Description
Old and New Dreams brought together an all-star quartet of former Ornette Coleman collaborators: cornetist Don Cherry, tenor saxophonist Dewey Redman, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Ed Blackwell. Having all mastered Coleman's groundbreaking approach to open, spontaneous improvisation without rigid chord structures, these four masters came together to build upon that legacy with a bold new group identity. On their debut recording, made for Black Saint one of the most venerated independent labels in modern jazz, the group performed only one Coleman composition - the previously unrecorded, uptempo "Handwoven" - alongside a rich program of original works.
Highlights include Redman's drone-inspired title track (featuring his distinctive musette playing alongside Blackwell's New Orleans funeral-parade rhythms), Haden's somber "Chairman Mao," and Cherry's hard-swinging "Next To The Quiet Stream." Capturing all four legends in absolute prime form, Old and New Dreams remains one of the most rewarding and celebrated free-bop albums of the 1970s.
Old and New Dreams is reissued on CD and 180g 'One-step Pressing' white/blue vinyl LP (numbered & limited 1,000 copies) with new liner notes as part of the Gems For Jazz Heads series.
