Free jazz that is more serene than jarring

[king ubu]

as far as Coltrane goes, I think my favourite - if I understand the original poster correctly - would be "Sun Ship" - some of the starkest beauty to be heard in music (but that's purely subjective, of course)

[clifford_thornton]

Another yes to People In Sorrow, btw. If you don't live in the US, you can find clips on YouTube. Otherwise...just trust us!

I have probably mentioned this before, but when I bought this LP (Nessa edition) early in college, I came home on a break from work and put it on to check it out. My break lasted two hours as I put it on start-to-finish twice. It was so wonderful I couldn't leave the room.

[A Lark Ascending]

Many of Keith Tippett's totally free solo sessions have long stretches of serenity (amidst maelstrom passages). This is a great one:

[clifford_thornton]

Ah yes, Tippett's Blueprint (really an Ovary Lodge record) would decidedly fit.

[Joe]

The volumes that make up John Carter's ROOTS AND FOLKLORE series...

[A Lark Ascending]

Ah yes, Tippett's Blueprint (really an Ovary Lodge record) would decidedly fit.

I'd say this one is even stronger, but not easy to find (I work off an LP copy from its initial release).

Edited November 21, 2012 by A Lark Ascending

[Shawn]

Marion Brown was the first artist that came to mind. There are also quite a few beautiful pieces scattered throughout Pharoah Sanders Impulse recordings, "Let Me Go Into The House Of The Lord" from Deaf, Dumb, Blind is one of my favorite pieces of music.

[ElginThompson]

Starting very peacefully and moving forward:

Paul Bley: Open to Love

Ran Blake: Short Life of Barbara Monk

Leo Smith: Spirit Catcher

Archie Shepp: On This Night

Albert Ayler: Live in Greenwich Village

I find the last two peaceful. Others may not.

Agreed on the last two. Cathartic for me.

[umum_cypher]

Barney Wilen - Zodiac

SME - Karyobin

The second one is maybe more fluttery than serene. Actually the first one isn't serene as such. But melodic and spare, certainly.

Edited November 21, 2012 by umum_cypher

[clifford_thornton]

Zodiac is great. I used to have a battered LP copy of it, but sold that for a few hundred bucks.

Still have my eyes out for a clean one, or if it ever makes it to CD...

Ah yes, Tippett's Blueprint (really an Ovary Lodge record) would decidedly fit.

I'd say this one is even stronger, but not easy to find (I work off an LP copy from its initial release).

Yeah, that one is quite strong too. There's also a nice record by that group on Ogun. I'm pretty sure neither of those two made it to CD, but I could be wrong.

Edited November 22, 2012 by clifford_thornton

[Gheorghe]

Pharoah Sanders: "Life at the East"

[JETman]

Pharoah Sanders: "Life at the East"

'Tis "Live at the East".

[king ubu]

Has Joe Harriott been mentioned?

"Free Form", "Abstract", "Southern Horizons" ... they all fit the bill for me. Some may find it quirky, though...

[ejp626]

I think several artists/CDs from Leo Records would fit the bill. I might start with Snakish by Wadada Leo Smith.

[David Ayers]

Karyobin.

Iskra 1903

well, not all the time, maybe

[king ubu]

Well, any solo Derek Bailey fits the bill perfectly well for me - not just the late-career standards album "Ballads" (which is beautiful!) but also discs like "Domestic and Public Pieces" or "Aida". Also some of his duets, like the wonderful one with Joëlle Léandre on Potlatch.

But then Derek Bailey isn't free jazz ... but who the hell gives a damn anyway, he was great and absolutely one of a kind.

[NIS]

I think this was one of the last recording featuring Paul Motian. He was probably on alot of other "serene" albums.

In addition to the Walt Dickerson album already noted, I would suggest checking out "Shades of Love", "Visions", and "Tenderness".

[Matthew]

I have found this an inventive, and serenely exciting album, that I've played countless times over the years:

Perry Robinson / Andrea Centazzo / Nobu Stowe: The Soul In The Mist

[blind-blake]

John Lindberg - Tree Frog Tonality

[clifford_thornton]

coming out on CD via Emanem this fall. Lovely.

[colinmce]

Great news!

[Scott Dolan]

In response to the OP, Out To Lunch?

I find the title track incredibly serene.

[clifford_thornton]

well hey, Dolphy did have a tune by that name - beautiful one at that.

[Rooster_Ties]

Nearly all of Andrew Hill's solo piano recordings -- the Select, and two or three other albums -- would seem to fit into this category, IMHO.

[paul secor]

I'm thinking about Walt Dickerson this morning. Any of his recordings would fall in here.