Ornette Coleman &c

[ckk#@andrew.cmu.edu (Chris Koenigsberg)]

Miles Davis once was quoted as saying that Ornette Coleman was crazy. Ornette
is finally getting some of the recognition he deserves these days. Putting an
album out with Pat Metheny probably helped, since Pat Metheny is well-known
for Yuppie marshmallow muzak even though he is obviously capable of much
more. Marcel-Frank Simon once posted some excellent articles about the
collaboration between Ornette and Metheny, with Jack deJohnette and Ornette's
son Denardo on drums, and Charlie Haden on bass.

Ornette has been leading bands since the middle 1950's and has always done
"free" things. His bands have always experimented with playing different keys
at the same time, modulating independently from each other, changing the
length of solos and phrases at will, instead of following the "pattern" of
the song, and other wonderful things like that. Often a solo will end before
the chord changes have finished (pretty strange in a familiar setting like
the blues). Even though he is completely way out, if you listen hard and long
enough you will find that Ornette's playing is almost completely traditional,
in a strange way. He always speaks from the heart - but it is the real
beating heart inside, not the one which has become crusty from overexposure
to the commercial world.

Ornette has also played duets on several albums with Charlie Haden. The duet
setting really reveals the depth of his personal musical feeling. I have
found that people are either intensely annoyed or intensely fascinated by
Ornette's music - there's no middle ground, he totally commits you as a
listener. There is an unrelenting, nagging quality to his alto playing which
I really adore but drives most people crazy. There's no mistaking Ornette's
playing for anyone else in the universe. It reminds me of a similar quality
in Chinese opera singing - I find it (the Chinese female singing style) very
delicate and peaceful but some people climb up the wall in anger whenever I
play it. I think you have to feel the little nuances to appreciate it.

Someday I would love to find a copy of Ornette's "Free Jazz", an entire album
length group improvisation by two entire jazz bands, playing different music
simultaneously. I think "Twins" has an abbreviated version of Free Jazz on
it.

I have a wonderful French import, recorded live in a NY Prince St. loft - one
song has a roomful of people singing "Friends and neighbors, that's where
it's at" while Ornette goes into outer asteroid belt orbit on the violin.

And then there's Ornette's electric Prime Time band - two guitars, two bass
players, two drummers, and the man wailing away in front. Alumni (some still
in the band) include Ronald Shannon Jackson, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Bern Nix,
Vernon Reid. They don't play very often and they charge a phenomenal fee to
play (probably why they don't get too many gigs!) but boy if you ever ever
get a chance GO! See them! before you die.

Another originator of music as I see & hear it is Sun Ra - but he could take
up ten more articles.
Try Eric Dolphy too - Captain Beefheart tries to sound like Eric Dolphy on
the bass clarinet sometimes.

Someone who knows more will probably come through with an article about the
progression from Lester Young, Louie Armstrong, to Charlie Parker & co.,
through John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Eric Dolphy, Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry,
and other Free jazz players (hint hint). But remember - they always say you
have to learn to play "inside" before you can really play "outside".