''Virgin Beauty'' is an album 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 ...

and his

Prime Time Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

ensemble. It was released by

Portrait Records Portrait Records was a sister label of Epic Records and later of Columbia Records. Notable artists Cyndi Lauper and Sade signed with Portrait, but their contracts were absorbed by Epic after that incarnation of the label was shuttered. History ...

in 1988. Three of the album's tracks feature guitarist

Jerry Garcia Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician best known for being the principal songwriter, lead guitarist, and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence ...

, whose involvement with the recording can be traced back to September 1987, when Coleman, his son Denardo, and

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 complex ...

, attended a

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

concert. Following the concert, Coleman invited Garcia to the recording session for ''Virgin Beauty''. In February 1993, Prime Time opened for the Dead at a show in Oakland, and Coleman participated in the Dead's "space jam" portion of the concert.

Reception

''Virgin Beauty'' reached the number two position on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

s jazz chart and sold more in its first year of release than any previous Coleman record. In his review for

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 ...

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born October 4, 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author.Allmusic Biography/ref> Biography Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Since 1974, he was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles an ...

noted that "the music is frequently exciting, but will take several listens to absorb. Worth investigating". David Fricke 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 ...

'' commented: "More than a few Deadheads invested in ''Virgin Beauty'' solely because of Jerry Garcia's presence on three tracks. But it's a safe bet they were pleasantly surprised by Prime Time's infectious propulsion and the emotive strength and striking warmth of Coleman's sax statements." Author Michael Stephans remarked: "''Virgin Beauty'' is filled with many bright moments, a vibrant spirit, and an almost irrepressible earthiness. It is one of a number of good starting points for the new listener who wants to know more about Ornette's Prime Time and its musical evolution, with the added bonus of choosing any number of tracks and dancing to them!"

Track listing

# "3 Wishes" – 4:23 # "Bourgeois Boogie" – 5:11 # "Happy Hour" – 4:49 # "Virgin Beauty" – 3:34 # "Healing the Feeling" – 5:21 # "Singing in the Shower" – 4:26 # "Desert Players" – 4:24 # "Honeymooners" – 4:24 # "Chanting" – 3:01 # "Spelling the Alphabet" – 1:30 # "Unknown Artist" – 4:12

Personnel

–

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

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 ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

Denardo Coleman Denardo Ornette Coleman (born April 19, 1956) is an American jazz drummer. He is the son of Ornette Coleman and Jayne Cortez. Biography Born to Jayne Cortez and Ornette Coleman in Los Angeles, California, in 1956,

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

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. Exc ...

* Charles Ellerbie –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

– Guitar on "3 Wishes", "Singing in the Shower", "Desert Players" * Albert MacDowell –

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

Bern Nix Bern Nix (September 21, 1947 – May 31, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist. He recorded and performed with Ornette Coleman from 1975 to 1987, notably with guitarist Charlie Ellerbee in Coleman's Prime Time group on their key recordings, inc ...

– guitar * Chris Walker – bass * Calvin Weston – drums

References

{{Authority control 1988 albums Ornette Coleman albums Portrait Records albums