Ornette Coleman
(fort worth, texas 1930)



This Is Our Music
Broken Shadows
Science Fiction
Skies Of America
Dancing In Your Head
Free Jazz - Deluxe Edition
Live At Prince Street
Body Meta
Three Women-Version 2 Of Sound Museum
Harlem's Manhattan
Of Human Feelings
The Belgrade Concert
Tone Dialing
Free Jazz
Dancing In Your Head
The Complete Atlantic Recordings
Ornette On Tenor
Languages
Shape Of Jazz

Rarely does one person change the way we listen to music, but such a man is Ornette Coleman. Since the late 1950's, when he burst onto the New York Jazz scene with his legendary engagement at the Five Spot, Coleman has been teaching the world new ways of listening to music. His revolutionary musical ideas have been controversial, but today, his enormous contribution to modern music is recognized throughout the world. Born in 1930, Coleman's educational interests included physics, mathematics and chemistry. He taught himself to play the saxophone and read music in 1944. One year later, he formed his first band. Finding a troublesome existence in Fort Worth, surrounded by racial segregation and poverty, he took to the road by the age of nineteen. For Coleman, music has the same qualities of chemistry, physics, math and colors. This educational basis continues to be the foundation of his approach many years later. During the early 1950's, while in Los Angeles, Ornette's musical ideas were so controversial, he rarely found public performance possibilities. He did, however, find a core of musicians, trumpeters Don Cherry and Bobby Bradford, drummers Ed Blackwell and Billy Higgens and bassist Charlie Haden, who took Coleman's musical concepts. In 1959, with the release of his debut album, ''Something Else!,'' it was immediately clear that Coleman had ushered in a new era in jazz history. This music was free from the prevailing conventions of harmony, rhythm and melody, often called ''free jazz,'' and it transformed the art form. Coleman called the concept Harmolodic. In the 1960's, based on this theory, Coleman also began writing string quartets, woodwind quintets and symphonies. In 1966, Denardo Coleman made his debut in music at age 10, playing drums on the recording, ''The Empty Foxhole,'' with his father. Denardo recorded twice more with his father on ''Ornette at 12'' and ''Crisis.'' In the early 1970's, Ornette traveled throughout Morocco and Nigeria, playing with the local musicians and interpreting the melodic and rhythmic complexities of their music into his Harmolodic approach. In 1975, seeking the fuller sound of the orchestra for his writing, Coleman constructed a new ensemble. Entitled Prime Time, the ensemble included doubling of the guitars, drums and bass. Combining elements of ethnic and danceable sounds, this approach is now identified with a full genre of music and musicians. In the 1980's, another round of surprises included trend-setting albums, such as ''Song X'' with guitarist Pat Metheny and ''Virgin Beauty,'' featuring Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia. Both records were widely-accepted. It was also in the 80's that Denardo Coleman not only began producing the recordings of his father, but also became his manager - it was during this period that the Colemans took control over all their business affairs. Out of this, Harmolodic Inc. emerged. The 1990's have continued to be a very productive and creative time for Ornette. With large works like the recent premiere of ''Architecture In Motion,'' Ornette's first Harmolodic ballet, as well as the soundtracks for the films ''Naked Lunch'' and ''Philadelphia.'' And now the dawning of the Harmolodic label, for which Ornette has been heavily involved in new recordings. There has also been a tremendous out-pouring of recognition bestowed upon Coleman for his work, including numerous honors and celebrations, most recently being named as a recipient of the distinguished 1994 MacArthur Fellowship award. Always true to the spirit of discovery, Ornette Coleman continues to share in new musical horizons as he has yesterday, today and tomorrow.