Album of the Day

After the better part of a year away from Atlantic Records' New York studios, the Ornette Coleman Quartet returned with a vengeance for THIS IS OUR MUSIC. Not exactly your father's jazz, the 1961 collection features some unusual instrumentation (including a plastic alto saxophone) and a strong emphasis on improvisation. Nonetheless, this is one of the Quartet's most accessible albums, due to the rare inclusion of a standard (the Gershwins' “Embraceable You”) and the remarkable rapport of the players – longtime trumpeter Don Cherry and bassist Charlie Haden are joined here by drummer Ed Blackwell, who'd performed with Coleman years earlier. By turns driving (“Blues Connotation”) and haunting (“Beauty Is A Rare Thing”), THIS IS OUR MUSIC is a superb showcase of Ornette Coleman's many-faceted talent, and we'll give the album another spin in memory of the jazz visionary, who was born on this day in 1930.