Ornette Coleman Skies of America Charlie Haden/NY,USA 1972

In 1969, he began composing Ornette’s most controversial work, “American Sky.” In 1970, he began rehearsing songs based on the advice of his friend at the time, Gerald Schwartz, a trumpet player with the New York Philharmonic. After many twists and turns, when it was finally completed in 1972, Ornette wanted to record a collaboration between his group and the New York Philharmonic, but that didn’t happen, and in the end, it was recorded with just the London Symphony Orchestra and Ornette. It became a blow-in. In 1997, 25 years later, Ornette Coleman’s four-night concert was held at New York’s Lincoln Center, and Ornette finally performed the original idea with the New York Philharmonic. “American Skies” was realized… This was the first time that a true “American Sky” was completed… To get to this point, Ornette had to perform “American Skies” once immediately after its announcement, and then 80 times after that. It was only performed a few times until the 1990s. This was because leading not only one’s own group but also many members of an orchestra would be extremely expensive. It’s been a long time since I last mentioned this, but I’d like to say that the 1987 Italy performance was the closest to the original version of “America no Sora,” which was recently released by the same label and received great acclaim (see the July 5th blog for details). In July 1972, immediately after recording “American Skies” in London, he performed with Ornette as part of the “Newport Jazz Festival” program at the New York Philharmonic Hall. A historic live performance of “American Skies” premiered with the quartet of Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden, and Ed Blackwell and the American Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leon Thompson. An outrageous item completely recorded for 53 minutes with ultra-high sound quality has appeared for the first time! Live at Newport in New York Philharmonic Hall New York City July.4.1972 Skies of America 1. Track 1 2. Track 2 3. Track 3 4. Track 4 Ornette Coleman – Alto Sax Dewey Redman – Tenor Sax Charlie Haden – Bass Ed Blackwell – Drums American Symphony Orchestra Leon Thompson – Conductor