Loss of the Century

Friends and neighbors: Ornette recording in his loft at 131 Prince Street in Manhattan, a session that was released on Flying Dutchman in 1970. Bob Thiele photo

Ornette's gone. It's hard to believe. The news came as a shock, as these things do. But I had grown up musically with Ornette's music and he seemed timeless, always there, always challenging expectations and surprising listeners. I suspect we all could say of Ornette, "I've waited all my life for you." Asha Puthli sang as much in her rendition of "All My Life," a Coleman composition that keeps playing in my head.

A colleague once complained to me that Ornette always played the same solo. I responded, "Yeah, but what a solo!" No one sounded like him, though there were many who were inspired by his music. Sonny Simmons, John Carter, Marion Brown, Giuseppe Logan, Oliver Lake, John Tchicai, to name just a few.

To celebrate this great American original, here's a performance from Germany, possibly a television broadcast, issued in the '70s on the Italian bootleg label, Unique Jazz. It features Ornette's second great quartet, the one with Dewey Redman on tenor. Dewey's singing through his horn, something that always sounded a little desperate to me, is particularly successful here, and he also does some effective playing on musette. Charlie Haden's beautiful "Song for Che" is an added treat. That fat bass sound!

Sound quality is good despite the monaural recording, with no cleaning required. What you hear is the quartet at its best, recorded just prior to the period when Coleman would begin work on his symphony, "Skies of America." Not long after that, he would introduce his electric group, Prime Time, and the jazz landscape would shift once again. From the original vinyl as always, people.

Ornette lives!

Quartet European Concert
Ornette Coleman

Ornette Coleman, as, tp; Dewey Redman, ts, mus; Charlie Hade, b; Ed Blackwell, d.
Berlin Philharmonic, Berlin, Germany; November 11, 1971

1. Street Woman
2. Song for Che
3. Whom Do You Work For?
4. Rock the Clock
5. Written Word

Find it here: http://www.mediafire.com/download/u8acv9mad87ahgq/Ornette_in_Europe.rar

Skies of America

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