{"id":1877,"date":"2015-06-18T15:07:51","date_gmt":"2015-06-18T19:07:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/?p=1877"},"modified":"2019-09-12T14:51:57","modified_gmt":"2019-09-12T18:51:57","slug":"ten-albums-introducing-ornette-colemans-musical-evolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2015\/06\/ten-albums-introducing-ornette-colemans-musical-evolution.html","title":{"rendered":"Ten albums introducing Ornette Coleman’s musical evolution"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"giants\"<\/a>

Ornette Coleman (l) at Sonny Rollins’ 80th birthday concert, 2010, at the Beacon, NYC; photographer, please contact this blog post for credit; JazzTimes, no copyright infringement intended<\/p><\/div>\n

An outpouring of media tributes has followed my hero\u00c2\u00a0Ornette Coleman’s death at age 85<\/a> on June 11. But many\u00c2\u00a0commentators writing\u00c2\u00a0of his music — including good ones like Marc Myers in Jazz Wax<\/a> and Ben Ratliff <\/a>of the New York Times — have\u00c2\u00a0focused mostly\u00c2\u00a0on Coleman’s breakthrough recordings from 1958 and ’59, overshadowing\u00c2\u00a0music\u00c2\u00a0from the last 45 years of his life. This is unfortunate, considering Ornette was an artist of\u00c2\u00a0ever-evolving and expanding creativity. So here are ten\u00c2\u00a0albums — not in chronological order –\u00c2\u00a0offering ready\u00c2\u00a0entry\u00c2\u00a0to enjoyment of Ornette’s later music. Apologies if they’re\u00c2\u00a0hard to come by.<\/p>\n

\"soapsuds\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Soapsuds, Soapsuds<\/a><\/em> – Ornette plays tenor not alto in duets with Charlie Haden, and their complementary lines are easy to follow. Some may\u00c2\u00a0remember the dryly satiric late ’70s tv soap opera “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman” — its theme is elevated\u00c2\u00a0here.<\/p>\n

Science Fiction<\/a><\/em> — Two warmly beautiful vocals by Asha Puthli, the funk-spoof “Rock the Clock” and sturdy Coleman compositions\u00c2\u00a0\"sci<\/a>“Street Woman,” “Civilization Day,” “Law Years” (lawyers?), arranged for larger ensemble but also featuring characteristically inspired, alternatingly beseeching and merry Ornette playing his alto.<\/p>\n

Skies of America<\/em> <\/a>— Not much counterpoint in the only available version of Ornette’s \"skies\"<\/a>symphony, but his orchestral themes are stated clearly and he blows over\/through it all. \u00c2\u00a0Currently on cd\u00c2\u00a0paired with Science Fiction in one package.<\/p>\n

Of Human Feelings<\/a><\/em> — OC embraced the electric guitars of rock\/soul\/pop\u00c2\u00a0in the early ’70s, and again ignited negativity from conservative listeners –\u00c2\u00a0\"human<\/a>even those who’d come\u00c2\u00a0to like what he’d done 20 years before. This album is full of short, snappy r&b tunes, OC is right outfront and the grooves are infectious.<\/p>\n

In All Languages<\/em> <\/a>— Trying to respond to those fans who could dig his acoustic \"languages\"<\/a>quartet but didn’t get amplified Prime Time — and vice versa — OC had both ensembles play the same set of catchy songs.<\/p>\n

Song X<\/em> <\/a>— A strong and empathic collaboration\u00c2\u00a0initiated by guitarist Pat Metheny, eager to connect to OC, which he does (plus Jack DeJohnette,\u00c2\u00a0\"song<\/a>drummer-Haden and Ornette’s drumming son Denardo). The ballad “Kathelin Gray” is no-problem listening, which probably can’t be said of the explosive “Endangered Species.”<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0Friends and Neighbors<\/a><\/em> — Best sound quality for Coleman’s quartet with tenor \"friends<\/a>saxophonist Dewey Redman, Haden and drummer Ed Blackwell\u00c2\u00a0having a house party — tricky but memorable lines in “Long Time No See,” plus a community sing-along on the title track.<\/p>\n

New Vocabulary<\/a><\/em>\u00c2\u00a0— Controversy has been stirred as the Coleman family has\u00c2\u00a0sued the musicians who recorded and issued in limited form what now \"new<\/a>now\u00c2\u00a0stands as Ornette’s last Regardless of the serious issues about whether they had a right to put this out,\u00c2\u00a0their setting his nakedly human saxophone sound is 21st century fresh and complimentary. This album may be the best place\u00c2\u00a0for listeners currently in their teens or 20s to start listening to\u00c2\u00a0Ornette Coleman.<\/p>\n

Tone Dialing<\/a><\/em>\u00c2\u00a0— featuring OC’s later\u00c2\u00a0Prime Time cast — includes a harmolodic\u00c2\u00a0\"tone\"<\/a>interpretation of a Bach prelude and a circa 1995 rap.<\/p>\n

Naked Lunch <\/a>— Film composer Howard Shore created an appropriately creepy score for David Cronenberg’s film of William Burrough’s book (well, not really the book . . .but that’s another story). Ornette performs sparingly, but Shore places his \"naked<\/a>contributions perfectly, and I’ve always suspected the entire score tracks Ornette’s own structure of Skies of America –\u00c2\u00a0<\/em>which was performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, same bunch heard here. Well, who knows?<\/p>\n

Why is Ornette’s later work being overlooked? It’s often the case in every art form that\u00c2\u00a0critics get\u00c2\u00a0mired in debating initial reactions to work so innovative at the time of its release that it inspires extremely negative reactions from established authorities. Those reactions set the narrative — but later, we ought to be able to toss them off. Roy Eldridge, Charles Mingus, Max Roach and Miles Davis were among those who expressed their dismay at Ornette’s sound and concept. They all held rock solid opinions that for various reasons they\u00c2\u00a0weren’t eager to subject to examination of first principles. Perhaps some of them were threatened by what Ornette’s supporters (and his own album titles) proposed in 1958-’60 as revolutionary.<\/p>\n

\"something\"<\/a>Those first albums,\u00c2\u00a0Something Else!!!<\/a><\/em> and Tomorrow Is The Question!<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0<\/a>(from Contemporary Records), followed by The Shape of Jazz to Come, Tomorrow Is the Question<\/del>\u00c2\u00a0Change of the Century<\/em> and This Is Our Music <\/a><\/em>(’60) on Atlantic, did indeed make a radical break with tired and inhibiting song form and process conventions. They also delivered buoyant and\/or wrenching themes and energized, syncopated\u00c2\u00a0rhythms, and don’t sound all that weird today.<\/p>\n

Those whose\u00c2\u00a0listening and critical thinking\u00c2\u00a0matured after those innovations were proposed\"this<\/a> might\u00c2\u00a0have accepted\u00c2\u00a0all that music with little hesitation — after all, ’60s\u00c2\u00a0psychedelic rock like that recorded\u00c2\u00a0by Jimi Hendrix<\/a>, Cream<\/a>, the Jefferson Airplane<\/a> and even the Beatles<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0took daring liberties with form and content. They shocked, challenged and entertained vast audiences; their ideas were\u00c2\u00a0incorporated into subsequent rock\/soul\/pop, sometimes watered down but that’s how ideas are assimilated into our culture. This is why it’s safe to say all jazz musicians (and many in other forms, like punk, rap\/hip-hop, Western-marketed “world music”) arriving after\u00c2\u00a0Ornette were influenced by him, whether they know it or not.<\/p>\n

By all means, listen to early Ornette. As a completist, I find\u00c2\u00a0Something Else!!!<\/em> and Tomorrow Is The Question!<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0worthwhile if\u00c2\u00a0problematic. On the former, Pianist Walter Norris\u00c2\u00a0tried but\u00c2\u00a0\"hillcrest\"<\/a>didn’t\u00c2\u00a0quite get\u00c2\u00a0OC’s intentions; on the latter, bassists Percy Heath and Red Mitchell and drummer Shelly Manne clearly aren’t as comfortable with his style as Haden and Blackwell or Billy Higgins are on the Atlantic albums that soon followed.<\/p>\n

Prior to any of those efforts, pianist Paul Bley had recognized Coleman’s unique gifts, and hired his whole band. Bley eventually issued two loose, live recordings of the\u00c2\u00a0West Coast combo with Ornette, Haden and Higgins, now available (probably also unauthorized) as Live at the Hillcrest Club<\/a>. The performances aren’t polished, but anyone who doubts Ornette could play bebop must hear his version of Charlie Parker’s “Klactoveesedstene.”<\/p>\n

That is the first evidence\u00c2\u00a0that Ornette Coleman’s sound ideas, drawing on tradition\u00c2\u00a0but using all he perceived and could accomplish to free jazz from unnecessary shackles would indeed change the century, leading to much of what we hear now.<\/p>\n

howardmandel.com<\/a><\/p>\n

<a<\/p>\n

[contextly_auto_sidebar id=”04klxWaq4nmTNhWxMrrpUDiXE88tviBG”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An outpouring of media tributes has followed my hero\u00c2\u00a0Ornette Coleman’s death at age 85 on June 11. But many\u00c2\u00a0commentators writing\u00c2\u00a0of his music — including good ones like Marc Myers in Jazz Wax and Ben Ratliff of the New York Times — have\u00c2\u00a0focused mostly\u00c2\u00a0on Coleman’s breakthrough recordings from 1958 and ’59, overshadowing\u00c2\u00a0music\u00c2\u00a0from the last 45 years […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1877","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-main","8":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/giants.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1i3CL-uh","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":171,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2009\/03\/reasons_to_be_cheerful_wynton.html","url_meta":{"origin":1877,"position":0},"title":"Reasons to be cheerful: Wynton books Ornette","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"March 18, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Wynton Marsalis has high regard for the music of Ornette Coleman -- as demonstrated by Jazz at Lincoln Center's just-released 2009-2010 concert schedule, which begins next September 26 with a single performance by Coleman's quartet featuring two bassists and his son Denardo on drums.\u00a0This booking might seem like a point\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":328,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2010\/07\/italy_here_i_come.html","url_meta":{"origin":1877,"position":1},"title":"Italy here I come","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"July 21, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The Siena Jazz Workshop has me present my book Miles Ornette Cecil - Jazz Beyond Jazz (buy it for your Kindle!) Sunday, July 25 at 10 am (yes, in Siena, Italy).\u00a0Can you suggest unmissable music in Tuscany (or Vetirbo through July 31? In Siena I'll talk and show brief bits\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"siena square.jpeg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/siena%20square.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1782,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2015\/03\/ornette-honored-and-playing-in-prospect-park-june-2014.html","url_meta":{"origin":1877,"position":2},"title":"Ornette honored and playing in Prospect Park June 2014","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"March 9, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"In honor of Ornette Coleman's 85th birthday (today, March 9), here's my report from the last time he performed in New York City -- at an extraordinary concert in his honor with Patti Smith, Laurie Anderson, Thurston Moore, Nels Cline, Sonny Rollins and many more at Prospect Park, Brooklyn. Originally\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/ornette-threadgill-murray-roney-e1404264891893.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/ornette-threadgill-murray-roney-e1404264891893.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/ornette-threadgill-murray-roney-e1404264891893.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/ornette-threadgill-murray-roney-e1404264891893.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/ornette-threadgill-murray-roney-e1404264891893.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/ornette-threadgill-murray-roney-e1404264891893.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":138,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2008\/11\/mostly_other_peoples_killer_li.html","url_meta":{"origin":1877,"position":3},"title":"Mostly Other People’s killer liner notes","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"November 11, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Mostly Other People Do The Killing is a super-serious-with-a-sense-of-humor Philadelphia-based \u00c2\u00a0quartet paying homage to Ornette Coleman with its hot new album This Is Our Moosic.The cd's cover photo cops and mocks the oh-so-cool look of Coleman's earth-shaking quartet\u00c2\u00a0on its classic\u00c2\u00a01960 release\u00c2\u00a0This Is Our Music\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0-- but more\u00c2\u00a0impressive is the young band's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/tbn0.google.com\/images?q=tbn:fz9UMtLJ3QclwM:http:\/\/thebadplus.typepad.com\/photos\/uncategorized\/2008\/03\/09\/this_is_our_music.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":131,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2008\/10\/colbert_coleman_name_that_tune.html","url_meta":{"origin":1877,"position":4},"title":"Colbert & Coleman: Name that tune","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"October 16, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"A reader asks: \"Could you please post the name of the [Ornette] Coleman song sampled for that sketch\" on Steven Colbert's Comedy Central show\u00c2\u00a0of October 9?Colbert pulled one of his trademark reverses, ridiculing the vast emptiness of smug superiority by goofing on a 10-second snatch of the Pulitzer Prize-winning musician's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":83,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2008\/04\/seattle_radio_play.html","url_meta":{"origin":1877,"position":5},"title":"Seattle radio play","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"April 15, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Way out northwest last weekend for the Experience Music Project's 7th Annual Pop Conference, I also visited Earshot Jazz fest and concert producer John Gilbreath doing his weekly late night show \"Jazz Theater\" on KEXP.org.\u00c2\u00a0Listen to Ornette Coleman's \"Law Years\" and a track from his concerto grosso \"Skies of America,\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}