14 February 1970. Ornette Coleman could have booked a club; instead he invited people to his loft at 131 Prince Street and had the tape running. Dewey Redman on tenor, Charlie Haden on bass, Ed Blackwell on drums, Coleman on alto, trumpet and violin, and the friends and neighbours of the title singing the opening chant. Bob Thiele co-produced and released it on Flying Dutchman, Coleman's only record for the label, which is why, as one guide puts it, it falls through the cracks of his discography.
Six pieces, all Coleman's. The title tune twice, once with voices and once without; Long Time No See; Let's Play; Forgotten Songs; Tomorrow. Down Beat, in October 1970, found the singing pretty awful. Christgau, who gave it an A, hears the overheard quality of a jam, the Haden-Blackwell rhythm section beefed up by Redman, whose tenor adds body whenever Ornette picks up the trumpet or the violin. Scott Yanow at AllMusic: typically adventurous, melodic in its own way, still futuristic, and not among the essential ones.
Val Wilmer photographed the same four in the same loft the following year. This is the sound of the room.
Japanese CD edition from Solid's Flying Dutchman series.
