Don Cherry Blue Note 4311: Where is Brooklyn? A Free Jazz Classic (1967)

If you are fan of free jazz, or advanced post bop, I think the mid 1960's Blue Note albums of Don Cherry will be very much to your liking.

Complete Communion, Symphony for the Improvisers, and the pictured Where is Brooklyn?

All 3 albums feature dense free for all, yet compose playing, much in the vein of Ornette Coleman's Free Jazz from 1961.

Don Cherry, who performed on Free Jazz, offers some fulfilling arrangements that seem bigger than the ensembles that perform them.

You know what, I have listened to all of these albums several times, and I would have bet money they were all  sextet or bigger, I am still astounded that Where is Brooklyn is nothing more than a quartet date.

Cherry on trumpet, Ed Blackwell on drums, Henry Grimes on bass, and Pharoah Sanders on tenor sax and piccolo, The music just seems bigger than a quartet for sure.

Sanders really seems different here than what he would become down the road a few years, he is still a free blower, but not quite yest the hellion of fire breathing he would become on his own Impulse albums, like Karma and Deaf, Dumb, and Blind.

There are hints of melody and structure so don't be too scared off by the free jazz label, definitely a worthy addition to a free jazz/post bop collection.  If you like Ornette's Free Jazz, you should like Where is Brooklyn?

Also you may notice that this vinyl copy pictured, from my own collection is a mid 70's Liberty Issue.

 I rather like those black b Liberty's, as they are also known.

I think I did pay 25 bucks for this copy, but an original pressing would run you at $150, and up.

Honestly I can only afford to window shop for first press Blue Notes, I have a few that I have found in thrift stores and record shops, that didn't realize what they had, but I don't have any problems listening to a second or third press.

Sadly though recently, even these mid 70's pressings are beginning to rise in price, it won't be long as they too will be out of reach. You better get them while you can.

 Update 2-3-2016: Correct me if I am wrong, but is not this track below "The Thing" the same them used for the character also known as The Thing on the 1960's cartoon for the Marvel superheroes show The Fantastic Four? The theme usually plays when ever the Ben Grimm  The Thing character goes on attack mode.