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The Lenox School of Jazz was a summer program in Lenox, Massachusetts founded by John Lewis and held from 1957 to 1960. It was one of the first instances where the worlds greatest jazz musicians were enlisted as faculty and where jazz was taught to promising young musicians. This release presents the rare and long unavailable 1959 Lenox Annual Benefit Concert, featuring such stars as Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, Jimmy Giuffre, Kenny Dorham and Gary McFarland, among many others.

As a bonus, an extremely rare quartet set by Kenny Dorham, who was one of the mentors at the Lenox School.

“This extraordinary disc features six fine ensembles with shared & varying personnel live at the Berkshire Music Barn at the Lenoz School of Jazz in Massachusetts from one evening in August of 1959. The ensembles were led by Max Roach & John Lewis (w/ Ornette, Don Cherry & Steve Kuhn), Kenny Dorham, Bill Evans/Jim Hall, Jimmy Giuffre, Gunther Schuller (w/ Perry Robinson) and Herb Pomeroy (w/ Ornette, Lenny Popkin, Gary McFarland & Ian Underwood). MJQ’s John Lewis was the director of the Lenox School and he invited Ornette Coleman & Don Cherry (who had just moved to NY) to attend the summer program. The music was written by Ornette, Gary McFarland, George Russell, Jimmy Giuffre, Kenny Dorham and others. What I dig about this is that there is successful combination of fresh ideas that encompassed the modern jazz, third stream and contemporary classical music of that time with an eye on the future of things to come. There are four bonus tracks featuring the Kenny Dorham European Quartet from Oslo in 1964. Nearly 71 & 1/2 minutes long and consistently engaging.” – Bruce Lee Gallanter -DMG

Track listing:

01. The Sphinx
02. Inn Tune
03. D.C. Special
04. Monks Sphere
05. Jingles
06. Stratusphunk
07. Rays Time
08. Lone Ranger And The Great Horace Silver
09. To Thee, O Asphodel
10. Pauls Pal
11. Blue Grass
12. Con Alma (*) Bonus Track
13. Short Story (*) Bonus Track
14. Sky Blue (*) Bonus Track
15. Lament (*) Bonus Track

Total time: 71:22 min.

Personnel:
Ornette Coleman (as), Don Cherry, Kenny Dorham, Al Kiger (tp), Jimmy Giuffre (saxes), Ian Underwood (fl), David Baker (tb), Gunther Schuller (frh), Gary McFarland (vib), Attila Zoller (g), Steve Kuhn, Ran Blake (p), Larry Ridley (b) and Barry Greenspan (d), among others.

Personnel on tracks #12-15:
Kenny Dorham Quartet: Kenny Dorham (tp), Tore Sannes (p), Bjorn Pedersen (b), Jon Christensen (d). Recorded live at the Metropole Jazz Club, Oslo, Norway, January 1964.

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Recorded at Berkshire Music Barn, Lenox School Of Jazz, Lenox, Massachusetts, August 29, 1959.