Don Cherry & Ed Blackwell

The Profile

American free-jazz duo featuring trumpeter Don Cherry (1936–1995) and drummer Ed Blackwell (1929–1992). Celebrated for the 1969 duo recordings released as Mu, their interplay fuses Ornette Coleman’s harmolodic lineage with African, Middle Eastern, and Indian inflections; the pair reunited on later sessions such as El Corazon (1982).

Don Cherry was born in Oklahoma in 1936 and died in 1995 in Málaga; he was closely associated with Ornette Coleman. The duo’s music draws on bebop, African, Middle Eastern, and Indian influences, emphasizing minimalist textures, multi-instrumental color (trumpet, flute, piano, voice), and Blackwell’s distinctive, driving drum language. Their key duo statement is Mu.

A single, glowing review hails Mu as a vastly underrated free-jazz summit. Cherry’s multi-instrumentalism and Blackwell’s raw, elemental drumming drive minimalist, world-tinged excursions. References to Complete Communion, Eternal Rhythm, and Relativity Suite frame Cherry’s broader art. Track highlights include Amajelo, Brilliant Action, Terrestrial Beings, Sun Of The East, and Total Vibration.