Ornette Coleman

[Clipped and Shorn]

The first time I heard him play violin was at the Greek theater in Berkeley (great acoustics). This is the same large outdoor amphi-theater holding thousands, where I once saw Cecil Taylor in a bright red coat, an animated blur, seemingly attacking every note on the grand piano simultaneously, for what seemed a half an hour. It was cool. What I most remember about Ornette, besides the music, was his form of addressing the audience at the beginning of the concert and between sets. He engaged in a private conversation with some friend out in the audience as if he was at home in his living room. This has become the basis for my own aesthetics.

Check him Out

C&S

[Allan Songer]

I have heard Ornette live five times, the most recently at Disney Hall last November. This was the best concert I have been to over the last several years. He played alto, violin and trumpet with a passion rarely heard--amazing. I also heard him at the Greek Theater in Berkeley as well as at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco and at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown LA back in the early 1990's (with Billy Higgins and Charlie Haden in a DAZZLING trio performance). I also heard him in New York in the mid-1980's with his electric band "Prime Time."

I only wish that I could have heard him more often.

[Clipped and Shorn]

me too.

c7