Ornette Coleman last night

[Wayne Johnson]

It all sounds pretty good to me.

wayne
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michael Eisenstadt" <michaele@hotpop.com>
To: <austin-ghetto-list@pairlist.net>
Sent: Monday, November 15, 2004 10:39 AM
Subject: Ornette Coleman last night


>a disappointing concert/set. one long set. 
> almost a full house. 
> 
> did not see Hope Morgan nor Jeff but was 
> vouchsafed a rare sighting of Phillip Trussell 
> whom we all know and love.
> 
> Coleman's son drums well, one of the 2 
> standup bassists a virtuoso with the bow.
> Coleman played trumpet, alto and violin. The 
> sax is white plastic with brass keys. The flare 
> of the bell is brass. He plays violin lefthanded 
> the violin against his chest him standing 
> crouched with one foot elevated on a stool
> in a backwoods c & w posture. His trumpet 
> playing is strong.
> 
> the sound of too few instruments was thin and 
> unsatisfying. only once for a few moments in 
> one of the numbers did i find myself fully
> INSIDE the music. YMMV.
> 
> Coleman was dressed in a sharp blue suit and
> he wore a porkpie hat. why? sartorial decisions
> are always a problem. in a NYTimes Sunday 
> Magazine interview of Miles Davis by Amiri
> Baraka,  Davis described how he chose his 
> outfits. He said his threads had to be of a 
> piece with his sound. 
> 
> the music itself was dissonant (as expected)
> with the bowed bass and sax chords often 
> in differing scales to one another. a few times
> the sonorities of bass & alto merged. surprising 
> as one wouldn't imagine that the sonorities of 
> bowed bass & sax could be made to sound 
> exactly the same.
> 
> the bass player was exceptional, short older 
> white guy with a bald head. 
> 
> Coleman played one of his early compositions
> which i recognized. While reprising the theme
> the number was of course not identical to the 
> original recording. This was from a more lyrical 
> period than his current one.
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