Ornette Coleman

1996 release (light wear) **

1965: Conrad Rooks commissions Ornette Coleman to score his film Chappaqua, then declines to use the music - reportedly because it was too beautiful and would overwhelm the images, which may be the most flattering rejection in the history of commissioned art. The unused score, with Pharoah Sanders in the ensemble and orchestral textures surrounding the trio, became this sprawling four-part suite: Ornette at his most expansive, the alto soaring and grieving over massed strings and winds, jazz and orchestra genuinely integrated rather than politely adjacent - music that belongs to no category established before or since. For decades this was one of the discography's great hard-to-find monuments, spoken of more than heard; the Columbia 2CD edition finally made it complete and convenient, and it rewards the wait in full. Nearly eighty minutes of major Ornette that most collections still lack. The best rejection letter in jazz history, and it plays magnificently.