Jazz at Lincoln Center opened its fall season on Saturday night with a repertory tribute to Ornette Coleman. Not that this sold-out concert, at the Rose Theater, was presented that way: there was no organized script, no resident orchestra, no Wynton Marsalis. The idea, instead, was that Mr. Coleman -- the famously inscrutable alto saxophonist,...
Wynton Marsalis, the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, plans to announce the organization's 2009-10 season Wednesday with a lineup that includes a season-opening Rose Hall performance by Ornette Coleman and his band on Sept. 26; programs built around the work of Bill Evans, Mary Lou Williams, Fats Waller and Count Basie; and concerts...
Time and again at Town Hall on Friday night Ornette Coleman tacked toward the blues. The dimensions of his pristine alto saxophone tone -- a small, bright thing with a flavor both tart and sweet -- kept warping slightly, in the manner of an R&B singer. He phrased in short, soulful bursts as well as fluid outpourings, frequently skimming a...
Ornette Coleman (født 9. marts 1930) er en amerikansk saxofonist, komponist og orkesterleder.
Han havde svært ved at slå igennem, mange musikere opfattede ham nærmest som respektløs, uskolet eller slet og ret primitiv. I 1958 blev nogle etablerede jazzmusikere, bl.a. John Lewis, dog opmærksomme på hans spil.
Hans højst personlige sange udgør effektive affyringsramper for musikernes improvisationer.
Han fremtrådte også som trompetist og violinist med forskellige besætninger på koncerter og plader i USA og Europa.
I 1975 dannede han et elektrisk ensemble, Prime Time, og har senere spillet på festivaler og koncerter med bl.a. sin søn, trommeslageren Denardo Coleman født i 1956.