Sold Date: November 22, 2020
Start Date: July 20, 2020
Final Price: £69.00 £59.00 (GBP)
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ORNETTE COLEMAN Tomorrow Is The Question 1960 UK CONTEMPORY *MONO* NEAR MINT TOMORROW IS THE QUESTION!
the new music of
ORNETTE COLEMAN

1960 UK CONTEMPORARY (LAC 12228) *MONO* PRESSING
Recorded January 16, February 23 and March 9 & 10, 1959 at Contemporary's Studio in Los Angeles
FANTASTIC COPY WHICH LOOKS ONCE PLAYED AND SOUNDS LIKE NEW

PRESSED BY DECCA WITH DEEP GROOVED YELLOW CONTEMPORY LABELS
MATRIX: VMGT - 1648 - 1B / VMGT - 1649 - 1B
MOTHERS/STAMPERS: 1/C and 1/U
THE RECORD IS HOUSED IN THE ORIGINAL FULLY LAMINATED SLEEVE “ Printed in England by West Bros Printers Limited, Mitchum” WITH LINER NOTES BY NAT HENTOFF
COMPLETE WITH THE ORIGINAL "PATENT APPLIED FOR" POLY-LINED DECCA INNER SLEEVE

Ornette Coleman Alto Saxophone
Don Cherry Trumpet
Percy Heath / Red Mitchell Bass
Shelly Manne Drums

On his second outing for the Contemporary label Coleman focused on a quartet.
For some unexplained reason, Billy Higgins was replaced by Shelly Manne; the only constants remain Coleman and Don Cherry.
The focus, then, is on the interplay between the altoist and trumpeter in executing Ornette's tunes, which were, more than on the preceding album (Something Else!, recorded a year earlier), knottier and tighter in their arrangement style.
The odd-syncopation style of the front line on numbers such as "Tears Inside," which comes out of the box wailing and then simmers down into a moody, swinging blues, was a rough transition for the rhythm section.
And the more Ornette and Cherry try to open it up into something more free and less attached to the tune's form, the more Manne and especially bassist Percy Heath hang on.
There are great moments here: for example, the celebratory freedom of "Giggin'," with its wonderful trumpet solo, and "Rejoicing," which has become one of Coleman's classics for its elongated melody line and simple obbligato phrasing, which become part of a wonderfully complex solo that keeps the blues firmly intact.
The final track, "Endless," is pure magic - after Manne carries it in 6/8, Coleman uses a nursery rhyme to move to the solo terrain and, when he does, the solo itself becomes a part of that rhyme as even Don Cherry feels his way through it in his break.
And, if anything, this is one of the things that came to define Ornette -- his willingness to let simplicity and its bright colours and textures confound not only other players and listeners, but also him too.
In those days, Coleman's musical system -- although worked out in detail -- always left room for the unexpected and, in fact, was played as if his life depended on it.
As a result, Tomorrow Is the Question! was a very literal title; who could have guessed the expansive, world-widening direction that Coleman's system would head into next?

Side One:
Tomorrow Is The Question (3:09)
Tears Inside (5:00)
Mind And Time (3:08)
Compassion (4:37)
Giggin' (3:19)
Rejoicing (4:04)
Side Two:
Lorraine (5:55)
Turnaround (7:55)
Endless (5:18)

LABELS: EXCELLENT (NEAR MINT)
The labels are clean and unmarked with only one spindle trace per side.
They are a bit rough looking but all this is down to manufacture and not later wear
VINYL Visual: NEAR MINT (MINT)
Both surfaces shine like-new with nothing but some harmless in-vinyl pressing blemishes
VINYL Audio: NEAR MINT (MINT)
An outstanding copy which delivers crystal clear, clean, bright sound with an "in-the-room" immediacy to its loud *MONO* cut.
Plays beautifully with practically nothing of note to fault.
The (very) occasional one-off tick noted (from new) but I did not clean this copy as it looks so pristine so these will no doubt disappear after a clean/few spins.
You won't find a nicer example
SLEEVE: NEAR MINT
The cover is crisp, clean and sharp with no edge/spine wear to speak of and a nice deep unburied gloss to the surfaces

POST & PACKING:
A PROTECTIVE POLY SLEEVE, NEW ANTI-STATIC LINERS, QUALITY BOX (NOT ENVELOPE) MAILER AND AMPLE STIFFENERS ARE ALWAYS USED TO ENSURE THAT YOUR RECORD ARRIVES SAFELY
UK: £5.00 (Recorded Delivery)
EUROPE: Airmail: £15.00 (International Signed For delivery)
INTERNATIONAL: Airmail: £20.00 (International Signed For delivery)

Combined Post: Additional records £1 (UK) £2 (Europe including Russia) £3 (International)
Guarantee: All records are unconditionally guaranteed (including sealed and/or unplayed) and I will offer a complete, no quibble refund upon return of the item should you not be pleased with it in any way  _gsrx_vers_1233 (GS 8.1.1 (1233))