''Intents and Purposes'' is an album by American jazz trumpeter Bill Dixon, which was released in 1967 on RCA Victor. Despite critical acclaim at the time, it was soon out of print except for appearances in 1972 on Japanese RCA and later in 1976 on French RCA. The album was reissued on CD by International Phonograph in 2011.''Intents and Purposes''
at International Phonograph The album's title is an example of a

Siamese twins Conjoined twins – sometimes popularly referred to as Siamese twins – are twins joined ''in utero''. A very rare phenomenon, the occurrence is estimated to range from 1 in 49,000 births to 1 in 189,000 births, with a somewhat higher incidence ...

idiomatic expression.

Background

In 1966 Dixon premiered his composition "Pomegranate" at the Newport jazz festival with dancer Judith Dunn, and this performance led to a contract with RCA. Dixon signed with producer Brad McCuen to do a quartet piece, but instead he started working on "Metamorphosis 1962-1966", for an ensemble of ten musicians. The personnel was an unusual mix of freemen and mainstream jazzers. Pozar and Levin were Dixon's students at the time, and Lancaster and Kennyatta frequent participants in Dixon-Dunn projects.

Reception

In his review 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 ...

, Troy Collins states "''Intents And Purposes'' has long been revered as Bill Dixon's singular masterpiece...The reissue allows the record to finally take its rightful place alongside such masterpieces as Ornette Coleman's ''

Free Jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians duri ...

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John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Born and raise ...

's '' Ascension'' and

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...

' '' Bitches Brew''.Collins, Troy. ''Intents and purposes'': Review
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JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade of growt ...

'' review by Mike Shanley says that "The whole release compares to very little from that period and offers a stellar example of the composer’s vision".Shanley, Mike. ''Intents and purposes'': Review
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'' In a 2011

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

article following the CD reissue,

Francis Davis Francis Davis (born August 30, 1946) is an American author and journalist. He is best known as the jazz critic for ''The Village Voice'', and a contributing editor for ''The Atlantic Monthly''. He has also worked in radio and film, and taught ...

wrote: "If ever a jazz LP literally qualified as 'legendary,' ''Intents'' is it... I envy anyone first hearing it now, because it's as bold and surprising as anything newly released this year." Writing for The Vinyl District, Joseph Neff noted that the album, "if often gripping and raw is never chaotic," and commented: "''Intents and Purposes large group template combined with compositional fortitude and improvisational vigor makes it essential to any free jazz library." Point of Departure's Ed Hazell stated: "What's apparent from the opening moments of 'Metamorphosis'... is how well Dixon grasps the dichotomies and contradictions in the music of the time and how completely he controls them... Dixon the composer expertly transitions from one theme or passage to another; his ability to shape compositions into self-contained wholes would remain a hallmark of his art."

Track listing

:''All compositions by Bill Dixon'' # "Metamorphosis 1962-1966" - 13:20 # "Nightfall Pieces I" - 3:47 # "Voices" - 12:08 # "Nightfall Pieces II" - 2:25

Personnel

* Bill Dixon -

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

, flugelhorn *

Jimmy Cheatham James Rudolph Cheatham (June 18, 1924 – January 12, 2007) was an American jazz trombonist and teacher who played with Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, and Ornette Coleman. In 1978, Cheatham was invited to lead the jazz program at Universit ...

- bass trombone * Byard Lancaster -

alto sax The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B ten ...

, bass clarinet *

Robin Kenyatta Robin Kenyatta (March 6, 1942 – October 26, 2004) was an American jazz alto saxophonist. Early life Born Robert Prince Haynes in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, Kenyatta grew up in New York City and began playing the saxophone at age 14. He w ...

*George Marge - english horn, flute *Catherine Norris -

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

* Jimmy Garrison - bass *

Reggie Workman Reginald "Reggie" Workman (born June 26, 1937 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American avant-garde jazz and hard bop double bassist, recognized for his work with both John Coltrane and Art Blakey. Career Early in his career, Workman wo ...

- bass *Robert Frank Pozar - drums *Marc Levin -

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

References

{{Authority control 1967 albums RCA Records albums Bill Dixon albums