Don Cherry Mu First Part / Mu Second Part CD

UK reissue of 1995 compilation that combines both of the great jazz innovator's 1969 releases together on one CD. Possibly one of the first albums to put 'world music' on the map. Highly recommended! 2001 release.

2 LPs on 1 CD: MU FIRST PART/MU SECOND PART.
Personnel includes: Don Cherry (vocals, trumpet, flute, piano, percussion, bells); Ed Blackwell (drums, percussion, bells).
Producers: Jean Karakos, Jean Luc Young.
Reissue producer: Matt Robin.
Recorded at Studio Saravah, Paris, France on August 22, 1969. Originally released on BYG Records. Includes liner notes by Pierre-Jean Crittin.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
2 LPs on 1 CD: MU FIRST PART (1969) / MU SECOND PART (1969)
An outstanding work in the free jazz and avant-garde jazz idiom, the Mu sessions are among the most beautiful improvised duets recorded during the height of the free jazz movement. Recorded in France in 1969 and originally released on the BYG Actuel imprint, Mu remained an obscure collector's item for three decades until its reissue in two parts during the '90s. With Don Cherry on pocket trumpet, piano, Indian flute, bamboo flute, voice, bells, and percussion and Ed Blackwell on drums, percussion, and bells, the pair created one of the most telepathic improvisations on record, matched only by John Coltrane and Rashied Ali on the album Interstellar Space. From simple playful themes, Cherry develops a complex interplay with his partner that results in irrational mood changes and rhythm shifts, moving from ecstatic bird-call flurries through to fragile blues and nursery rhyme patterns. An African-inspired pulse groove follows the rapid-fire introduction, after which flurries of Cherry's pocket trumpet soar ecstatically into the air. More than three decades later, Mu is one of the few records that one can say sounds free, playful, candid, and revolutionary, an utterly arresting masterpiece that is a milestone in Don Cherry and Ed Blackwell's careers -- not to mention the free jazz movement in its entirety. Essentially, the recording represents such fire, passion, and energy that it can certainly reach listeners far beyond the avant-garde jazz academy. The Get Back reissue version is an exquisite collector's item in 180 gram vinyl. ~ Skip Jansen
This classic pair of recordings, reissued as a single CD, captures Don Cherry near the height of his global quest to absorb as much music as possible from different cultures and funnel it back through his jazz sensibility. It's one of the earliest, and most successful, experiments in what would later come to be known as world music. He wisely chose his fellow Ornette Coleman cohort Ed Blackwell -- a drummer steeped in the traditions of New Orleans, African music, and free jazz -- for his partner. Despite his reputation as a trumpeter, Cherry spends a great deal of time here on piano, flutes, and vocals. His piano playing, while relatively simple, is fluid and melodic, owing a good deal to Abdullah Ibrahim (who is represented here with a couple of his themes). Likewise, his singing -- heavily influenced by Indian karnatic song -- is endearingly bright, heartfelt, and lovely. But, above all, his trumpet playing is stellar. When Cherry hits his ringing, clarion passages, he projects a purity of sound that few other trumpeters could match. Blackwell matches him sound for sound, with rolling West African-derived rhythms, Basin Street marches, and the most overtly musical tone of any drummer this side of Max Roach. The Mu sessions have long held legendary status and it's not difficult to hear why. Highly recommended. ~ Brian Olewnick