THIS month sees a handful of flawless reissues that tell the story of ORNETTE COLEMAN’s influence on jazz in the ’60s; a decade when rock took over the mainstream and jazz flourished artistically.
It wasn’t until 1959’s that Coleman settled on the classic quartet of himself, Don Cherry, Charlie Haden () and followup (), Ornette’s revolutionary approach to the saxophone was already firmly in place, he was just waiting for a band to catch up. When he dispensed with chord structures all together, Ornette’s vision truly exploded but these records stand alone as remarkable achievements. is another step closer to the revolution of and his decision to abandon a chord playing instrument. The form here is still recognisably based around the head-solo-head structure of bebop but Ornette’s playing was already in the stratosphere. His approach to pitch and the ease with which he incorporates microtonality into his playing is breath-taking. Academics still discuss the practical innovation that led to Ornette inventing free-jazz but it really comes down to the imagination of a beautiful mind.
