The Avant-Garde is Coltrane pairing up with Coleman's quartet (even if only Cherry's name is on the cover) so that they cover Coleman (as well as one Monk classic, and a Cherry composition). It's thus very cool and engaging, but not a particularly major release in those musicians' catalog: even if this was released in 1966, it was recorded in 1960, and at that time, Trane wasn't as versed in the free and the avant-garde as Cherry and Blackwell were. Cherry thus naturally wore the leader's suit - which would soon allow him to emancipate himself from bigboi saxophonists - in a release that doesn't seem to know whether it's a straight-up post-bop record or an avant one. Nevertheless, this is highly enjoyable despite the aforementioned issues.
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