Ieri il leggendario sassofonista Ornette Coleman ha compiuto 80 anni. Coleman è universalmente riconosciuto come padre del "free jazz" che viene normalmente descritta come la musica più astratta e fuori degli schemi partita dagli Stati Uniti, ma che mantenendosi fedele a qualità come la libertà di espressione, la voglia di mobilità e di individualità ha ben rappresentato peculiarità tipiche della cultura americana che l'hanno resa grande nel mondo.
Ma il sassofonista texano ancora oggi a 80 anni è un artista che, a differenza di molti suoi colleghi di quell'età che preferiscono riposare sugli allori, ancora produce e suona una musica impegnativa ed ama sfidare le convenzioni. Con la sua attuale formazione sta lavorando su progetti che puntano ad integrare senza soluzione di continuità strumenti elettronici ed acustici.
Tra le varie celebrazioni presenti in rete vorrei segnalare un bell'articolo, pubblicato ieri sul sito della rivista The Dallas Morning News, integrato con una rara intervista.
A conversation with Ornette Coleman can begin with a straightforward question, but the answer will dart in an unexpected direction, roaming over unpredictable terrain: love, sex, God, life, ideas.
It's fascinating, maddening and a tremendous insight into the way this groundbreaking saxophonist, avant-garde composer and free-jazz innovator approaches his work, and his perspective on life. Every utterance has weight, a meaning tucked inside its oblique delivery.
"The human race has a quality to it that no other form of life has, and it's not something they bought, it's something they're born with," Coleman says, perched on a black leather sofa in his Garment District loft. "That's pretty heavy."
Precious little about the Fort Worth native is conventional.
Consider his unlikely ascension from a dirt-poor childhood, Cowtown halls of worship, high schools and juke joints to playing alongside some of the most famous figures – John Coltrane, Pat Metheny and Lou Reed – on some of the biggest stages in the world.
Or his mixture of quiet politeness and bold gestures: The conversation, although peppered with off-color references, was a portrait of restraint and restless intellectual curiosity. However, upon my leaving his home, Coleman took my hand and, in a startlingly familiar gesture, kissed it as a farewell.
Even the way Coleman makes music defies tradition, utilizing a philosophy – harmolodics, a term he coined in the early '70s. That philosophy has left a mass of skeptical music critics and perplexed jazz aficionados in its wake, struggling to understand what the soft-spoken composer has done with melodies, notes and tempo.
That he has only just begun to receive rare, prestigious honors – a Pulitzer, a Grammy, the Miles Davis Award – from the artistic establishment speaks to just how far ahead of the curve he was and continues to be.
Per leggere l'articolo integrale cliccate su questo link.
Ma il sassofonista texano ancora oggi a 80 anni è un artista che, a differenza di molti suoi colleghi di quell'età che preferiscono riposare sugli allori, ancora produce e suona una musica impegnativa ed ama sfidare le convenzioni. Con la sua attuale formazione sta lavorando su progetti che puntano ad integrare senza soluzione di continuità strumenti elettronici ed acustici.
Tra le varie celebrazioni presenti in rete vorrei segnalare un bell'articolo, pubblicato ieri sul sito della rivista The Dallas Morning News, integrato con una rara intervista.
A conversation with Ornette Coleman can begin with a straightforward question, but the answer will dart in an unexpected direction, roaming over unpredictable terrain: love, sex, God, life, ideas.
It's fascinating, maddening and a tremendous insight into the way this groundbreaking saxophonist, avant-garde composer and free-jazz innovator approaches his work, and his perspective on life. Every utterance has weight, a meaning tucked inside its oblique delivery.
"The human race has a quality to it that no other form of life has, and it's not something they bought, it's something they're born with," Coleman says, perched on a black leather sofa in his Garment District loft. "That's pretty heavy."
Precious little about the Fort Worth native is conventional.
Consider his unlikely ascension from a dirt-poor childhood, Cowtown halls of worship, high schools and juke joints to playing alongside some of the most famous figures – John Coltrane, Pat Metheny and Lou Reed – on some of the biggest stages in the world.
Or his mixture of quiet politeness and bold gestures: The conversation, although peppered with off-color references, was a portrait of restraint and restless intellectual curiosity. However, upon my leaving his home, Coleman took my hand and, in a startlingly familiar gesture, kissed it as a farewell.
Even the way Coleman makes music defies tradition, utilizing a philosophy – harmolodics, a term he coined in the early '70s. That philosophy has left a mass of skeptical music critics and perplexed jazz aficionados in its wake, struggling to understand what the soft-spoken composer has done with melodies, notes and tempo.
That he has only just begun to receive rare, prestigious honors – a Pulitzer, a Grammy, the Miles Davis Award – from the artistic establishment speaks to just how far ahead of the curve he was and continues to be.
Per leggere l'articolo integrale cliccate su questo link.
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