Jazz Composer's Orchestra
Encyclopedia
Jazz Composer's Orchestra was an American
jazz
group founded in 1965, to further avant-garde jazz
in New York
. Carla Bley
and Michael Mantler
were important in its organization and style.
Its origins lay in the Jazz Composers Guild, an organization founded by Bill Dixon
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
in 1965. Their 1968 double-album The Jazz Composer's Orchestra featured soloists Cecil Taylor
, Don Cherry
, Roswell Rudd
, Pharoah Sanders
, Larry Coryell
, and Gato Barbieri
.
JCOA Records was founded for releases from the Orchestra and its members.
The albums included commissioned works by Roswell Rudd
, Clifford Thornton
, Don Cherry
, Leroy Jenkins and Grachan Moncur III
. 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 Services
or NMDS.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
group founded in 1965, to further avant-garde jazz
Avant-garde jazz
Avant-garde jazz is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. Avant-jazz often sounds very similar to free jazz, but differs in that, despite its distinct departure from traditional harmony, it has a predetermined structure over which ...
in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Carla Bley
Carla Bley
Carla Bley, née Borg, is an American jazz composer, pianist, organist and band leader. An important figure in the Free Jazz movement of the 1960s, she is perhaps best known for her jazz opera Escalator Over The Hill , as well as a book of compositions that have been performed by many other...
and Michael Mantler
Michael Mantler
Michael Mantler is a composer and trumpeter in new jazz and contemporary music.-Career: United States:Mantler was born in Vienna, Austria...
were important in its organization and style.
Its origins lay in the Jazz Composers Guild, an organization founded by Bill Dixon
Bill Dixon
Bill Dixon was an American musician, composer, visual artist, and educator. Dixon was one of the seminal figures in the free jazz movement. He played the trumpet, flugelhorn, and piano, often using electronic delay and reverberation as part of his trumpet playing.-Biography:Dixon hailed from...
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 (Jazz Composer's Orchestra album)
Communication is the debut album by the Jazz Composer's Orchestra featuring compositions by Michael Mantler and Carla Bley performed by Paul Bley, Steve Lacy, Jimmy Lyons, Roswell Rudd, Archie Shepp, John Tchicai, Fred Pirtle, Willie Ruff, Ken McIntyre, Robin Kenyatta, Bob Carducci, Kent Carter,...
in 1965. Their 1968 double-album The Jazz Composer's Orchestra featured soloists Cecil Taylor
Cecil Taylor
Cecil Percival Taylor is an American pianist and poet. Classically trained, Taylor is generally acknowledged as one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an extremely energetic, physical approach, producing complex improvised sounds, frequently involving tone clusters and...
, Don Cherry
Don Cherry (jazz)
Donald Eugene Cherry was an innovative African-American jazz cornetist whose career began with a long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman. He went on to live in many parts of the world and work with a wide variety of musicians.-Biography:Cherry was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and...
, Roswell Rudd
Roswell Rudd
Roswell Rudd is a Grammy Award-nominated American jazz trombonist and composer....
, Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders is a Grammy Award–winning American jazz saxophonist.Saxophonist Ornette Coleman once described him as "probably the best tenor player in the world." Emerging from John Coltrane's groups of the mid-60s Sanders is known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on...
, Larry Coryell
Larry Coryell
Larry Coryell is an American jazz fusion guitarist.-Biography:Coryell was born in Galveston, Texas. He graduated from Richland High School, in Richland, Washington, where he played in local bands The Jailers, The Rumblers, The Royals, and The Flames. He also played with The Checkers from nearby...
, and Gato Barbieri
Gato Barbieri
Leandro Barbieri , better known as Gato Barbieri , is an Argentinean jazz tenor saxophonist and composer who rose to fame during the free jazz movement in the 1960s and from his latin jazz recordings in the 1970s.-Biography:Born to a family of musicians, Barbieri began playing music...
.
JCOA Records was founded for releases from the Orchestra and its members.
The albums included commissioned works by Roswell Rudd
Roswell Rudd
Roswell Rudd is a Grammy Award-nominated American jazz trombonist and composer....
, Clifford Thornton
Clifford Thornton
Clifford Thornton was an American free jazz trumpeter and trombonist. Born in Philadelphia in 1939, he studied with trumpeter Donald Byrd in the mid-1950s and worked with various players such as tuba player Ray Draper. After a stint in the army, Thornton moved to New York City...
, Don Cherry
Don Cherry (jazz)
Donald Eugene Cherry was an innovative African-American jazz cornetist whose career began with a long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman. He went on to live in many parts of the world and work with a wide variety of musicians.-Biography:Cherry was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and...
, Leroy Jenkins and Grachan Moncur III
Grachan Moncur III
Grachan Moncur III is an American jazz trombonist who has mostly played free jazz, as well as being a prolific composer. He is the son of jazz bassist Grachan Moncur II and the nephew of jazz saxophonist Al Cooper.-Biography:...
. 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 Services
New Music Distribution Services
-Summary:New Music Distribution Services was a non-profit record distributor based in New York City. It was founded in 1972 by Carla Bley and Michael Mantler as a means of distributing recordings of experimental contemporary music. It was a program of the Jazz Composers' Orchestra Association...
or NMDS.
Discography
- 1965: CommunicationCommunication (Jazz Composer's Orchestra album)Communication is the debut album by the Jazz Composer's Orchestra featuring compositions by Michael Mantler and Carla Bley performed by Paul Bley, Steve Lacy, Jimmy Lyons, Roswell Rudd, Archie Shepp, John Tchicai, Fred Pirtle, Willie Ruff, Ken McIntyre, Robin Kenyatta, Bob Carducci, Kent Carter,...
- 1968: The Jazz Composer's Orchestra (produced by Michael MantlerMichael MantlerMichael Mantler is a composer and trumpeter in new jazz and contemporary music.-Career: United States:Mantler was born in Vienna, Austria...
) - 1971: Escalator over the HillEscalator over the HillEscalator over the Hill is mostly referred to as a jazz opera, but it was released as a "chronotransduction" with "words by Paul Haines, adaptation and music by Carla Bley, production and coordination by Michael Mantler", performed by the Jazz Composer's Orchestra.-History:Escalator over the Hill...
(a chronotransduction by Carla BleyCarla BleyCarla Bley, née Borg, is an American jazz composer, pianist, organist and band leader. An important figure in the Free Jazz movement of the 1960s, she is perhaps best known for her jazz opera Escalator Over The Hill , as well as a book of compositions that have been performed by many other...
& Paul Haines) - 1973: Relativity SuiteRelativity SuiteRelativity Suite is a free-jazz LP by Don Cherry on Jazz Composer's Orchestra Records JCOA LP 1006, which was released in 1973.-Criticism:...
(produced by Don CherryDon Cherry (jazz)Donald Eugene Cherry was an innovative African-American jazz cornetist whose career began with a long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman. He went on to live in many parts of the world and work with a wide variety of musicians.-Biography:Cherry was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and...
) - 1973: Numatik Swing BandNumatik Swing Band-Track listing:# "Vent" - 4:50# "Breathahoward" - 2:52# "Circulation" - 10:15# "Lullaby For Greg" - 11:10# "Aerosphere" - 14:15-Personnel:*Roswell Rudd - trombone, french horn, producer...
(produced by Roswell RuddRoswell RuddRoswell Rudd is a Grammy Award-nominated American jazz trombonist and composer....
) - 1975: The Gardens of Harlem (produced by Clifford ThorntonClifford ThorntonClifford Thornton was an American free jazz trumpeter and trombonist. Born in Philadelphia in 1939, he studied with trumpeter Donald Byrd in the mid-1950s and worked with various players such as tuba player Ray Draper. After a stint in the army, Thornton moved to New York City...
) - 1975: Echoes of Prayer (produced by Grachan Moncur IIIGrachan Moncur IIIGrachan Moncur III is an American jazz trombonist who has mostly played free jazz, as well as being a prolific composer. He is the son of jazz bassist Grachan Moncur II and the nephew of jazz saxophonist Al Cooper.-Biography:...
) - 1975: For Players Only (produced by Leroy JenkinsLeroy JenkinsLeroy Jenkins was a composer and free jazz violinist and violist.Jenkins was involved in the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians while a public school teacher in Chicago. He co-founded the Creative Construction Company with Anthony Braxton and others...
)
External links
- Recordings at www.jazzdiscography.com
- Interview with Carla Bley at NewMusicBox