''Skies of America'' is the 17th album by
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, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
saxophonist
Ornette Coleman
Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Jazz: A Colle ...
, released on
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
in 1972. It consists of one long composition by Coleman taking up both sides of the album, played by the
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...
and conducted by
David Measham
David Michael Lucian Measham (1 December 19376 February 2005) was a British-Australian conductor and violinist.
Measham was born in Nottingham, England, to a musical family. His father, Lester, had trained as an opera singer and his mother, J ...
.
Coleman himself only plays on a few segments, and there is no other jazz instrumentation.
Background
Coleman had encountered
third stream
Third stream is a music genre that is a fusion of jazz and classical music. The term was coined in 1957 by composer Gunther Schuller in a lecture at Brandeis University. Improvisation is generally seen as a vital component of third stream.
Schull ...
music in the 1950s, had played sessions for
Gunther Schuller
Gunther Alexander Schuller (November 22, 1925June 21, 2015) was an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, educator, publisher, and jazz musician.
Biography and works
Early years
Schuller was born in Queens, New York City, ...
in 1960, and had composed two earlier orchestral works, ''Inventions of Symphonic Poems'' in 1967 and ''Sun Suite of San Francisco'' in 1968. Immediately prior to this album, he had done arranging work for
Alice Coltrane
Alice Coltrane (' McLeod; August 27, 1937January 12, 2007), also known by her adopted Sanskrit name Turiyasangitananda, was an American jazz musician and composer, and in her later years a swamini. An accomplished pianist and one of the few har ...
on her album ''
Universal Consciousness
''Universal Consciousness'' is the fifth solo album by Alice Coltrane. It was recorded from April to June, 1971, in New York City and at the John Coltrane Home, Coltrane home studios in Dix Hills, New York, and was released later that year by Impul ...
''. He had initially envisioned ''Skies'' as a
concerto grosso The concerto grosso (; Italian for ''big concert(o)'', plural ''concerti grossi'' ) is a form of baroque music in which the musical material is passed between a small group of soloists (the '' concertino'') and full orchestra (the ''ripieno'', ''tut ...
for jazz combo and orchestra, but owing to contractual disputes with the musician's union in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, his band would not be allowed to record at all, and Coleman limited his own contribution to solos over the orchestra for select segments of the music.
[Legacy 63568, liner notes.]
Disenchanted with the music business after a less-than-enthusiastic response to his music, Coleman took a sabbatical to Montana in 1965.
Coleman witnessed a group of
Native Americans and it inspired him.
Coleman began writing sketches of what became ''Skies of America.''
The work features what Coleman called "
Harmolodics Harmolodics is a musical philosophy and method of musical composition and improvisation developed by American jazz saxophonist-composer Ornette Coleman. His work following this philosophy during the late 1970s and 1980s inspired a style of forwa ...
", a merger of harmony, melody, and movement.
Content
The album contains nearly all of the music that Coleman wrote for ''Skies of America'', though several repeated
motifs and two other segments were removed from the work in order to accommodate the limited
album playing time. The 21 track titles were added by Coleman as an afterthought, Columbia executives hoping that the work might attract airplay via shorter lengths given promotion similar to that for
singles
Singles are people not in a committed relationship.
Singles may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series
* ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe
* ''Singles'' ...
.
Recording sessions The term studio recording means any recording made in a studio, as opposed to a live recording, which is usually made in a concert venue or a theatre, with an audience attending the performance.
Studio cast recordings
In the case of Broadway musi ...
took place at
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music c ...
in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
from April 17 to 20, 1972.
Reception
The
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
review by Thom Jurek stated that "this is still dangerous and rewarding music".
[Jurek, T]
Allmusic Review
accessed November 30, 2011 ''
The Penguin Guide to Jazz
''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled by ...
'' awards it three and a half stars, declaring the album "another grand mess, generously and boldly conceived but stifled by the grim playing of the LSO." On May 2, 2000, the album was remastered and reissued for
compact disc
The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...
. The piece appeared in full continuity without the break for the album sides.
Bob Palmer of ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' praised the album saying "This music will leave few listeners unmoved, and it leaves room for a multitude of personal reactions to the negative and positive qualities of life under America’s skies." Bill Milkowski of ''
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 growth ...
'' was also impressed with the work but he cautioned that it was "imposing" and would "present quite a challenge to listeners and die-hard fans alike."
Gary Giddins reviewed the album for DownBeat
and concluded "... it is a major achievement by any standard, and mandatory listening for anyone at all interested in contemporary music."
Track listing
All tracks are composition by
Ornette Coleman
Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Jazz: A Colle ...
.
Side one
Side two
Personnel
*
Ornette Coleman
Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Jazz: A Colle ...
–
alto saxophone
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 tenor ...
on "The Artist in America," "Foreigner in A Free Land," "Silver Screen," "Poetry," "The Men Who Live in the White House," "Love Life," and "Jam Session"
*
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...
– instruments
*
David Measham
David Michael Lucian Measham (1 December 19376 February 2005) was a British-Australian conductor and violinist.
Measham was born in Nottingham, England, to a musical family. His father, Lester, had trained as an opera singer and his mother, J ...
–
conductor
* Anthony Clark, Mike FitzHenry –
engineers
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...
* Ed Lee – cover design
* Michael Gross – cover art
References
{{Authority control
1972 albums
Columbia Records albums
Legacy Recordings albums
Orchestral jazz albums
Ornette Coleman albums