Released 1966 (1966) Studio Sound Studios Sound
(1966) Old/Quartet
(1967) Release date 1966 Label Delmark Records | Recorded August 10–26, 1966 Length 50:16 Artist Roscoe Mitchell Producer Bob Koester | |
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Genres Jazz, Free jazz, Avant-garde jazz Similar Roscoe Mitchell albums, Jazz albums | ||
Roscoe mitchell sextet sound
Sound is the debut album by free jazz saxophononist Roscoe Mitchell, recorded in 1966 and released on the Delmark label. It features performances by Mitchell, Lester Bowie, Malachi Favors, Maurice McIntyre, Lester Lashley and Alvin Fielder. The CD reissue includes two takes of "Sound", which were edited together to form the original LP version, and an alternative take of "Ornette".
Contents
- Roscoe mitchell sextet sound
- Roscoe mitchell sextet ornette
- Reception
- Influence
- Original LP
- CD Reissue
- Personnel
- References
According to Alvin Fielder, "[the] music was rehearsed. It sounds unrehearsed but it was that loose...For Sound, we rehearsed four to five days per week...It took us two recording days to do Sound and it went well."
Roscoe mitchell sextet ornette
Reception
The Penguin Guide to Jazz selected the album as part of its suggested Core Collection.
The Allmusic review by Steve Huey awarded the album 5 stars, stating, "Structurally, Sound heralded a whole new approach to free improvisation; where most previous free jazz prized an unrelenting fever pitch of emotion, Sound was full of wide-open spaces between instruments, an agreeably rambling pace in between the high-energy climaxes, and a more abstract quality to its solos. Steady rhythmic pulses were mostly discarded in favor of collective, spontaneous dialogues and novel textures (especially with the less orthodox instruments, which had tremendous potential for flat-out weird noises). Simply put, it's an exploration of pure sound."
The album was identified by Chris Kelsey in his Allmusic essay "Free Jazz: A Subjective History" as one of the 20 Essential Free Jazz Albums.
Influence
The album's influence on other improvisers was considerable: "Sound's concepts of texture, space, and interaction would shortly be expanded upon in classic recordings by Anthony Braxton, Muhal Richard Abrams, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, and others; the repercussions from its expansion of free jazz's tonal and emotional palettes are still being felt".
Original LP
All compositions by Roscoe Mitchell
Side One
- "Ornette – 5:22
- "The Little Suite" – 10:20
Side Two
- "Sound" – 21:30
CD Reissue
- "Ornette" [alternative take] – 5:44
- "Sound 1" – 26:36
- "The Little Suite" – 10:27
- "Ornette" – 5:29
- "Sound 2" – 19:24