Ornette Coleman - Blues Connotation

The first track of free jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman's album This Is Our Music. Despite being pretty chaotic and somewhat dissonant at times I find this a pretty groovy track.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Ornette
• Coleman
• This
• Is
• Our
• Music
• Blues
• Connotation
• Free
• Jazz
• Alto
• Saxophone

[checkster12]

Ha, this description cracks me up. Dissonance makes jazz, buddy.

[theapocryphaltruth]

@checkster12 It depends on how you define dissonance. Creating temporary tension? It exists everywhere in music. Dissonance and the definition it is usually assigned isn't at all common in jazz. Especially not in blues music. It's difficult to evoke a bluesy mood if you are constantly creating tension and not releasing it.

[checkster12]

@theapocryphaltruth Agreed, I was just being simplistic due to laziness. However, with Ornette's music, especially on albums like Free Jazz, the need for resolution is substantially less than in many other settings. This tune obviously invokes the blues, but its at the soloist's discretion. Whenever I've encountered this tune, its usually approached as a blues without the confines of the form.

[theapocryphaltruth]

@checkster12 Yeah, obviously. I'm wasn't trying to say it's not dissonant, just saying it grooves despite being dissonant, which is difficult. But if anyone can do it, it's Ornette and the gang. Also I wouldn't have uploaded if I wasn't a fan of free jazz, so it's not like I was criticizing it's dissonance. Just an observation.

[theapocryphaltruth]

@theapocryphaltruth I wasn't trying to say*

[whitehotmagazine]

"What is the tonic of sound?" -Ornette Coleman

[ukslim2000]

This is a beautiful track. I love almost all of Ornette's work over the years, especially the late 50s & early 60s recordings. The dissonance, and/or what I think of metaphorically, as the "astringency" of his attack, is one of the main points of attraction for me. He often sounds as though he's playing just a tad sharp, as did a couple of other great alto saxophonists: Charlie Parker and - especially - Jackie McLean. The interaction of the four players here is, as usual, phenomenal.

[gsmonks]

After all these years, this track still swings incredibly hard. Just an observation- sounds more like panned-mono than stereo.

[Garvincia]

one of the best quartets in the history of jazz!

[CharlyGanja]

big saxoplayer