Originally commissioned by director Conrad Rooks for his a semi-autobiographic fable of drug addiction, film Chappaqua (1965), saxophonist Ornette Coleman’s startlingly beautiful music was not in fact used on the final soundtrack (replaced by a Ravi Shankar score). Instead, Columbia Records released it as a double-album without promotion, and one of Coleman’s most haunting recordings was soon out of print. Subsequent re-issues have been sporadic; in small, hard-to-find editions.
Chappaqua Suite was the first recording to feature Coleman’s trio with David Izenson on bass and drummer Charles Moffett. It was also his first recording with an 11 piece studio orchestra (arranged and conducted by Joseph Tekula). Saxophonist Pharoah Sanders is featured on Part Four of the suite.