Ornette's Crossroads

One day, I walked into a place that was full of gambling and prostitution, people arguing, and I saw a woman get stabbed—then I thought that I had to get out of there. I told my mother that I didn't want to play this music anymore because I thought that I was only adding to all that suffering. She replied, "What's got hold of you, you want somebody to pay you for your soul?" I hadn't thought of that, and when she told me that, it was like I had been re-baptized.

What We're Hearing

"But I find that it's very difficult to do, because the jazz musician is probably the only person for whom the composer is not a very interesting individual,  in the sense that he prefers to destroy what the composer writes or says."  --Ornette Coleman (1997)

Full Volume Juju

The brovah's @ the ubu archive posted the above cited interview w/ Ornette Coleman. Coleman is playing his fullest conjureman role. We commend most highly every word.

Repping Tompkins Square

The first time we found Bern Nix in the liner notes was on the astonishing Ornette Coleman Prime Time slabs Dancing in Your Head and Body Meta. The brotherhood of strings that included Charlie Ellerbee and, on the latter, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, became a matter of our fascination. There was something about the intricacy of their work that called us back.

Turns out this Nix rekkid is an emusic exclusive. We'll keep you posted.

In the mean time, there's a lot of stuff over @ Tompkins Square for someone else to love, but the catalogue also has that interesting thing by Charles Gayle. I'm'a go back.