The Jazz Composer's Orchestra (album)

The Jazz Composer's Orchestra (also referred to as Communications) is a double album from the Jazz Composer's Orchestra recorded over a period of six months with the Austrian trumpeter Michael Mantler as a leader and producer.^[2] Many of the key figures in avant-garde jazz from the time contributed on the album including Don Cherry, Pharaoh Sanders, Gato Barbieri, Larry Coryell, Steve Swallow, Roswell Rudd, Charlie Haden and Carla Bley, who was Mantler's wife at the time.

The album's finale features a two part concerto for Cecil Taylor and orchestra of which Brian Owelnick's Allmusic states "The breadth of this piece, its expansiveness, and its tension between order and chaos is one of the single high watermarks of avant-garde jazz. Communications is a masterwork in and of itself and laid the basis for stunning work by others in decades hence, notably Barry Guy and his London Jazz Composer's Orchestra. It's an essential document for anyone interested in avant jazz and late-20th century creative music"^[3]

Track listing

All tracks by Michael Mantler.

1. "Communications #8" – 14:03
2. "Communications #9" – 8:14
3. "Communications #10" – 13:42
4. "Preview" – 3:29
5. "Communications #11" (part 1) – 15:32
6. "Communications #11" (part 2) – 18:14

Personnel

• Gato Barbieri – tenor saxophone
• Carla Bley – piano
• Ron Carter – bass
• Don Cherry – cornet
• Larry Coryell – guitar
• Andrew Cyrille – drums
• Richard Davis – bass
• Eddie Gomez – bass
• Beaver Harris – drums
• Jimmy Knepper – trombone
• Steve Lacy – soprano saxophone
• Jimmy Lyons – alto saxophone
• Michael Mantler – conductor, producer, coordination, project coordinator
• Roswell Rudd – trombone
• Steve Swallow – bass
• Lew Tabackin – tenor saxophone
• Cecil Taylor – piano, liner notes
• Julius Watkins – French horn
• Howard Johnson – tuba
• Reggie Johnson – bass
• Steve Marcus – soprano saxophone
• Charles Davis – baritone saxophone
• Alan Silva – bass
• George Barrow – tenor saxophone
• Randy Brecker – flugelhorn
• Kent Carter – bass
• Bob Cunningham – bass
• Bob Donovan – alto saxophone
• Stephen Furtado – flugelhorn
• Al Gibbons – soprano saxophone
• Paul Goodman – engineer
• Charlie Haden – bass
• Paul Haines – liner notes
• Gene Hull – alto saxophone
• Jack Jeffers – bass trombone
• Lloyd Michels – flugelhorn
• Bob Northern – French horn
• Reggie Workman – bass
• Pharoah Sanders – tenor saxophone
• Frank Wess – alto saxophone
• Don Cherry – trumpet

• Timothy Marquand – liner notes
• Paul McDonough – artwork, cover design

References