The Avant-Garde

Recorded in 1960, but released in 1966, this CD features tenor saxophonist John Coltrane performing with trumpeter Don Cherry, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Ed Blackwell--three-fourths of Ornette Coleman's trailblazing quartet. It's a historic musical fork in the road where Trane's "sheets of sound" improvisational style meets Coleman's angular, blues-based conception that he later called harmolodics. The band members perform like blood brothers on Cherry's frenetic "Cherryco." And on Coleman's snaky midtempo number, "The Blessing," Coltrane unveiled his distinct soprano sax for the first time on wax. On "Focus on Sanity," "The Invisible," and Thelonius Monk's witty blues "Bemsha Swing," Coltrane and Cherry are joined by Percy Heath of the Modern Jazz Quartet, who replaces Haden. The importance of this recording cannot be overstated, as it illuminates that the seemingly parallel tracks on which Coltrane and Coleman created music actually crossed paths fruitfully. --Eugene Holley Jr.