Outtakes Reassembled Into a Whole
Atlantic stitched together leftover takes from Coleman's late-fifties sessions into a record he never assembled himself.
Twins opens in the middle of a conversation. The alto saxophone of Ornette Coleman weaves through the lines with that familiar sideways logic, spiky and unhurried, while the rhythm section pushes and pulls around it. The textures are spare: double bass, drums, and horns that sometimes sound like they are arguing with each other and sometimes like they agree completely. It is not an easy listen, but it is a rewarding one if you let the looseness carry you.
The album was not really Coleman's project. Atlantic Records released it in 1971, assembling it from outtakes recorded between 1959 and 1961 for The Shape of Jazz to Come, This Is Our Music, Free Jazz, and Ornette! Coleman had no hand in choosing or sequencing the material. The sessions themselves were scattered across Radio Recorders in Hollywood and Atlantic's studios in Manhattan. "First Take" was an early pass at the material that became Free Jazz, and it shows the group feeling its way toward the collective sound that defined that record.
As a place to start with Coleman, Twins is not the answer. The Shape of Jazz to Come or Free Jazz will tell you more about what he was attempting, and both are cleaner statements. Twins works best for listeners who already know his work and want to hear the raw material behind it. Its value is in the seams showing.
Who's playing
Eric Dolphybass clarinet
Charlie Hadendouble bass
Scott LaFarodouble bass
Ornette Colemanalto saxophone
Don Cherrypocket trumpet
Freddie Hubbardtrumpet
Ed Blackwelldrums
Billy Higginsdrums
Where next?
More by Ornette Coleman
The Shape of Jazz to Come 1959
New York Is Now 1968
Something Else!!!! The Music of Ornette Coleman
Change of the Century 1960
The musicians on this record
Out to Lunch 1964
Eric Dolphy
plays bass clarinet here
plays bass clarinet here
Red Clay 1970
Freddie Hubbard
plays trumpet here
plays trumpet here
Liberation Music Orchestra 1970
Charlie Haden
plays double bass here
plays double bass here
Where Is Brooklyn? 1969
Don Cherry
plays pocket trumpet here
plays pocket trumpet here
