I am not sure if the intention is to mislead, but this six-year old recording, although it may well have been the ‘avant garde’ of its day, certainly could not wear that coat today. To indicate that it is not in fact the latest thing is perhaps to do it a favour. It represents the work of some major musicians who have gone their own way since that time. Coltrane had turned from devising his own dialect (as in the attractive recordings with Red Garland) and was delving into a strange country of his own, with its own hypnotic form of communication, where he is still one of the few inhabitants today.
Don Cherry has not yet had full recognition, and it seems odd to reflect that he has had exposure for this length of time. With Ornette Coleman, and using a special type of cornet, he did not attract too much attention, being dwarfed by the genuine new thing to which he contributed. One other recording on which he plays extremely well is the 1963 Sonny Rollins ‘Our Man In Jazz’. This achieved a public reaction composed of mixed incomprehension and exasperation at the time of issue; thus Cherry again escaped recognition. It may pay anyone to listen again now. Don Cherry’s European visit last year has also done more to establish him.
This record consists of one of Cherry’s own themes, three Ornette Coleman numbers, and Monk’s Bemsha Swing. It is perhaps easiest to establish terms of reference by trying first the latter tune, which is last on the record. How about the once incomprehensible Thelonious, now almost as respected as Erroll Garner? This is at times a spiky and bleak record. Cherry seems at his best in Focus On Sanity, using a longer line that he sometimes allows himself and saying rather more than his normal style of hinting. Coltrane’s first soprano recording was The Blessing and he uses the instrument again on The Invisible, but his tenor had then not strayed too near to the oboe. It is a patchy record, not always satisfying, often hinting at more to come. The drums will not be to all tastes, and it is mostly for those who want to look back, and trace things through. Coltrane needs no interpreters, but Don Cherry is a man to watch.
Discography
(a) Cherryco; (b) Focus On Sanity (19 min) – (a) The Blessing; (b) The Invisible; (b) Bemsha Swing (17 min)
(a) Don Cherry (tpt); John Coltrane (ten); Charlie Haden (bs); Ed Blackwell (d).
(b) Don Cherry (tpt); John Coltrane (ten/sop): Percy Heath (bs); Ed Blackwell (d).
(Atlantic 587004 32s. 2d.)
