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Tomorrow Is the Question!
Tomorrow Is the Question!
Tomorrow Is the Question!
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Tomorrow Is the Question!
Studio album by
Ornette Coleman
ReleasedNovember 1959
RecordedJanuary 16, February 23 and March 9–10, 1959
StudioContemporary's Studio, Los Angeles, U.S.
GenreJazz
Length42:22
LabelContemporary
ProducerLester Koenig
Ornette Coleman chronology
Something Else!!!!
(1958) 		Tomorrow Is the Question!
(1959) 		The Shape of Jazz to Come
(1959)

Tomorrow Is the Question!, subtitled The New Music of Ornette Coleman!, is the second album by American jazz musician Ornette Coleman, originally released in 1959 by Contemporary Records. It was Coleman's last album for the label before he began a highly successful multi-album series for Atlantic Records in 1959.

As well as regular sideman Don Cherry on trumpet, the album features bassists Percy Heath and Red Mitchell, and drummer Shelly Manne.

Reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarStar[1]
Yahoo! Music(favorable)[2]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record GuideStarStarStarStar[3]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz RecordingsStarStarStar [4]

The album generally received better press than did Something Else!!!!. AllMusic's Thom Jurek notes the interplay of Coleman and Cherry on tunes he described as "knottier and tighter in their arrangement style" than those of the previous album.[5] Ekkehard Jost, in his book Free Jazz, noted that "as early as the 1958/59 recordings for Contemporary, the most pronounced features of Coleman's saxophone playing were set. His bent for improvisations that were largely unrestrained harmonically is evident, even in pieces whose outward make-up is anything but revolutionary."[6] Others have hailed the removal of the piano as a positive move: for Mike Andrews, "a marked conceptual improvement can be immediately recognized" as the lack of harmonic instrument allowed greater freedom for the soloists.[7]

Release history

[edit]

Released as an LP by Contemporary Records in 1959. Reissued in 1991 on the Original Jazz Classics label.

Track listing

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All pieces written by Ornette Coleman.

  1. "Tomorrow Is the Question!" – 3:09
  2. "Tears Inside" – 5:00
  3. "Mind and Time" – 3:08
  4. "Compassion" – 4:37
  5. "Giggin'" – 3:19
  6. "Rejoicing" – 4:01
  7. "Lorraine" – 5:55
  8. "Turnaround" – 7:58
  9. "Endless" – 5:18

Track 7 recorded on January 16, 1959; tracks 8 and 9 on February 23; tracks 1–6 recorded on March 9 and 10, 1959.

Personnel

[edit]

Performance

[edit]

Production

[edit]

References

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[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Tomorrow Is the Question!

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from Grokipedia
Tomorrow Is the Question!, subtitled The New Music of !, is the second studio by American saxophonist and composer , released in 1959 by Contemporary Records. Recorded across three sessions in between January and March 1959, the album features Coleman on alongside trumpeter , with varying rhythm sections: bassist and drummer on the first six tracks, and bassist with Manne on the remaining three. It consists of nine original compositions by Coleman, emphasizing a piano-less format that dispensed with chordal harmony to prioritize melodic and rhythmic freedom. The album represents a pivotal step in Coleman's development of harmolodics and free jazz, moving away from bebop and hard bop conventions toward more angular, dissonant solos and ensemble interplay. Tracks like the title song "Tomorrow Is the Question" and "Mind and Time" showcase Coleman's and Cherry's improvisations that challenge traditional harmonic structures, while pieces such as "Tears Inside" incorporate bluesy elements. As Coleman's final recording for Contemporary before signing with Atlantic Records—where he would release landmark albums like The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959) and Free Jazz (1961)—Tomorrow Is the Question! foreshadowed the radical innovations that would influence subsequent generations of jazz musicians, including John Coltrane's explorations in harmonic freedom. Despite initial controversy in the jazz community over its departure from established norms, the album has since been recognized as a foundational work in avant-garde jazz.

Background

Context in Coleman's career

, born in , in 1930, relocated to in 1954 after joining guitarist Pee Wee Crayton's band, having switched from to five years earlier when his tenor was stolen. In California, he encountered significant resistance in the traditional jazz scene, where his unconventional phrasing and intonation—often perceived as deliberately "out of key"—clashed with the prevailing standards, limiting his opportunities to sporadic odd jobs such as while he self-studied . His debut album, Something Else!!!!, released in 1958 on Contemporary Records, provided his first major platform to showcase these innovative concepts, featuring original compositions that hinted at a departure from chordal constraints and introduced melodic and rhythmic freedoms that foreshadowed his later theory. The recording marked an initial exposure of his ideas amid growing notoriety, as Coleman began collaborating with like-minded musicians, including trumpeter , with whom he formed an early quartet that emphasized collective over fixed harmonic structures. Between 1958 and 1959, Coleman's challenges intensified; he was frequently fired from gigs by bandleaders and even faced physical confrontations from adherents who viewed his style as disruptive to ensemble cohesion. These setbacks underscored the controversy surrounding his approach, yet they propelled him toward refining his with Cherry, which became a vehicle for his vision of liberated from traditional changes. Tomorrow Is the Question!, his second on Contemporary, further solidified this evolution by dispensing with piano entirely, allowing frontline interplay between Coleman and Cherry to drive the music and cement his break from norms.

Album conception

Ornette Coleman conceived Tomorrow Is the Question! as an exploration of innovative forms, aiming to liberate from conventional chord progressions and emphasize melodic autonomy. This album represented a pivotal moment in his quest for musical freedom, building on earlier experiments while foreshadowing his broader theoretical framework. Influenced by his earlier career struggles, including rejections in the scene due to his unorthodox style, Coleman sought a platform in to realize his vision. Central to the album's conception was Coleman's nascent development of , a theoretical approach that integrates , motion, and to allow performers to pursue independent melodic lines simultaneously, prioritizing emotional expression over rigid chord changes. , which Coleman would formalize more explicitly in later decades, was first hinted at here through compositions that favored linear development and motivic chains rather than harmonic resolution. This shift enabled a more spontaneous, collective , reflecting Coleman's belief in music as a democratic, egalitarian process. To fully realize this concept, Coleman intentionally excluded and other chordal instruments from the , a bold decision that marked a radical departure from the standard piano-led . By stripping away harmonic anchors, he sought to highlight the interplay of single-line instruments, fostering a stark, transparent texture where and could drive the music without the constraints of tempered scales or predetermined changes. This piano-less format underscored his commitment to prioritizing melodic freedom and group over traditional support structures. The album's creation was deeply shaped by Coleman's immersion in the West Coast jazz scene in , where he found creative fertile ground after relocating from . Collaborating with Lester Koenig, the founder of Contemporary Records, provided crucial support for Coleman's experimental ideas; Koenig recognized the potential in his "new music" and offered the resources to document it without compromise. The full title, Tomorrow Is the Question! The New Music of !, was chosen to boldly announce this rupture with norms, positioning the work as a forward-looking .

Production

Recording sessions

The recording sessions for Tomorrow Is the Question! were held at Contemporary Records' studio in , , spanning four days in early 1959. The initial session took place on January 16, 1959, where the track "Lorraine" was captured with bassist . On February 23, 1959, the subsequent session produced "Turnaround" and "Endless," also featuring Mitchell on bass. The bulk of the album—the first six tracks—was recorded during the final sessions on March 9 and 10, 1959, this time with on bass. This use of two bassists across sessions provided distinct rhythmic foundations, with Heath's contributions on the opening side offering a more anchored pulse suited to the extended improvisations, while Mitchell's playing on the closing tracks brought a looser, more fluid approach. The personnel change reflected practical needs to complete the album after the earlier dates. Engineer Roy DuNann oversaw all sessions, employing techniques to preserve the quartet's live interplay in the studio environment. His work emphasized clarity in the piano-less frontline of and , allowing Coleman's emerging harmolodic ideas—prioritizing melodic freedom over harmonic constraints—to shine through the recordings.

Personnel

The personnel for Tomorrow Is the Question! featured on as the bandleader and composer of all tracks, marking his second as a leader after pioneering harmolodic concepts in . contributed on , delivering melodic that complemented Coleman's improvisational lines with bright, agile phrasing. The rhythm section included on for tracks 1–6, drawing from his experience with the to provide rhythmic stability amid the album's unconventional structures. handled on tracks 7–9, introducing a more fluid, walking style that enhanced the session's dynamic shifts. played drums on all tracks, offering subtle propulsion that supported the front line without dominating the melodic interplay. Production was overseen by Lester Koenig, with engineering by Roy DuNann at Contemporary Records' studio in . The sessions occurred on January 16 and February 23, 1959 (with Mitchell on bass) and March 9–10, 1959 (with Heath on bass).

Musical content

Track listing

All nine tracks on Tomorrow Is the Question! were composed by and total approximately 42 minutes in length. The original 1959 LP release divides the tracks across two sides as follows:
No.TitleDurationBassist
Side A
1."Tomorrow Is the Question!"3:09
2."Tears Inside"5:00
3."Mind and Time"3:08
4."Compassion"4:37
5."Giggin'"3:19
6."Rejoicing"4:04
Side B
7."Lorraine"5:55
8."Turnaround"7:55
9."Endless"5:18
Percy Heath performs on bass for the first six tracks (Side A), while plays bass on the final three tracks (Side B).

Composition and style

Tomorrow Is the Question! predominantly employs reimagined 12-bar forms, where traditional structures are elasticized through Coleman's —a theoretical system that treats , , and as equal components, allowing free melodic lines to develop over minimal guides rather than fixed chord progressions. For instance, in "Tears Inside", phrases vary in length while incorporating bluesy tonalities, emphasizing motivic chains over rigid . The album highlights collective improvisation between Coleman on and Don Cherry on , fostering angular, atonal dialogues that prioritize spontaneous interplay and harmonic ambiguity. Tracks like "Turnaround" exemplify this through their blues-based framework, where the horns engage in dissonant, non-linear exchanges that evoke bebop's energy but liberate it from predetermined keys. Such interactions create a sense of unison through logical melodic associations, core to . Rhythmic flexibility is central, with drummer Shelly Manne eschewing swing's rigidity to underpin exploratory solos via adaptable metric structures and bebop-influenced propulsion. In "Compassion", Manne supports off-time playing while accommodating the front line's deviations, enhancing the album's overall sense of liberation. The deliberate absence of piano facilitates "transposed" counterpoint, enabling the saxophone and trumpet lines to harmonize independently and generate polyphonic textures without chordal interference. This setup, as in "Lorraine", yields ballad explorations with blue alto playing and chromatic contrasts, underscoring Coleman's vision of emancipated jazz expression.

Release

Initial release

_Tomorrow Is the Question!, subtitled The New Music of Ornette Coleman!, was released in November 1959 by Contemporary Records as a mono LP with catalog number M 3569. The album's cover was designed by Robert Guidi, featuring a photographic image of Coleman integrated with geometric and abstract elements that evoked the innovative spirit of his music. The release was produced by Lester Koenig, the founder of Contemporary Records, who had previously championed Coleman's debut album Something Else!!!! the year prior and recognized the saxophonist's groundbreaking potential despite initial industry skepticism. Koenig's support enabled the project, positioning it as a bold statement in jazz amid the era's modal explorations, such as Miles Davis's contemporaneous Kind of Blue. As a small independent label based in , Contemporary's initial distribution focused primarily on West Coast jazz markets, targeting audiences receptive to experimental sounds through local retailers and radio play. The marketing emphasized Coleman's approach, highlighting his innovations in and as a fresh alternative to conventional structures.

Reissues and remasters

The album has seen numerous reissues and remasters since its original 1959 release on Contemporary Records (catalog S-7569), with editions focusing on improved audio fidelity and modern formats. A significant reissue appeared in 1988 from Original Jazz Classics (OJCCD-342-2), digitally remastered by Joe Tarantino at using the original analog tapes for enhanced clarity and while retaining the album's raw energy. This version added detailed contextualizing the recording sessions and Coleman's early harmolodic experiments. In the and , vinyl reissues proliferated to cater to audiophiles, including a 2014 180-gram pressing by Original Jazz Classics that emphasized high-quality pressing for superior groove stability and sound reproduction. Other notable vinyl editions from this period include the Doxy reissue and the 2012 140-gram DOL pressing, both sourced from original masters. Contemporary Records, distributed by Concord, released a deluxe 180-gram vinyl edition in 2023 as part of the Acoustic Sounds Series, all-analog remastered by from the original tapes to capture the quartet's improvisational nuances with exceptional transparency and depth. This , presented in a tip-on jacket, included no bonus tracks but was lauded in Journal for its "vivid and versatile" sound quality, highlighting drummer Shelly Manne's contributions. In 2024, Destination Moon Records issued a vinyl (released May 10, 2024). Since the early , remastered versions of the album have been available on major streaming platforms like and , facilitating global access and introducing new listeners to its influential compositions.

Reception and legacy

Contemporary reception

Upon its release in 1959, Tomorrow Is the Question! elicited a range of reactions from jazz critics, who were divided over Ornette Coleman's unconventional alto saxophone tone and the album's departure from established norms. In a review for magazine, critic Don DeMichael awarded the album 3 out of 5 stars, characterizing Coleman's sound as "discordant" and the overall effect as "astonishing" yet divisive, with some solos marked by poor intonation that alienated traditional listeners. The album's liner notes, penned by , positioned it as a milestone in modern jazz, celebrating Coleman's radical vision of musical freedom amid backlash from traditionalists who decried the piano-less quartet format as disruptive to harmonic conventions. Despite the controversy, initial sales remained modest, though the recording generated significant buzz among jazz club audiences following Coleman's provocative performances there, which helped secure his subsequent contract with . Contemporary critics frequently drew parallels between Coleman and free jazz innovator , with detractors dismissing the album's improvisational approach as "anti-jazz" for its rejection of chord changes and rhythmic predictability.

Retrospective views and influence

In later assessments, Tomorrow Is the Question! has been praised for its pivotal role in the transition from structured to more liberated improvisational forms, serving as a bridge to the developments of the . Music Thom Jurek of described the album's tracks as "knottier and tighter in their arrangement style" compared to Coleman's prior work, emphasizing the innovative interplay between Coleman on and Don Cherry on , which pushed harmonic boundaries without fully abandoning melodic coherence. Similarly, C. Michael Bailey, writing for All About Jazz in 2011, highlighted how the album's approach to harmonic freedom prefigured John Coltrane's later explorations, noting that Coltrane's path "followed approximately this same arc" from modal and foundations toward freer expression. awarded it four out of four stars, recognizing its significance within Coleman's early discography. The album's influence extends to Coleman's evolving concept of , his later formalized theory that equalized melody, harmony, and rhythm in ; while harmolodics was articulated in the 1970s, Tomorrow Is the Question! laid groundwork by prioritizing collective interplay over rigid chord progressions. This is evident in its impact on subsequent artists, such as guitarist , who covered the track "Turnaround" on his 1980 album and described Coleman's music, including early works like this, as a profound personal influence that shaped his own improvisational approach. The World Saxophone Quartet, formed in 1976, drew from Coleman's redefinition of group —exemplified here in the -trumpet frontline—blending elements with accessible structures in their own compositions. Scholarly analyses in the 2000s and beyond have further solidified its legacy as a cornerstone of free jazz evolution. In Ted Gioia's The History of Jazz (2011 edition), the album is cited as a key 1959 recording that advanced experimental impulses while retaining bebop's rhythmic vitality, influencing the broader shift toward collective improvisation in . A 2015 dissertation by Nicholas F. on Coleman's musical evolution positions Tomorrow Is the Question! as a transitional work where bebop-inspired musicians like Coleman began moving toward avant-garde freedoms, impacting figures beyond into scenes. Recent reissues, such as the 2023 edition, have reaffirmed its enduring relevance; Simon Adams in Jazz Journal called it "a better album overall" than Coleman's debut, praising its ensemble blend and lasting appeal in vinyl format, while underscoring subtle influences like bassist Percy Heath's style on later players such as .

References

  1. https://www.jazzmessengers.com/en/98214/ornette-coleman/tomorrowisthequestion
  2. https://www.discogs.com/release/2019750-Ornette-Coleman-Tomorrow-Is-The-Question
  3. https://www.allaboutjazz.com/ornette-coleman-tomorrow-is-the-question-ornette-coleman-by-c-michael-bailey
  4. https://jazztimes.com/features/tributes-and-obituaries/ornette-coleman-dies-at-85/
  5. https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ornette-coleman-mn0000484396/biography
  6. https://www.allmusic.com/album/something-else-mw0000196142
  7. https://www.allmusic.com/album/tomorrow-is-the-question-mw0000652310
  8. https://images.lincolncenter.org/image/upload/v1499718157/pgtu2ouorzqnknzq9xht.pdf
  9. https://jazzjournal.co.uk/2020/11/24/jj-11-60-ornette-coleman-tomorrow-is-the-question/
  10. https://rocksalted.com/2017/12/ornette-coleman-tomorrow-is-the-question/
  11. https://craftrecordings.com/products/tomorrow-is-the-question-contemporary-records-acoustic-sounds-series-180g-lp
  12. https://jazztimes.com/features/profiles/the-sound-of-contemporary-records/
  13. https://www.discogs.com/master/61722-Ornette-Coleman-Tomorrow-Is-The-Question
  14. https://downbeat.com/news/detail/vinyl-ornette-colemans-revolution
  15. https://jazzjournal.co.uk/2023/11/18/ornette-coleman-tomorrow-is-the-question/
  16. https://www.discogs.com/release/13454332-Ornette-Coleman-Tomorrow-Is-The-Question
  17. https://www.jazzdisco.org/contemporary-records/discography-1959-1960/
  18. https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/ornette-coleman/tomorrow-is-the-question-the-new-music-of-ornette-coleman/
  19. https://www.discogs.com/release/15798497-Ornette-Coleman-Tomorrow-Is-The-Question
  20. https://www.kcrw.com/stories/lester-koenig-contemporary-records-and-the-great-sound-of-roy-dunann
  21. https://popdose.com/the-popdose-guide-to-ornette-coleman/
  22. https://concord.com/news/ornette-coleman-box-set-genesis-of-genius-the-contemporary-albums-set-for-release-march-25/
  23. https://www.jazzdisco.org/ornette-coleman/discography/
  24. https://www.discogs.com/release/2990441-Ornette-Coleman-Tomorrow-Is-The-Question
  25. https://www.discogs.com/release/371022-Ornette-Coleman-Tomorrow-Is-The-Question
  26. https://www.ebay.com/itm/255698941416
  27. https://www.discogs.com/release/4028097-Ornette-Coleman-Tomorrow-Is-The-Question
  28. https://www.ccmusic.com/ornette-coleman-tomorrow-is-the-question/8055515235432
  29. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/161449634.pdf
  30. https://studenttheses.universiteitleiden.nl/access/item%3A2607641/view
  31. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/51799eeee4b08d2412dd1420/t/57e97fa7c534a5ae883b6b78/1474920360509/DeVeaux%2BGiddens%2B-%2BJazz%2B-%2BCH%2B15.pdf
  32. https://www.acclaimedmusic.net/album/A2408.htm
  33. https://soundamerican.org/issues/change/ornette-coleman-and-emancipation-individual
  34. https://musicaficionado.blog/2017/09/19/8081-by-pat-metheny/
  35. https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/world-saxophone-quartet
  36. https://academic.oup.com/book/39631/chapter/339588013
  37. https://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/27686/1/NFdissfullPittrev2.pdf
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