Today, the situation is very different. The initiative in molding new stars has been seized by other experts, including some who were among the slowest to accord reluctant recognition to Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. Ornette Coleman, an alto saxophonist, who, until a few months ago, was virtually unknown, must suffer the judgements applied by the contemporary method.

Coleman has been the subject of the kind of extravagant praise normally reserved for a musician backed by years of big-time experience. Though it is much too soon to determine how important his contribution will really be, the indications are that he has indeed found a style both of writing and playing that is valid, fresh and exciting.

Coleman’s first Blindfold Test revealed him as no less unusual in his verbal than in his musical expression. The records selected included one by Jesse Powell from Ornette’s hometown (Fort Worth, Texas). He was given no information about the records played.

The Records

1. Various saxophonists. "Broadway" (Warner Brothers). Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, tenor saxophones; Herb Geller, Gene Quill, Phil Woods, alto saxophones.

Well, it sounded like a combination of an old-style band playing modern phrases together. A combination of old and new. The saxophones sound like the tenor-sax style of Zoot Sims and Al Cohn, and the altos sound like the style of Charlie Mariano and Charlie Kennedy.

The arrangement as a whole is very musical, and the modulations within each complete cadence of phrases came out very good. It was a good musical band, and I would give it, for the musical aspects of it, four stars. For the writing also.

2. Miles Davis. "All Blues" (Columbia). Bill Evans, piano; Davis, trumpet; John Coltrane, tenor saxophone; Cannonball Adderley, alto saxophone.

I believe that was Bill Evans on piano, and as for the tune itself, it sounded that…Bill Evans played it definite, very beautiful from beginning to end, and it sounded as if Miles Davis was closer to the actual sound of what the tune was expressing than the other two artists, but they did play very beautiful on it.

I think the tune as a whole was a very beautiful tune with the modulation in half-step as so many bars that they play of just constantly improvising around a certain direction of a progression, which I believe Bill Evans was the most dominant figure on that particular side, but Coltrane and Cannonball sound very wonderful, playing with them, as far as being professional and beautiful musicians, but Miles seems to have had the closest execution and emotion to blend with the way Bill was playing his chords for the instruments to play by. I would rate it five stars for Bill Evans and soloists I would rate four stars.

3. Bud Shank/Bob Cooper. "Love Nest" (World Pacific). Shank, alto saxophone; Cooper, tenor saxophone.

Bud Shank and Bob Cooper. One thing I would like to say about Bud Shank—I heard him play one night at a club, and as far as modern jazz is concerned, there is a certain modern way of playing that has the two-beat form of Dixieland as its roots, and it seemed to me that Bob Cooper and Bud Shank have definite grounds of swingin’ in a two-beat style but playing modern, and I heard Bud Shank playing very good like that, and I enjoyed it—there’s something about two-beat jazz that has a swing of its own and mostly the West coast musicians swing from a jazz point in two-beat style. Not that it’s Dixieland, but there is a form of swinging in two-beat, which just seems to generate a happy feeling immediately without working up to a point of pattin’ your feet.

I like the tune as far as the swing of it—carrying the two-beat