Sound Grammar
by: Ornette Coleman
Sound Grammar
Ornette Coleman
Born on March 9, 1930, in Fort Worth, Texas, Ornette Coleman remains one of America's greatest living jazzmen. With musical influence steeped in R & B, Coleman began playing saxophone at an early age. His first recording appeared in 1958.
Coleman experimented with various musical styles over the decades--he even collaborated with Jerry Garcia, Pat Metheny, Roland Jackson, Don Cherry, Jimmy Garrison and the Grateful Dead.
This year Coleman won a Pulitzer Prize for Sound Grammar. Recorded in one night in Italy during October of 2005, Sound Grammar emerges as Coleman's first album in a decade. Coleman plays alto sax, violin, and trumpet. Denardo Coleman plays drums, while Greg Cohen and Tony Falanga handle double-bass duties. These musical components never stray far from a rhythmic blues foundation.
Sound Grammar peaked at #13 on Billboard's Top Jazz albums. This CD contains five new Coleman compositions as well as a few older tunes that prove Coleman's musical vitality over the last 50 years.
"Jordan" stands as a frenetic tune with a driving rhythm. "Sleep Talking" finds Coleman playing violin on slow, blue jazz tune that resembles rain falling in the streets. "Turnaround" conjures traces of John Coltrane. "Matador" is an up-beat tune serving as a musical backdrop to any deadly bullfight. "Waiting For You" evokes a deep rumbling on the bottom end...like some underwater Super 8 film music. "Call To Duty" remains an unrestrained song that fits the tenacious title.
Ornette Coleman's Sound Grammar proves why he's an American music legend.
-James Calemine