Ornette Coleman, Composer and Saxophonist Who Rewrote the Language of Jazz dies at 85

 First of all, today was an interesting day. Earlier in the day I met the actor Anthony Anderson from the new comedy Black-ish. I shook his hand and said it I liked Black-ish, and that it was a pleasure to meet him. In addition, the actor Sir Christoper Lee died. It should be noted that Christoper Lee dabbled in being a vocalist in a metal band, even having made a metal Christmas album. But my main reason for writing this is the fact that the great jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman died today at the age of 85. Read this story by the New York Times, they talk about Coleman's life better than I can. New York Times Piece. I like how they mention the fact that Coleman initially didn't know his saxophone was in a different key than the piano's standard pitch of C. And that kind of made his distrust general Western harmony. "He often used the word “unison” — though not always in its more common musical-theory sense — to describe a group of people playing together harmoniously, even if in different keys." (article) I thought that the fact that he used unison in a different way rather than talking about the octave was pretty interesting. In addition, Coleman had used the word harmolodics to describe contraction of harmony, movement, and melody.
     Coleman's music had a big impact on me when I first heard it. I think the first record I heard was The Shape of Jazz to Come. Then, what I really liked and thought was great, I heard the album Free-Jazz, which can pretty much be labeled as the first free-jazz album ever and this was still early 60's! Coleman was a great innovator just like John Coltrane, although you can't say that Coleman influenced Trane or that Trane influenced Coleman. They were on two different wavelengths. Two greats changing the history and sound of jazz, at the same time. I enjoyed Coleman's work with Don Cherry, Billy Higgins, and Charlie Haden very much. My favorite Coleman record I would have to say is the double live album, the Hamburg Concert in 1987 with the line-up I just mentioned. If you want a Coleman record that will blow you away, go buy that off Amazon right now. Another great period was when Coleman played with saxophonist Dewey Redman, and they made a great album that I have called New York is Now! I believe this is a very important record because it contains Coltrane's Quartet rhythm section on it which is unbelievable! The album features Elvin Jones and Jimmy Garrison. This is another great record I highly recommend if you want to hear Coleman's best work. Lastly, I'd have to recommend his album Song X with Pat Metheny, which I wrote about not too long ago actually. That's what makes Coleman's passing so unfortunate. I was just listening to the guy! In addition, my older friend that I'm playing in a duo with told me he always respected and admired Ornette Coleman, although he felt he was just starting to understand his music. He also mentioned the fact that he liked the fact that Ornette Coleman was free of drugs, but we know that that wasn't the case. The article mentions he was a heroin junkie for a while, which I did not even know about, but I am not surprised. Lastly, even though Coleman is credited for creating free-jazz, his music and playing is still linked to the past, to Charlie Parker especially. His early recordings sound like the bebop of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. But he sure found his own voice and music quick. One could say that the music of Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane was the last important change in jazz. Their influence on the culture of jazz and the music will always live on. I'd like to end this piece with a quote by Coleman at his Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award acceptance speech.
      “One of the things I am experiencing is very important,” and that is: You don’t have to die to kill, and you don’t have to kill to die. And above all, nothing exists that is not in the form of life, because life is eternal with or without people, so we are grateful for life to be here at this very moment."
     How's that for jazz saxophone philosopher? He will be missed but his music will live on through other great jazz musicians.