The Jazz Composer's Orchestra was an American
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
group, founded by
Carla Bley
Carla Bley (born Lovella May Borg; May 11, 1936 – October 17, 2023) was an American jazz composer, pianist, organist, and bandleader. An important figure in the free jazz movement of the 1960s, she gained acclaim for her jazz opera ''Escalator ...
and
Michael Mantler
Michael Mantler (born August 10, 1943) is an Austrian avant-garde jazz trumpeter and composer of contemporary music.
Career: United States
Mantler was born in Vienna, Austria. In the early 1960s, he was a student at the Academy of Music and V ...
in 1965, to perform orchestral
avant-garde jazz
Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz, experimental jazz, or "new thing") is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. It originated in the early 1950s and developed through the late 1 ...
.
Its origins lay in the Jazz Composers Guild, an organization founded by
Bill Dixon
William Robert Dixon (October 5, 1925 – June 16, 2010) was an American composer and educator. Dixon was one of the seminal figures in free jazz and late twentieth-century contemporary music. He was also a prominent activist for artist's right ...
which grew out of the series of 1964 concerts in New York, known as the "
October Revolution in Jazz" and subsequent regular performance settings.
A big band, formed by Bley and Mantler, became known as the Jazz Composers Guild Orchestra, which made its first record in April 1965.
After the demise of the Guild, the big band continued as the Jazz Composer's Orchestra. A non-profit organisation was established in 1966, the Jazz Composers Orchestra Association Inc. (JCOA).
The Orchestra's first release was ''
Communication
Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...
'' in 1965. Their 1968 double-album ''
The Jazz Composer's Orchestra'' featured soloists
Cecil Taylor
Cecil Percival Taylor (March 25, 1929April 5, 2018) was an American pianist and poet.
Taylor was classically trained and was one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an energetic, physical approach, resulting in comple ...
,
Don Cherry,
Roswell Rudd
Roswell Hopkins Rudd Jr. (November 17, 1935 – December 21, 2017) was an American jazz trombonist and composer.
Although skilled in a variety of genres of jazz (including Dixieland, which he performed while in college), and other genres of musi ...
,
Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", San ...
,
Larry Coryell
Larry Coryell (born Lorenz Albert Van DeLinder III; April 2, 1943 – February 19, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist, widely considered the "godfather of fusion". Alongside Gábor Szabó, he was a pioneer in melding jazz, country and rock ...
, and
Gato Barbieri
Leandro "Gato" Barbieri (November 28, 1932 – April 2, 2016) was an Argentine jazz tenor saxophonist who rose to fame during the free jazz movement in the 1960s and is known for his Latin jazz recordings of the 1970s. His nickname, Gato, is Spa ...
.
JCOA Records was founded for releases from the Orchestra and its members.
The albums included commissioned works by
Roswell Rudd
Roswell Hopkins Rudd Jr. (November 17, 1935 – December 21, 2017) was an American jazz trombonist and composer.
Although skilled in a variety of genres of jazz (including Dixieland, which he performed while in college), and other genres of musi ...
,
Clifford Thornton
Clifford Edward Thornton III (September 6, 1936 – November 25, 1989) was an American jazz trumpeter, trombonist, political activist, and educator. He played free jazz and avant-garde jazz in the 1960s and '70s.
Career
Clifford was born in Phil ...
,
Don Cherry,
Leroy Jenkins and
Grachan Moncur III
Grachan Moncur III (June 3, 1937 – June 3, 2022) was an American jazz trombonist. He was the son of jazz bassist Grachan Moncur II and the nephew of jazz saxophonist Al Cooper.
Biography
Born in New York City, United States, (his paternal gra ...
.
The group's last performance was in 1975.
The activities of the group led to the creation of a record distribution company known as
New Music Distribution Service (NMDS).
Discography
* ''
Communication
Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...
'' (Fontana, 1965)
* ''
The Jazz Composer's Orchestra'' (JCOA, 1968)
* ''
Escalator over the Hill
''Escalator over the Hill'' (or ''EOTH'') is mostly referred to as a jazz opera, but it was released as a "chronotransduction", with "words by Paul Haines (poet), Paul Haines, adaptation and music by Carla Bley, production and coordination by Mic ...
'' with
Carla Bley
Carla Bley (born Lovella May Borg; May 11, 1936 – October 17, 2023) was an American jazz composer, pianist, organist, and bandleader. An important figure in the free jazz movement of the 1960s, she gained acclaim for her jazz opera ''Escalator ...
(JCOA, 1971)
* ''
Relativity Suite'' with
Don Cherry (JCOA, 1973)
* ''
Numatik Swing Band'' with
Roswell Rudd
Roswell Hopkins Rudd Jr. (November 17, 1935 – December 21, 2017) was an American jazz trombonist and composer.
Although skilled in a variety of genres of jazz (including Dixieland, which he performed while in college), and other genres of musi ...
(JCOA, 1973)
* ''
The Gardens of Harlem'' with
Clifford Thornton
Clifford Edward Thornton III (September 6, 1936 – November 25, 1989) was an American jazz trumpeter, trombonist, political activist, and educator. He played free jazz and avant-garde jazz in the 1960s and '70s.
Career
Clifford was born in Phil ...
(JCOA, 1975)
* ''
Echoes of Prayer'' with
Grachan Moncur III
Grachan Moncur III (June 3, 1937 – June 3, 2022) was an American jazz trombonist. He was the son of jazz bassist Grachan Moncur II and the nephew of jazz saxophonist Al Cooper.
Biography
Born in New York City, United States, (his paternal gra ...
(JCOA, 1975)
* ''
For Players Only'' with
Leroy Jenkins (JCOA, 1975)
References
External links
Recordings*
Interview with Carla Bley
{{Authority control
Jazz ensembles from New York City
Avant-garde jazz ensembles
Experimental big bands
American jazz record labels
Musical groups established in 1965
1965 establishments in New York City
Jazz in New York City