Rhino's 2018 box
The Atlantic Years offers new vinyl pressings of
Ornette Coleman's Atlantic discography. This isn't limited to the nine albums that were recorded between 1959 and 1961 then parceled out on LP between 1959 and 1975 (which is the date when To Whom Who Keeps a Record finally hit the stores, following the comps
The Art of Improvisers and
Twins to market): the unreleased material gathered on Rhino's definitive 1995 box
Beauty Is a Rare Thing is here as a bonus LP dubbed The Ornette Coleman Legacy.
Beauty Is a Rare Thing was sequenced in session order, but the intent of
The Atlantic Years is to present
Coleman's discography as it was released, all newly remastered. As these records have been out of print on vinyl for a while, this gesture is welcome but, happily, the set is not only handsome -- the art is snappy, the sleeves sturdy -- but the sound is rich, full, and alive. It's an excellent (and affordable) way to get the core of
Coleman's catalog on vinyl. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine