Ornette Coleman, Friends and Neighbors: Ornette Live at Prince Street (side A)

The most memorable point of 1970's Friends and Neighbors may be its opening track, where a chorus chants a simple melody as the group pulses and squeals behind them — Ornette's violin squeals particularly noticeably.  The rest of the album takes a sharp turn back toward Ornette's earlier years.  In many ways it sounds like an obvious successor to Ornette! and Ornette on Tenor from the early 60s.  The years in between saw Ornette exploring ideas from the austerity of the Golden Circle live records to the overwhelming chaos of Crisis.  Here, he reins in his explorations, and his group sounds like an updated version of the early records that created his reputation.  The configuration is a quartet, with Haden and Blackwell on drums, Dewey Redman on tenor, and Ornette on either alto or trumpet (after his opening shrieks on violin).  By 1970, fashions had caught up with Blackwell's recognizable style, and, especially compared to Denardo's primitive pulse on Ornette's late-60s albums, Blackwell seems like a uniting and grounding force.  My pressing of Friends and Neighbors, which may be a reissue or bootleg (it was new when I bought it) sounds great, without the exaggerated treble that often plagues new pressings.  The 131 Prince Street address in the iconic cover image is now across from a Lacoste boutique.