3 1/2 Stars: “[T]his foursone is channeling a Coleman-centric spirit, at once free and vibrant. … Throughout, the foursome lays sympathetically into the shape and emotional vibe of the repertoire.”
– Josef Woodard, Downbeat , July 2012

When presented with the opportunity to put a group together, Chris Kelsey and I quickly decided to do Ornette Coleman’s early stuff.

We talked about how much we loved those records and how it’s so hard to imagine now the controversy this music caused in the late fifties; these quirky, logical melodies that are so familiar to most of us now.

And then we started to lay down some rules. It must swing. That’s what made those records so great, they swung. Ed Blackwell, Billy Higgens, Charlie Haden, Scott LaFaro, Don Cherry and Ornette seemed to have this Vulcan mind-meld connection to each other. The two horns need to breathe, bend, attack, sustain as one.

So with these things in mind we reached out to Dean Sharp and Joe Gallant and after the first rehearsal it was obvious to all of us that this was going to be something really special. The final product of this recording has surpassed my wildest hopes and expectations.

— Pat Hall

  1. Happy House
  2. Ramblin’
  3. Legend of Bebop
  4. Fifth of Beethoven
  5. Congeniality
  6. Lorraine
  7. Broadway Blues
  8. Ornette-notte
  9. Dee Dee
  10. Enfant

Chris Kelsey, saxophones
Pat Hall, trombone
Joe Gallant, bass
Dean Sharp, drums

All compositions by Ornette Coleman, published by Phrase Text Music, except Ornette-notte by Kelsey, Hall, Gallant, Sharp
Recorded July 10, 2011 Tedesco Studio, Paramus, NJ
Engineered by Tom Tedesco
Mixed by code b at studio b, Schooleys Mountain, NJ
Mastered by Jim DeSalvo at Beanstudio, Wayne, NJ
Photos and design by Qua’s Eye Graphix
Produced by Bruce Ditmas and Jack DeSalvo
Unseen Rain UR-9993