled chaos that remains eminently musical... This music is cerebral without being cold, freewheeling without degenerating into a lot of blowing for the sake of blowing. Never boring, ''Symphony for Improvisers'' is for jazz fans with lengthy attention spans and open ears." Ekkehard Jost wrote that ''Symphony for Improvisers'' and its predecessor ''

'' are "among the most important LPs Don Cherry made, if not among the most important in free jazz of the Sixties." 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." Jost noted that, in relation to ''Complete Communion'', ''Symphony for Improvisers'' "is more open in form, despite an almost identical construction. Transitions between the thematic sections are frequently fluid, as are the boundaries between composed material and improvisations. A great deal more time is spent on improvisations, as opposed to the themes, which become more and more fragmentary."

Track listing

All compositions by Don Cherry # "Symphony for Improvisers: Symphony for Improvisers/Nu Creative Love/What's Not Serious?/Infant Happiness" - 19:43 # "Manhattan Cry: Manhattan Cry/Lunatic/Sparkle Plenty/Om Nu" - 19:17

Personnel

* Don Cherry –

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. There is also a soprano cor ...

–

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

– tenor saxophone,

piccolo The piccolo ( ; ) is a smaller version of the western concert flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" or piccolo flute, the modern piccolo has the same type of fingerings as the ...

– vibes,

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

– bass *

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

References

{{Authority control Don Cherry (trumpeter) albums 1966 albums Blue Note Records albums Albums recorded at Van Gelder Studio Albums produced by Alfred Lion