Don Cherry

Imagination and a passion for exploration made Don Cherry one of the most influential jazz musicians of the late 20th century. A founding member of <a href="spotify:artist:47odibUtrN3lnWx0p0pk2P">Ornette Coleman</a>'s groundbreaking quartet of the late '50s, Cherry continued to expand his musical vocabulary until his death in 1995. In addition to performing and recording with his own bands, Cherry worked with such top-ranked jazz musicians as <a href="spotify:artist:1BEsuwAkTQMG50TeHB5qny">Steve Lacy</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1VEzN9lxvG6KPR3QQGsebR">Sonny Rollins</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7C2DSqaNkh0w77O5Jz1FKh">Archie Shepp</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2wn2nqzITvJ1vcMRO8Wzv6">Albert Ayler</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2hGh5VOeeqimQFxqXvfCUf">John Coltrane</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7dXBi98p0mN5JCpBnU0XEm">Gato Barbieri</a>. Cherry's most prolific period came in the late '70s and early '80s when he joined <a href="spotify:artist:6P6IXsZWyS49AUbhGCvvLK">Nana Vasconcelos</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:28rpZV7uGYyg3nwVvHQarq">Collin Walcott</a> in the worldbeat group <a href="spotify:artist:5x1NGfJhOrOhp3QQM7nzmp">Codona</a>, and with former bandmates <a href="spotify:artist:5Pqc0ZFA20Y9zGJZ3ojUin">Charlie Haden</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6OyNnPUKtNrjm5QQkK0Px9">Ed Blackwell</a>, and saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:3GHsUE2VmzMaweAB3RjX4m">Dewey Redman</a> in the <a href="spotify:artist:47odibUtrN3lnWx0p0pk2P">Coleman</a>-inspired group <a href="spotify:artist:5m1au6M6DylpfvEiq7fuzI">Old and New Dreams</a>. Cherry later worked with Vasconcelos and saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:7mEh6DG77XcF4EDwHKOsGy">Carlos Ward</a> in the short-lived group <a href="spotify:artist:0qME7vnWbfcGiDCrFv4vKB">Nu</a>.

Born in Oklahoma City in 1936, he first attained prominence with <a href="spotify:artist:47odibUtrN3lnWx0p0pk2P">Coleman</a>, with whom he began playing around 1957. At that time Cherry's instrument of choice was a pocket trumpet (or cornet) -- a miniature version of the full-sized model. The smaller instrument -- in Cherry's hands, at least -- got a smaller, slightly more nasal sound than is typical of the larger horn. Though he would play a regular cornet off and on throughout his career, Cherry remained most closely identified with the pocket instrument. Cherry stayed with <a href="spotify:artist:47odibUtrN3lnWx0p0pk2P">Coleman</a> through the early '60s, playing on the first seven (and most influential) of the saxophonist's albums. In 1960, he recorded The Avant-Garde with <a href="spotify:artist:2hGh5VOeeqimQFxqXvfCUf">John Coltrane</a>. After leaving <a href="spotify:artist:47odibUtrN3lnWx0p0pk2P">Coleman</a>'s band, Cherry played with <a href="spotify:artist:1BEsuwAkTQMG50TeHB5qny">Steve Lacy</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1VEzN9lxvG6KPR3QQGsebR">Sonny Rollins</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7C2DSqaNkh0w77O5Jz1FKh">Archie Shepp</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2wn2nqzITvJ1vcMRO8Wzv6">Albert Ayler</a>. In 1963-1964, Cherry co-led the New York Contemporary Five with <a href="spotify:artist:7C2DSqaNkh0w77O5Jz1FKh">Shepp</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3zPUfW3hRI4NIvhtr6UjH1">John Tchicai</a>. With <a href="spotify:artist:7dXBi98p0mN5JCpBnU0XEm">Gato Barbieri</a>, Cherry led a band in Europe from 1964-1966, recording two of his most highly regarded albums, Complete Communion and Symphony for Improvisers.

Cherry began the '70s by teaching at Dartmouth College in 1970, and recorded with <a href="spotify:artist:0NwUEueIvj75HohOFizqDV">the Jazz Composer's Orchestra</a> in 1973. He lived in Sweden for four years, and used the country as a base for his travels around Europe and the Middle East. Cherry became increasingly interested in other, mostly non-Western styles of music. In the late '70s and early '80s, he performed and recorded with <a href="spotify:artist:5x1NGfJhOrOhp3QQM7nzmp">Codona</a>, a cooperative group with percussionist <a href="spotify:artist:6P6IXsZWyS49AUbhGCvvLK">Nana Vasconcelos</a> and multi-instrumentalist <a href="spotify:artist:28rpZV7uGYyg3nwVvHQarq">Collin Walcott</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:5x1NGfJhOrOhp3QQM7nzmp">Codona</a>'s sound was a pastiche of African, Asian, and other indigenous musics.

Concurrently, Cherry joined with ex-<a href="spotify:artist:47odibUtrN3lnWx0p0pk2P">Coleman</a> associates <a href="spotify:artist:5Pqc0ZFA20Y9zGJZ3ojUin">Charlie Haden</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6OyNnPUKtNrjm5QQkK0Px9">Ed Blackwell</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3GHsUE2VmzMaweAB3RjX4m">Dewey Redman</a> to form <a href="spotify:artist:5m1au6M6DylpfvEiq7fuzI">Old and New Dreams</a>, a band dedicated to playing the compositions of their former employer. After the dissolution of <a href="spotify:artist:5x1NGfJhOrOhp3QQM7nzmp">Codona</a>, Cherry formed <a href="spotify:artist:0qME7vnWbfcGiDCrFv4vKB">Nu</a> with Vasconcelos and saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:7mEh6DG77XcF4EDwHKOsGy">Carlos Ward</a>. In 1988, he made Art Deco, a more traditional album of acoustic jazz, with <a href="spotify:artist:5Pqc0ZFA20Y9zGJZ3ojUin">Haden</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6FmHMrX0jETx6WNGzyZKRs">Billy Higgins</a>, and saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:4yN4CL5hDeBFdEFFCvfGxw">James Clay</a>.

Until his death in 1995, Cherry continued to combine disparate musical genres; his interest in world music never abated. Cherry learned to play and compose for wood flutes, tambura, gamelan, and various other non-Western instruments. Elements of these musics inevitably found their way into his later compositions and performances, as on 1990's Multi Kulti, a characteristic celebration of musical diversity. As a live performer, Cherry was notoriously uneven. It was not unheard of for him to arrive very late for gigs, and his technique -- never great to begin with -- showed on occasion a considerable, perhaps inexcusable, decline. In his last years, especially, Cherry seemed less self-possessed as a musician. Yet his musical legacy is one of such influence that his personal failings fade in relative significance. ~ Chris Kelsey & Craig Harris, Rovi