Intents and Purposes

In 1966 Dixon premiered his composition "Pomegranate" at the Newport Jazz Festival with dancer Judith Dunn, and this performance led to a contract with RCA. Dixon signed with producer Brad McCuen to do a quartet piece, but instead he started working on "Metamorphosis 1962-1966", for an ensemble of ten musicians.

The personnel was an unusual mix of freemen and mainstream jazzers. Pozar and Levin were Dixon's students at the time, and Lancaster and Kennyatta frequent participants in Dixon-Dunn projects.{{cite book|last = Young|first =Ben|title = Dixonia: A Bio-discography of Bill Dixon|year = 1998|publisher =Greenwood Press|location = Westport, Connecticut|isbn = 0313302758|pages = 106–107}}

{{Album ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{rating|4|5}}{{allMusic|class=album|id=mw0000885247|title=Bill Dixon - Intents and Purposes: Review|accessdate=September 21, 2014}}

| rev2 = All About Jazz

| rev2Score = {{rating|5|5}}

| rev3 = DownBeat

| rev3Score = {{rating|4|5}}

{{cite magazine |last=Panken |first=Ted |date=July 2011 |title=Autodidact Bill Dixon Wove Singular Orchestrations |magazine=DownBeat |pages=63}}

}}

In his review for All About Jazz, Troy Collins states: "Intents And Purposes has long been revered as Bill Dixon's singular masterpiece...The reissue allows the record to finally take its rightful place alongside such masterpieces as Ornette Coleman's Free Jazz, John Coltrane's Ascension and Miles Davis' Bitches Brew."[http://www.allaboutjazz.com/intents-and-purposes-the-bill-dixon-orchestra-international-phonograph-inc-review-by-troy-collins.php Collins, Troy. Intents and purposes: Review] at All About Jazz

The JazzTimes review by Mike Shanley says that "The whole release compares to very little from that period and offers a stellar example of the composer’s vision".[http://jazztimes.com/articles/28606-intents-and-purposes-bill-dixon-orchestra Shanley, Mike. Intents and purposes: Review] at JazzTimes

In a 2011 Village Voice article following the CD reissue, Francis Davis wrote: "If ever a jazz LP literally qualified as 'legendary,' Intents is it... I envy anyone first hearing it now, because it's as bold and surprising as anything newly released this year."{{cite web |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2011/07/13/bill-dixons-dance-notation |title=Bill Dixon’s Dance Notation |first=Francis |last=Davis |date=July 13, 2011 |website=The Village Voice |access-date=July 5, 2022}}

Writing for The Vinyl District, Joseph Neff noted that the album, "if often gripping and raw is never chaotic," and commented: "Intents and Purposes' large group template combined with compositional fortitude and improvisational vigor makes it essential to any free jazz library."{{cite web |url=https://www.thevinyldistrict.com/storefront/2017/01/graded-on-a-curve-the-bill-dixon-orchestra-intents-and-purposes-and-the-archie-shepp-bill-dixon-quartet-st |title=Graded on a Curve: The Bill Dixon Orchestra, Intents and Purposes, and the Archie Shepp-Bill Dixon Quartet, (s/t) |first=Joseph |last=Neff |date=January 25, 2017 |website=The Vinyl District |access-date=July 5, 2022}}

Point of Departure{{'}}s Ed Hazell stated: "What's apparent from the opening moments of 'Metamorphosis'... is how well Dixon grasps the dichotomies and contradictions in the music of the time and how completely he controls them... Dixon the composer expertly transitions from one theme or passage to another; his ability to shape compositions into self-contained wholes would remain a hallmark of his art."{{cite web |url=https://www.pointofdeparture.org/PoD35/PoD35MomentsNotice.html |title=Reviews of Recent Recordings |first=Ed |last=Hazell |date=June 2022 |website=Point of Departure |access-date=July 5, 2022}}

:All compositions by Bill Dixon

1. "Metamorphosis 1962-1966" – 13:20
2. "Nightfall Pieces I" – 3:47
3. "Voices" – 12:08
4. "Nightfall Pieces II" – 2:25

• Bill Dixon – trumpet, flugelhorn
• Jimmy Cheatham – bass trombone
• Byard Lancaster – alto sax, bass clarinet
• Robin Kenyatta – alto sax
• George Marge – English horn, flute
• Catherine Norris – cello
• Jimmy Garrison – bass
• Reggie Workman – bass
• Robert Frank Pozar – drums
• Marc Levin – percussion

{{reflist}}

{{Bill Dixon}}

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Category:1967 albums

Category:RCA Records albums

Category:Bill Dixon albums