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Deconstructing Free Jazz
by Robert J. Lewis
In the continuously evolving history of artistic expression, certain movements emerge that challenge the very foundations of our aesthetic sensibilities. In the early and mid-20th century, Expressionism and free jazz were two audacious musics that not only broke all the rules but broke the spirit of many well-intentioned listeners. If the terms are not quite interchangeable, Expressionism and free jazz share a common genesis that goes back to the early 20th century with the introduction of the 12-tone ...
Continue ReadingOrnette Coleman's and Horace Silver's "Lonely Woman" — A Disambiguation
by Artur Moral
Reality is filled with confusion and misunderstandings; some are suggestive or creative, while others are disappointing or, worse, malicious. The jazz world is no stranger to the first type: specific compositions are often confused or misidentified as if they were the same. Usually, this happens because of similar melodies or titles that are sometimes identical. This last case applies to the two themes discussed here, which are homonymous but musically quite different. The first, desolate and raw, is by Ornette ...
Continue ReadingLou Reed, Ornette Coleman and David Bowie: After Walking On The Wild Side 8/18/72
by Mike Jurkovic
British saxophonist Ronnie Ross had just locked down his now iconic baritone solo on Lou Reed's soon-to-be overplayed rock classic, “Walk On the Wild Side" when co-producer David Bowie snook up behind Reed and whispered excitedly “Ornette's here." Reed, intently tapping a vein and hitting the rush, replied like only a stoned kid from Queens could. “No sh**." Yeah, no sh**. And that is just the beginning of the fascinating story behind After Walking On The Wild Side 8/18/72.
Continue ReadingOrnette Coleman: Free Jazz to Ornette! Revisited
by Alberto Bazzurro
Che cosa si può dire ancora di un'opera che ha stravolto il corso del jazz, uno di quegli snodi dopo i quali--qui fin dal titolo--nulla può essere più come prima? Punti di svolta decisivi e ineludibili che cambiano il corso di un'arte, pietre miliari come Les Demoiselles d'Avignon in pittura, l'Ulysses di Joyce in letteratura, o più specificatamente in poesia Un coup de dés di Mallarmé? Nulla, appunto, perché tutto dev'essere per forza di cose già stato detto e scritto, ...
Continue ReadingOrnette Coleman: Free Jazz To Ornette! Revisited
by John Eyles
For ezz-thetics' revisited series' fourth Ornette Coleman album, the label has ventured back further than any of its previous Coleman albums, to New York City in December 1960 and January 1961. Recorded at A&R Studios on Wednesday December 21st 1960 from 8pm to 12.30am, the Free Jazz session produced two pieces, the thirty-seven minute “Free Jazz" itself, which was issued in September 1961 on an Atlantic album entitled Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation By The Ornette Coleman Double Quartet, and ...
Continue ReadingOrnette Coleman: At The Golden Circle Stockholm Revisited
by Stefano Merighi
Ritornare a certe “opere aperte" di Ornette, come questo notissimo concerto di Stoccolma della fine del 1965, significa ribadire l'alterità irriducibile del maestro texano, che sarà stato sì come si legge sempre nella manualistica mainstream l'inventore del free jazz eccetera, il killer della tradizione, il primitivo con il sax di plastica, ma soprattutto un mago dell'istinto, un poeta della musica come flusso chimico naturale, i cui esiti hanno sempre parlato all'ascoltatore con intenti inclusivi, puntando alla libertà del linguaggio come ...
Continue ReadingOrnette Coleman Trio: At The Golden Circle Stockholm Revisited
by John Eyles
As the ezz-thetics label has already released two of Ornette Coleman's Blue Note albums together on New York Is Now & Love Call Revisited, both recorded in April and May 1968, it was always in the cards that both volumes of At the Golden Circle Stockholm, recorded in December 1965, would not be far behind. Sure enough, here they are, both together on one disc with a running time of eighty minutes. That means this single disc includes all of ...
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