 |
It was a bright, beautiful day in the late spring of 1983 when Ornette Coleman was also given the keys to Hartford, CT. Yes, that's right – Hartford. I don't know why they did it either, but Prime Time played and it was wonderful. Photo by Gems of Jazz
|
Did you know that September 29 was Ornette Coleman Day? In Fort Worth it was, back in 1983 .
Fort Worth, Texas, is Ornette's home town, and on that day he was there to celebrate the opening of the Caravan of Dreams, a newly-renovated performing arts complex located downtown on Houston Street. The project of billionaire philanthropist/financier Ed Bass, the Caravan housed a theater, dance studios, a recording facility and a desert garden under a geodesic dome (the precursor of Bass' "Bioshpere" experiment). The center's focus was on "the creation of new forms of music, theater, dance, poetry and film," and Ornette fit the bill perfectly. His music was chosen to be performed at the Caravan's launch. And as a result, the city's mayor proclaimed the day be named in Coleman's honor.
 |
The former Caravan of Dreams, now a restaurant, B&B and shops. The rooftop garden can be seen on the left, the geodesic dome just visible on the right. Photo from fortwortharchitecture.com
|
The gala included a performance of Ornette's new string quartet (dedicated to Buckminster Fuller), a set by his electric band Prime Time and a full reading of his symphony, the epic "Skies of America." The latter was performed as a sort of dialogue between Prime Time and the Fort Worth Symphony, the way Ornette had originally intended (and not the way it was reconfigured for the Columbia Records album from 1972).
A jazz journalist friend of mine was in the audience for "Skies of America," and he managed to record the entire 85-minute performance. He shared that tape with me, and now I'm sharing it with you. The sound quality isn't the best, but it's as good as you'd expect from a lap-held stereo cassette recorder. The piece is extraordinarily dense, with rich textures and startling juxtapositions – and you even get to hear the guys in Prime Time take solos. If you're familiar with the Columbia LP release of "Skies of America," this is a very different animal. It uses the familiar "Theme from a Symphony" motif (from "Dancing in Your Head") but also relies heavily on the melody of "All My Life" (from "Science Fiction") which I don't recall hearing in the recorded version. As far as I know, this was only the second time "Skies" was performed live (the first was at Newport in New York back in 1972 or '73) and it was the only time it was played in full.
A seminal work, and one I believe is destined to achieve repertoire status with symphonies around the world (though that may take a few years). Also included, by the way, is a 1985 interview with Ornette where he endeavors to explain his harmelodic theory. Fun!
Skies of America, private recording
Ornette Coleman, as, vi, tp; Bern Nix, Charles Ellerbee, el g; Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Albert MacDowell, b; Sabir Kamal , d; Denardo Coleman, d, syn; Fort Worth Symphony orchestra.
Opening of the Caravan of Dreams performing arts center
Tarrant County Convention Center, Fort Worth, TX; September 29, 1983
1. Skies of America, pt. 1 46:21
2. Skies of America, pt. 2 40:21
Ornette Coleman, guest; Tim Page, host
Meet the Composer radio program, WNYC, New York, NY; May 22, 1985
3. Interview 17:58
Find it here: http://www.mediafire.com/?z6a462u20wbkv86
wow this is a gem, i came in for the jatp and left with the ornette, teddy wilson, charlie parker, pres and don cherry archie shepp. i have always wanted to hear skies with the group improvising. according to robert palmer columbia has another recording with trio and orchestra. never seen it though.
ReplyDeleterobert
Wecome, roberth. Glad you've found some interesting stuff here at Gems. It wouldn't surprise me that Columbia has other versions of "Skies." The label's early 1970s jazz offerings were heavily edited and mysterious as to dates and personnel – I'm thinking of the Mingus releases in addition to the two by Ornette. The story was that the original "Skies" was chopped up to accommodate radio airplay, as if pop radio would have ever played anything by Ornette. So probably what was chopped was the trio/quartet interludes. Anyway, come back and visit from time to time. New stuff coming (slowly) all the time ...
Deletei am enjoying the site. from mary lou williams to bird to sun ra to melba liston.
ReplyDeletethe sound of this ornette is great-- from yr warning i was expecting something much more lo fi. i listened to the whole thing last night. it is so incredible. i am a huge fan of ornette, especially his "written" pieces. thank you
robert
Wow! What a nice share David. Thank you for this and I'm so happy to see that the download link is still working. I look forward to hearing this recording and the interview at the end I have to imagine is fascinating. As always, thank you for another gem!
ReplyDeleteNice to know some of the older links are still up, JC. I really have to go through these posts and fix those that are broken. Enjoy the Skies -- now's a good time to listen as yesterday was Ornette's natal day!
DeleteWow, this really is a gem. So much more in this recording than I have heard before. It really adds a lot. The quality is certainly good enough for repeated listening but has anyone tried to do any audio adjustments to bring out the maximum quality? I just wish I was in that room. I look forward to spending some time with your blog. Gregg
ReplyDeleteWelcome, Gregg! Glad you're enjoying this very special "Skies" recording. The full orchestration was rarely performed, and this is one of the few times it was recorded. Look around Gems -- you'll probably find some other stuff of interest. More to come, too.
Delete