New York, NY The renowned Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra (LCJO) with Wynton Marsalis is proud to perform The Music of Ornette Coleman – two very special concerts celebrating avant-garde forefather Ornette Coleman. The Music of Ornette Coleman , scheduled for Thursday, February 19 and Saturday, February 21 at Alice Tully Hall, explores seminal works of this groundbreaking composer and instrumentalist. Joining the venerable big band for these extraordinary concerts will be Coleman collaborator, the masterful Dewey Redman.
Tickets for The Music of Ornette Coleman, priced at $55, $65 and $75, are available at the Alice Tully Hall box office, by calling CenterCharge at (212) 721-6500, or via
www.jazzatlincolncenter.org. This concert is sponsored by Cadillac.
"Most people think of me only as a saxophonist and as a jazz artist," Mr. Coleman once stated. "But I want to be considered as a composer who could cross over all the borders." The Music of Ornette Coleman continues the 2003-04 Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) season, themed "Jazz Spoken Here," celebrating the universal appeal of jazz in the U.S. and abroad.
Ornette Coleman, one of the most preeminent and controversial innovators of the jazz avant-garde, gained both loyal followers and lifelong detractors after seeming to burst fully formed into the scene in 1959. Coleman's tone (which purposely wavered in pitch) rattled some listeners, and his solos followed their own logic. In time, his approach would show its avant-garde qualities, as the quartet's early records still sound advanced many decades later. Originally inspired by Charlie Parker, Coleman started playing alto at 14 and tenor two years later.
In the early 1950s, Coleman appeared as part of Paul Bley's quintet for some time at the Hillcrest Club and recorded two albums for Contemporary. With the assistance of John Lewis, he attended the Lenox School of Jazz in 1959, and had an extended stay at the Five Spot in New York. This engagement alerted the jazz world about the radical new music, and each night the audience was filled with curious musicians who alternately labeled Coleman a genius or a fraud. From 1959-1961, Coleman recorded a series of classic and somewhat startling quartet albums for Atlantic. He created records that would greatly affect many of the other advanced improvisers of the 1960s, including John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, and the free jazz players of the mid-'60s. In 1962, Ornette Coleman surprised the jazz world by retiring for a period. Shortly after returning to jazz in the early 1970s, Coleman formed a "double quartet" comprised of two guitars, two electric bassists, two drummers, and his own alto. The group, called "Prime Time," featured dense, noisy, and often-witty ensembles in which all of the musicians were to have an equal role, but the leader's alto was to remain distinguished. He called this music harmolodics (representing the equal importance of harmony, melody, and rhythm). Coleman, who recorded for Verve in the '90s, has remained true to his original vision throughout his career and, although still considered controversial, is an obvious giant in jazz.
Since his days as a young church performer and swing-playing musician, Dewey Redman has garnered much prominence in the music world. Redman left a teaching career and a weekend commitment as a performer shortly after he graduated from Prairie View A&M University and moved to San Francisco. There, he found a thriving jazz community where he opted to settle for a while, studying, playing, and gaining experience to support his ultimate wish to work in New York. During this period he recorded his first album, Look for the Black Star. Redman eventually made it to New York, and was re-acquainted with Ornette Coleman, his old high school friend. Once Coleman recognized Redman's talent, a four-year association began. Redman recorded his 2nd album Tarik (1969) on a European tour with Coleman. After Coleman, Redman was featured with Keith Jarrett's Group, where he displayed his versatility and adapted fluidly to the group's style. Redman gained even wider exposure and more recognition through this stint with Keith Jarrett's Group. Dewey Redman later played and recorded with the Jazz Composers Orchestra – creating albums with Carla Bley, Leroy Jenkins, Don Cherry, Roswell Rudd, and Charlie Haden, among others. During the mid-70s, Redman also recorded two albums for ABC-Impulse: The Ear of the Behearer and Coincide. Recent albums are Playing with Old And New Dreams (both on ECM), two albums for Galaxy, Musics and Sound Sign. Dewey Redman is one of the most compelling artists today, and leads one of the most dynamic groups. He and his group have been well received, and critically acclaimed throughout the U.S.A. (especially New York City), Canada and Europe.
Jazz at Lincoln Center is a not-for-profit arts organization dedicated to jazz. With the world-renowned Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, and a comprehensive array of guest artists, Jazz at Lincoln Center advances a unique vision for the continued development of the art of jazz by producing a year-round schedule of performance, education, and broadcast events for audiences of all ages. These productions include concerts, national and international tours, residencies, weekly national radio and television programs, recordings, publications, an annual high school jazz band competition and festival, a band director academy, a jazz appreciation curriculum for children, advanced training through the Juilliard Institute for Jazz Studies, music publishing, children's concerts, lectures, adult education courses, film programs, and student and educator workshops. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis and President & CEO Hughlyn F. Fierce, Jazz at Lincoln Center will produce hundreds of events during its 2003-04 season. Currently, Jazz at Lincoln Center is building its new home – Frederick P. Rose Hall – the first-ever performance, education, and broadcast facility devoted to jazz, slated to open in fall 2004.
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