Town Hall, 1962

Town Hall, 1962
Live album by Ornette Coleman
Released	1965
Recorded	21 December 1962
Genre	Free jazz Avant-garde jazz
Length	45:14
Label	ESP-Disk
Ornette Coleman chronology
Ornette on Tenor (1962) Town Hall, 1962 (1962/5) Chappaqua Suite (1965)

Town Hall, 1962 is an album by Ornette Coleman released on the ESP-Disk label. It was the first recording featuring at its heart his new trio after the ensemble of his Atlantic years. The album provides partial documentation of a concert featuring several ensembles which had been organised and promoted by Coleman himself, in his search for artistic and financial independence. Even though the concert would be followed by two years of absence from public performance and recording, it is indicative of the direction which Coleman's music would take on his return in 1965, with the core trio and the introduction of string instrument textures.

Reception

Written four decades after release, the Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 2½ stars and stated "Although Ornette's string writing (which leaves no room for improvising) is pretty well outside of jazz, his playing on the other tracks holds one's interest throughout".^[1]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Track listing

All tracks written by Ornette Coleman.

Side A

1. "Doughnut"
2. "Sadness"
3. "Dedication to Poets and Writers"

Side B

1. "The Ark"

Personnel

• Ornette Coleman — alto saxophone
• David Izenzon — double bass
• Charles Moffat — drums
• Selwart Clark, Nathan Goldstein — violin (track 3)
• Julian Barber — viola (track 3)
• Kermit Moore — cello (track 3)

References

^ Spellman, A. B. (1985). Four Lives in the Bebop Business. Limelight. ISBN 0-87910-042-7.