The Empty Foxhole

The Empty Foxhole is an album by the American jazz saxophonist and composer Ornette Coleman that was released on the Blue Note label in 1966.[1] The album features Coleman's untutored violin and trumpet as well as performing on his usual instrument, the alto saxophone, and marks the recording debut of his drummer son Denardo Coleman, who was ten years of age at the time. The album cover features Coleman's own artwork.

The Empty Foxhole
Studio album by
Ornette Coleman
Released1966
RecordedSeptember 9, 1966
StudioVan Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
GenreFree jazz
Length38:56
LabelBlue Note
BST 84246
ProducerFrancis Wolff
Ornette Coleman chronology
At the Golden Circle Stockholm
(1965)		 The Empty Foxhole
(1966)		 The Music of Ornette Coleman
(1967)

Reception

Critical reception of the album was mixed at the time of its release and continues to be. Some, like Shelly Manne and Freddie Hubbard, regarded Denardo's drumming as rudimentary and judged the move a mistake.[2][3] Others noted that despite his youth, Denardo had studied drumming for several years and his technique – which, though unrefined, was respectable and enthusiastic – owed more to pulse-oriented free jazz drummers like Sunny Murray than to bebop drumming.[4] The AllMusic review by Steve Huey awarded the album 3 stars and stated: "On balance, the music may not be among Coleman's most exceptional efforts, but there's something inspiring about the fact that The Empty Foxhole is as good as it is."[5] The All About Jazz review by Robert Spencer stated: "Ornette Coleman is not a conventional musician, but he has too much musical talent to make a bad album... The music here is unlike most everything else that ever came out of Blue Note, or anywhere, but those who won't notice or care that these guys are not the smoothest of instrumentalists might enjoy this album. I do."[3]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[6]
Tom HullB+[7]

Track listing
All compositions by Ornette Coleman
  1. "Good Old Days" – 6:52
  2. "The Empty Foxhole" – 3:22
  3. "Sound Gravitation" – 7:18
  4. "Freeway Express" – 8:20
  5. "Faithful" – 7:07
  6. "Zig Zag" – 5:57

Personnel

References
  1. Blue Note Records discography. Retrieved November 10, 2010.
  2. Gabel, J. C. "Making Knowledge Out of Sound: The Stop Smiling Interview with Ornette Coleman", Stop Smiling, Issue 34: The Jazz Issue. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  3. Spencer, Robert (April 1, 1997), "Ornette Coleman: The Empty Foxhole", All About Jazz. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  4. Freeman, Phil, "Good Old Days: The Blue Note recordings of Ornette Coleman", bluenote.com, January 26, 2022. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  5. Huey, Steve, "The Empty Foxhole Review", AllMusic. Retrieved November 10, 2010
  6. Swenson, John, ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. pp. 45. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
  7. Hull, Tom (n.d.). "Jazz (1940–50s) (Reference)". tomhull.com. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
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