Thursday, June 25, 2015
Thursday, June 11, 2015
June 11 2015
Ornette Coleman died today. At 85, it shouldn't come as any surprise, no matter how much longer I wish he could have been around.
I saw Ornette play twice, both times in Pittsburgh at the Carnegie Music Hall. The first time was in 1982 with the original Prime Time: Jamaaladeen, Dernado, Bernie Nix, etc. He stood in the center with a guitar/bass/drums trio flanking him on each side. I barely knew who Ornette was at the time but the tickets were cheap, the location within walking distance, and I was always looking for concerts to attend.
It was loud, much too loud for that particular room. It was a polymetric, polytonal funk attack. The records largely don't do the group justice, the exceptions maybe being "Dancing In Your Head" and some of "In All Languages" (though those cuts are much too short). A friend said afterwards, "I didn't expect Ornette Coleman to play disco!" (Hardly qualified, by the way.)
Whatever chaos was happening around him, Ornette was always calm and in charge. Without any firsthand knowledge, I suspect he was a very good and benevolent bandleader.
I saw him again in the 90s, I can't recall what year. That group had a tabla, a fusiony keyboardist, a fusiony guitarist. I didn't like the band at all. But Ornette was worth seeing for Ornette, he played fluidly and was in complete control.
I think of two things first and foremost with Ornette. First, there's Ornette the melodist. He could write an instantly recognizable tune. Many have an almost folk-like character, even if they don't seem to be referring to any particular folk tradition. Oh, there are those tunes, especially when you start hitting the third and fourth Atlantic LPs, that seem to be almost a blur of notes. But listen to pieces like "Lonely Woman", "Kathelin Grey", "Peace" (one of my all time favorite melodies), "Blues Connotation", "Sadness", and so many others, you should be able hear what a gift he had for creating a very direct melody.
The other thing about Ornette...let me put it this way: he was so controversial for (largely) dispensing with standard chord changes for improvised soloists. Many musicians and fans at the time thought he was a fake or charlatan, that it was cheating, that he was just doing whatever he wanted and who cares about the rules.
Here's the greater truth: if you're a musician, try working without chord changes. Try playing an improvised solo without having a particular sequence of chords, or even a defined modality, to support you. You'll find that in fact it can be very difficult to do. It's hard to play a cohesive statement without that proverbial safety net of established harmonic content. One of the things chord changes do for jazz soloists is provide drive and direction; you know a certain harmonic shift will happen at a certain time, and it provides structure for what you spontaneously play.
It would be too simple to say that Ornette made things harder by freeing himself of chord changes. I think he was following his muse, as they say, and that's as much of a model as anything else he did. It is not fair to say that he made things easy for himself though.
I'm grateful for this music, to Ornette himself, someone I'll never get to meet unfortunately. I think I would have been too nervous to say anything to him anyway. Let's continue to study and celebrate Ornette's music, just as we make room for subsequent generations who have learned from him.
I saw Ornette play twice, both times in Pittsburgh at the Carnegie Music Hall. The first time was in 1982 with the original Prime Time: Jamaaladeen, Dernado, Bernie Nix, etc. He stood in the center with a guitar/bass/drums trio flanking him on each side. I barely knew who Ornette was at the time but the tickets were cheap, the location within walking distance, and I was always looking for concerts to attend.
It was loud, much too loud for that particular room. It was a polymetric, polytonal funk attack. The records largely don't do the group justice, the exceptions maybe being "Dancing In Your Head" and some of "In All Languages" (though those cuts are much too short). A friend said afterwards, "I didn't expect Ornette Coleman to play disco!" (Hardly qualified, by the way.)
Whatever chaos was happening around him, Ornette was always calm and in charge. Without any firsthand knowledge, I suspect he was a very good and benevolent bandleader.
I saw him again in the 90s, I can't recall what year. That group had a tabla, a fusiony keyboardist, a fusiony guitarist. I didn't like the band at all. But Ornette was worth seeing for Ornette, he played fluidly and was in complete control.
I think of two things first and foremost with Ornette. First, there's Ornette the melodist. He could write an instantly recognizable tune. Many have an almost folk-like character, even if they don't seem to be referring to any particular folk tradition. Oh, there are those tunes, especially when you start hitting the third and fourth Atlantic LPs, that seem to be almost a blur of notes. But listen to pieces like "Lonely Woman", "Kathelin Grey", "Peace" (one of my all time favorite melodies), "Blues Connotation", "Sadness", and so many others, you should be able hear what a gift he had for creating a very direct melody.
The other thing about Ornette...let me put it this way: he was so controversial for (largely) dispensing with standard chord changes for improvised soloists. Many musicians and fans at the time thought he was a fake or charlatan, that it was cheating, that he was just doing whatever he wanted and who cares about the rules.
Here's the greater truth: if you're a musician, try working without chord changes. Try playing an improvised solo without having a particular sequence of chords, or even a defined modality, to support you. You'll find that in fact it can be very difficult to do. It's hard to play a cohesive statement without that proverbial safety net of established harmonic content. One of the things chord changes do for jazz soloists is provide drive and direction; you know a certain harmonic shift will happen at a certain time, and it provides structure for what you spontaneously play.
It would be too simple to say that Ornette made things harder by freeing himself of chord changes. I think he was following his muse, as they say, and that's as much of a model as anything else he did. It is not fair to say that he made things easy for himself though.
I'm grateful for this music, to Ornette himself, someone I'll never get to meet unfortunately. I think I would have been too nervous to say anything to him anyway. Let's continue to study and celebrate Ornette's music, just as we make room for subsequent generations who have learned from him.
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Looking to May
Space Exchange this coming May:
So this month I've willingly given over my slot to Lina Allemano and her quartet, making their second appearance on the Space Exchange series. They're a great free jazz group from Toronto and should not be missed, particularly at the price.
I will be joining Matt Booth with Palindromes, with the two saxophone/two bass/drum lineup we did a few months ago. That should be a lot of fun. It will also be Matt Booth's final appearance on the Space Exchange series as a regular contributor, as he is moving to New Orleans on June 1st. No doubt he'll be back for various visits in the future, but otherwise he presence will be sorely missed. Looks like Throck and I will have to double down our efforts to keep the series as fresh and exciting as we believe it has been.
So this month I've willingly given over my slot to Lina Allemano and her quartet, making their second appearance on the Space Exchange series. They're a great free jazz group from Toronto and should not be missed, particularly at the price.
I will be joining Matt Booth with Palindromes, with the two saxophone/two bass/drum lineup we did a few months ago. That should be a lot of fun. It will also be Matt Booth's final appearance on the Space Exchange series as a regular contributor, as he is moving to New Orleans on June 1st. No doubt he'll be back for various visits in the future, but otherwise he presence will be sorely missed. Looks like Throck and I will have to double down our efforts to keep the series as fresh and exciting as we believe it has been.
Sunday, April 5, 2015
A glacially increasing international presence
Blogger lets you see the countries of people who have browsed your blog. (Not to mention things such as OS, browser, etc.) So, nineteen hits from the Ukraine?
I suppose there's a comment in there somewhere about not only how ubiquitous our data network is, but how anything posted publicly online can travel around the world and be seen by anyone. (Note to my college students: always keep this in mind and don't post embarrassing things online. Be mindful of your digital footprint.)
So, to all my Ukrainian, German, Romanian, French, Australian, Canadian, British, Indonesian, and Polish friends, here are a few things happening in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, North America.
So, to all my Ukrainian, German, Romanian, French, Australian, Canadian, British, Indonesian, and Polish friends, here are a few things happening in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, North America.
April at Space Exchange
Here's how our current month's schedule will look. I'll be on the hit for the last two, though who knows? Chris might ask me to stop by on the 14th, we'll see.
Of course Thoth Trio is my long-standing group with Paul Thompson and David Throckmorton. The "electric" version means Paul might bring electric bass, and I'll definitely bring things like my laptop and other gadgets.
Matt Booth's Palindromes on the 28th I think will be the mighty version with Jeff Grubbs playing bass along with Matt. At least, I think I have that right.
Monday, March 2, 2015
Space Exchange, March 2015
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