Sound Grammar [Digipak]

Performer: Ornette Coleman
Distributor: Harmonia Mundi (Distribut

Notes: Personnel: Ornette Coleman (violin, alto saxophone, trumpet); Greg Cohen, Tony Falanga (double bass); Denardo Coleman (drums). Recorded in front of a live audience, 2006's SOUND GRAMMAR was the first release of all new material from free-jazz icon Ornette Coleman in nearly a decade. Packed with sonic thrills from back to front, this outing finds Coleman in a quartet that features two bassists. The rhythmic and harmonic interplay between the two basses (one is plucked and one is bowed) creates a rich, resonant field on which the drummer and Coleman (on violin, trumpet, and alto saxophone, alternately) improvise freely. The years haven't dimmed the artist's creativity an iota, and SOUND GRAMMAR proves Coleman's unique, original vision to be as vital as ever.

Rolling Stone (p.74) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[Coleman] combines the stark blaze of his mid-Sixties acoustic trios with the doubled momentum of his Prime Time bands. He is in strong, melodic form, too." Entertainment Weekly (p.78) - "Spouting upward-pointed cries, downward-bent moans, and playful squiggly figures....A fountain of sublime ideas." -- Grade: A Down Beat (p.78) - 5 stars out of 5 -- "Coleman's mournful ballads have always carried the world's weight on their shoulders. But here, the sadness feels more poignantly personal." JazzTimes (p.92) - "Denardo Coleman's drumming is both propulsive and coloristic, reflecting many years of experience with his illustrious father. Ornette's alto is gnomic, tireless, characteristically semi-sharp..."

In the late 1950s, saxophonist Ornette Coleman threw out the rule book (and the piano) and blew apart all received notions of jazz, most notably with his quartet featuring Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, and Billy Higgins. Coleman's seemingly alien brand of "free" music was revolting to some and a revelation to others; either way, it established him as a founding father of the avant garde that ignited much of the 1960s jazz scene. Since the '70s, Coleman has concentrated largely on his band Prime Time, a fertile laboratory for his ongoing project of musical evolution.

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