A meditation on freedom of expression with three avant garde musicians, under the leadership of Ornette Coleman, as they make music for a Living Theater project in Paris.
A portrait of the great jazz musician during his self-enforced exile from his audience.
A poetic journey from zoo to echoic chamber in search of the limits of music with Rahsaan Roland Kirk and John Cage.
Live music like this is a rarity. Thanks@P_I_C_A!#TBA11#inpdx#avantjazz - http://yfrog.us/5ksn8tz
The good folks over at Northern Spy have been putting an impressive catalog out. They're doing it right by featuring a diverse selection of artists, good stories behind the music, and unique packaging to deliver it all to adventurous listeners (CDs, digi downloads, and cassette tapes).
Please take advantage of this special offer from Music Millennium - and ECM Records of 20% off all ECM titles from now until the end of June.The first place I worked when I moved to Portland was Music Millennium in NW Portland (up until it closed). I was a floor supervisor and oversaw the Jazz collection. Let me tell you, they have an impeccable collection of ECM titles. Although this sale could be dwindling their stock fast. Music Millennium is in Portland on East Burnside and 32nd Ave. You can also shop online.
Solal said he was impressed that Monk wore a hat onstage, but obviously Monk wasn’t a serious pianist. A composer, sure, but not someone who could make it in the Conservatoire.
Solal is not the only virtuoso who has dismissed Monk. Oscar Peterson and Lennie Tristano did as well. Still, I was deeply offended that Solal chose this time and place, the last gig of the Monk series, to air this opinion. When will Thelonious Sphere Monk get the respect he deserves?
Monk's material is always derived from the purest of jazz traditions, but his displaced accents and stark voicings are sometimes thought of as connected to European modernism. Indeed, Monk is a father figure to the avant-garde. But Monk’s own music is not pointillist, Webern-esque, or even particularly abstract. It is hardcore jazz with roots in the blues and Kansas City swing. Getting abstract with Monk can work -- the George Russell/Eric Dolphy "'Round Midnight" comes to mind -- but to do so takes serious consideration.Monk’s surrealism has been interpreted as clowning around or startling. “Oh, look! I just clanged a minor second! Isn’t that funny!” The Tom Lord discography lists songs called, “Monkin’ Around,” “Monkin’ Business,” “Monk-ing Around,” and “Monking Business.” To the composers of these works I say: Fuck you. Monk nevermonkeyed around or did any monkey business. Sure, some of his renditions of standards like “Remember” or “Just A Gigolo” are among the greatest examples of jazz surrealism ever recorded. But they are still serious. And his clanging minor seconds come straight from boogie-woogie and Harlem stride, not the circus.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011: Ornette Coleman Birthday Broadcast
On Wednesday, March 9th, WKCR 89.9 FM will dedicate a full day of programming to celebrate the birthday of Ornette Coleman.
Ornette Coleman (b. March 9, 1930) is and has been pursuing the untouched horizons in music since the beginning of his career. Emerging from the Texas blues tradition, Coleman took L.A. and then New York City by storm with his visionary quartet in the late 1950s. His revolutionary concept placed melody, not harmony, at the center of improvisation. He played music that left chord changes behind, improvising harmony in real time, opening the way for the free jazz innovators of the next few decades. Coleman continued to play in his piano-less quartet through the early sixties, and then he moved to a trio playing violin and trumpet in addition to his customary saxophone. The seventies and eighties brought even newer sounds with his explorations of electric instrumentation and amplification, as well as compositions for orchestra. Coleman won a Pulitzer Prize for his 2007 record Sound Grammar and he continues to play today.
Tune in to WKCR 89.9 FM and join as we celebrate innovation, relentless individualism, and commitment to artistic freedom. LISTEN!
