Don Cherry/Krzysztof Penderecki - Actions

Penderecki is one of the great modern composers. He's most famous for his piece "Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima" which you've probably heard on different films. Here he teams up with free jazz madman Don Cherry and an orchestra packed with the cream of the crop of European improvisers for a live album recorded at theDonaueschingen Music Festival in 1971.

Cherry's pieces are a blend of arabic chanting, oriental and indian music mixed with his explosive passages of energy playing and jazz freak outs.

I'll let the BBC explain Penderecki's piece which is called "Actions for Free Jazz Orchestra":

"The Penderecki piece explores the balance between composition and improvisation in a less playful yet no less meaningful way. Drones and extended techniques such as overblowing (which explore a concern with timbre) sit alongside brass chords which hang in the air as well as 4/4 walking bass. Apparently influenced by the Original Globe Unity Orchestra piece of 1967, "Actions" often sounds more overtly 'jazz' than that group; there are episodes that showcase the explosive playing of guitarist Terje Rypdal and saxophonist Brotzmann that will make your hair stand on end."

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Don Cherry - Brown Rice

This guy played on the soundtrack to Alejandro Jodorowsky's surreal masterpiece "The Holy Mountain" and on Ornette Coleman's classics: "The Shape of Jazz to Come" and "Free Jazz". That alone should be reason enough to listen to this.

He might not be as famous as Miles Davis but he's just as crazy and diverse. This album is jazz with hints of Eastern European and African music, Bitches Brew-esque spaced funk, and psychedelic/krautrock experimentation. It's not easy to pin down and it's so original you need to listen for yourself. 

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