Back to the Land chronicles a journey into a rare fortune. American tenor sax player-composer-educator Ohad Talmor (and drummer George Schuller) discovered three DAT tapes in the personal collection of his mentor, the late sax legend Lee Konitz, a dear friend and father figure for Tlamor for over 30 years. These tapes documented rehearsals at Ornette Coleman’s loft in May 1998, with like-minded legends – double bass player Charlie Haden and drummer Billy Higgins, playing new music that Ornette had just written for an upcoming concert at the Umbria Jazz Festival. You could hear the three musicians playing, stopping, and talking about women and reeds. This trio played Coleman’s new music only at the Umbria Jazz Festival, and none of these new compositions was published.

Talmor transcribed the ten unknown, handwritten and nameless Coleman’s compositions, some were work-in-progress, some were one-liners, reminiscing older compositions and others demanded educated assumptions. Konitz, most likely, did not play them necessarily the way Coleman heard them at first. Talmor began to play these compositions with his trio – double bass player Chris Tordini and drummer Eric McPherson and arranged them for varied instrumentation – quintet, sextet and septet – with more guests. Talmor reflected on the first album of Coleman he bought, the 1987 double album In All Languages (Caravan of Dreams), with the classic Coleman quartet on one record, the electric Prime Time on the other, and Back to the Land includes an interpretation of «Peace Warriors» from that album. There are also two compositions by sax player Dewey Redman, Talmor’s first teacher. Talmor added eleven compositions, all rooted in Coleman’s lyrical and playful themes, and all played in a concise manner that stressed Coleman’s essential ideas.

The double album Back to the Land is divided into two halves. The first record features Talmor’s trio in an acoustic format, with vibes player Joel Ross and rotating pianists David Virelles and Leo Genovese, both played on Konitz’s old Steinway piano, now housed at the Brooklyn indie jazz venue SEEDS, which is also Talmor’s home, where the album was recorded in February and April 2023. The second record relies on post-production and is reappropriated in a more electronic atmosphere, with vintage synths, Ableton software and samples with post-production by Talmor and engineer-composer Joe Branciforte. This album features trumpet layers of Russ Johnson, Shane Endsley and Adam O’Farrill, though the trio and its various extensions remain very present. Throughout Back to the Land, Talmor and his trio and guest musicians offer open interpretations – or a better description, their own faithful variations – of Coleman’s themes, based on their own experiences and their personal perspectives of Coleman’s innovative legacy. Talmor concludes that this album reconciles the «dichotomy that I project between the composer and the improviser».

Back to the Land radiates a profound understanding and a deep connection to Coleman’s legacy. A living legacy that is open to bold and inspired interpretations and variations. Just listen to Talmor’s wise improvisation on the beautiful ballad «Kathlyn Grey» that makes this touching melody shine in a new light. or to Talmor’s arrangement of «Quintet Variations on Tune 10» with Swiss harmonica player Grégoire Maret, which closes this impressive album and takes Coleman’s signature, lyrical and bluesy theme and adds a deeply personal touch. This album calls for many repeating listening that may explore the countless, imaginative ways that Talmor and his comrades correspond with Coleman’s rich legacy.

Eyal Hareuveni 

Ohad Talmor (tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, Prophet 10, Mini-Moog, post-production), Chris Tordini (double bass, electric bass), Eric McPherson (drums), Joel Ross (vibraphone), David Virelles (piano), Leo Genovese (piano, Moog, Sequential Six-Trak), Shane Endsley (trumpet), Russ Johnson (trumpet), Denis Lee (bass clarinet), Grégoire Maret (harmonica), Adam O’Farrill (trumpet),  Joe Branciforte (post-production)  

Ohad Talmor Back to the Land – «Untitled» by Ornette Coleman from Ohad Talmor on Vimeo.