The Jazz Composer's Orchestra

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

The Jazz Composer's Orchestra was an American jazz group, founded in 1965 by Carla Bley and Michael Mantler to perform avant-garde jazz for large orchestra. Its roots lie in the Jazz Composers Guild, an organisation of Bill Dixon that grew out of the 1964 concert series October Revolution in Jazz in New York. There Bley and Mantler formed a big band, first called the Jazz Composers Guild Orchestra, which recorded its first record in April 1965. When the Guild fell apart, the big band continued as the Jazz Composer's Orchestra. In 1966 a non-profit organisation was added, the Jazz Composers Orchestra Association.

Music and breakthrough

The first release was Communication, in 1965. The double album The Jazz Composer's Orchestra from 1968 featured soloists such as Cecil Taylor, Don Cherry, Roswell Rudd, Pharoah Sanders, Larry Coryell and Gato Barbieri. Later followed, among others, Numatik Swing Band, Relativity Suite, Echoes of Prayer, For Players Only and The Gardens of Harlem. For the records the group founded the label JCOA Records, and there were commissioned works by among others Roswell Rudd, Clifford Thornton, Don Cherry, Leroy Jenkins and Grachan Moncur III.

Influence

The last performance was in 1975. The orchestra's activities led to a distribution company for records of its own, the New Music Distribution Service. In this way the orchestra gave room not only to the new jazz, but also to the musicians who wanted to release their own records outside the major labels.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 1966Communication
• 1968The Jazz Composer’s Orchestra
• 1973Numatik Swing Band
• 1973Relativity Suite
• 1975Echoes of Prayer
• 1975For Players Only
• 1975The Gardens of Harlem

In School of Rock

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