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The shaper of jazz to come
CHRIS SEARLE recommends a book on Ornette Coleman, one of the great musical innovators of the 20th century
'AS MANY UNISONS AS STARS IN THE SKY’: Ornette Coleman
[Pic JP Roche/Creative Commons]
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Ornette Coleman: The Territory and the Adventure
by Maria Golia,
(Reaktion Books, £16)
“HOW do you try to turn emotion into knowledge? That’s what I try to do with my horn.” Thus was the testimony of the revolutionary alto saxophonist Ornette Coleman.
He was born in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1930, and the titles of his early albums reveal his intentions and musical trajectory: Change of the Century, The Shape of Jazz to Come, Tomorrow Is the Question, Free Jazz.
These were epochal recordings with fellow musical subversives such as trumpeter Don Cherry, bassist Charlie Haden, drummers Billy Higgins and Ed Blackwell.
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