In All Languages

In All Languages is a 1987 double album by Ornette Coleman. Coleman and the other members of his 1950s quartet, trumpeter Don Cherry, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Billy Higgins, performed on one of the two records, while his electrified ensemble, Prime Time, performed on the other. Many of the songs on In All Languages had two renditions, one by each group.

For the Godflesh album, see In All Languages (Godflesh album).
In All Languages
Studio album by
Ornette Coleman
ReleasedFebruary 1987
GenreFree jazz, harmolodic funk
Length73:29
LabelCaravan of Dreams
ProducerKathelin Hoffman (exec. producer) & Denardo Coleman (producer)
Ornette Coleman chronology
Song X
(1986)		 In All Languages
(1987)		 Virgin Beauty
(1988)

The double album was originally released by Caravan of Dreams, which also issued the title as a single cassette or compact disc. Coleman's record label, Harmolodic, re-issued In All Languages in 1997 through a marketing and distribution deal with Verve Records.[1][2]

Recording and music

For the album, Coleman recorded both his original quartet and his newer Prime Time band in the same studio within the same period. Option magazine remarked that In All Languages showcases the differences between his original quartet's free jazz and the harmolodic funk of his Prime Time band.[3] Geoffrey Himes of JazzTimes said the album's approach "may sound very avant-garde, but it's not so different from a Dixieland combo that stands to solo all at once on the final chorus or from a pre-war blues band that shifts from D to D-flat and from 12 bars to 13 in pursuit of a song."[4]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[6]
Spin8/10[7]
Tom HullA[8]
The Village VoiceA[9]

Reviewing the album for The Village Voice in 1987, Robert Christgau applauded Coleman as a persistently lyrical iconoclast and said the Quartet sounded more intense than ever before because of how they follow Coleman's harmolodic funk approach and "the dense flow of Of Human Feelings".[9] In another piece for Playboy, Christgau cited the album as "an ideal introduction" to Coleman's music and remarked that, despite Coleman's restless playing, Prime Time's chemistry and the brevity of the songs "assure a coherence that coexists with constant surprise as in no other music."[10] In All Languages was voted the eleventh best album of the year in The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics poll for 1987.[11] Christgau, the poll's creator, named it the fourth best album of 1987 in his own list.[12]

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, jazz critic Scott Yanow said that Prime Time "almost makes the acoustic unit sound conservative in comparison. While the quartet displays subtle use of space and interplay between the musicians, Prime Time comes across as overcrowded and loud, but no less stimulating. Highly recommended to fans of Ornette Coleman."[5] Michael G. Nastos, writing for All Music Guide to Jazz, wrote that "the utterly no-nonsense approach and high intensity make this a recording challenged listeners must have," also noting that the quartet's "work is still vital."[13] Lloyd Sachs of the Chicago Sun-Times said that the music is "so compulsively melodic and rhythmically alive, I dare anyone to utter the usual stuff about how 'difficult' Ornette is after a single listening."[14]

Track listing

All compositions by Ornette Coleman, Phrase Text Music, ASCAP. This track listing reflects the original double album configuration.

Side A (the Quartet)
No.TitleLength
1."Peace Warriors"2:35
2."Feet Music"3:32
3."Africa is the Mirror of All Colors"2:58
4."Word for Bird"3:16
5."Space Church (Continuous Service)"3:59
Side B (the Quartet)
No.TitleLength
1."Latin Genetics"3:39
2."In All Languages"3:33
3."Sound Manual"3:08
4."Mothers of the Veil"3:45
5."Cloning"3:14
Side C (Prime Time)
No.TitleLength
1."Music News"3:00
2."Mothers of the Veil"4:28
3."The Art of Love is Happiness"2:29
4."Latin Genetics"2:45
5."Today, Yesterday and Tomorrow"3:10
6."Listen Up"2:29
7."Feet Music"3:49
Side D (Prime Time)
No.TitleLength
1."Space Church (Continuous Service)"4:34
2."Cloning"2:28
3."In All Languages"3:06
4."Biosphere"2:20
5."Story Tellers"2:49
6."Peace Warriors"2:23

Personnel
Sides A and B (the Quartet)
  • Ornette Coleman – alto and tenor saxophone
  • Don Cherry – trumpet
  • Charlie Haden – double bass
  • Billy Higgins – drums
Sides C and D (Prime Time)

References
  1. Macnie, Jim (May 24, 1997). "Jazz/Blue Notes". Billboard. BPI Communications: 44. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  2. Macnie, Jim (September 16, 1995). "Harmolodic Label Is Pure Coleman". Billboard. BPI Communications: 1, 84. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  3. "Review: In All Languages". Option: 78. 1987. Coleman has released an album which definitively spells the musical disparities between the free-bop of his original quartet and the rampaging harmolodic funk of his Prime Time conglomeration. This 2-record set is probably most inspiring because Ornette chose to record each group in the same studio during the same time period.
  4. Himes, Geoffrey Himes (2005). "Review: In All Languages". JazzTimes. 35 (6–10): 54.
  5. Yanow, Scott. In All Languages at AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
  6. DeCurtis, Anthony; Henke, James; George-Warren, Holly (1992). The Rolling Stone Album Guide (3rd ed.). Random House. p. 152. ISBN 0679737294.
  7. Michaels, Rob (October 1997). "Spins". Spin. New York: 144. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
  8. Hull, Tom (n.d.). "Jazz (1940–50s) (Reference)". tomhull.com. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
  9. Christgau, Robert (July 28, 1987). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
  10. Christgau, Robert (October 1987). "Ornette Coleman". Playboy. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
  11. "The 1987 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice. New York. March 1, 1988. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
  12. "Pazz & Jop 1987: Dean's List". The Village Voice. New York. March 1, 1988. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
  13. Nastos, Michael G. (1994), Ron Wynn (ed.), All Music Guide to Jazz, M. Erlewine, V. Bogdanov, San Francisco: Miller Freeman, p. 163, ISBN 0-87930-308-5
  14. Sachs, Lloyd (December 16, 1990). "Building a library of great CD". Chicago Sun-Times. p. 4. Retrieved August 1, 2013. (subscription required)
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