Just listening to one of the new-ish CD by Dave Liebman (I say this as he seems to have a new disc out every other month) where his regular quartet of the last 20 or so years performs the music of the great Ornette Coleman. The disc is called "Turnaround" and includes the woe-fully under-appreciated Vic Juris on guitar.
What makes this unusual is that Liebman, one of the most harmonically astute jazz musicians around today, tackles the repertoire largely from Ornette's ground-breaking Atlantic era by adding sophisticated harmonies to the music. The overall effect isn't too disimilar to the album Ornette made with Pat Metheny although the method of improvisation is totally different. "Cross breeding" could easily have strayed off "Song X" whereas something like "Lonely Woman" is reinterpreted on a wooden flute so become a piece of Indian-like music making. "The blessing" re-emerges as a breezy be-bop theme and "Turnaround" is under-pinned by a snakey bass line that almost renders this as a new tune as opposed the bouncy original. The music does appear to be arranged in many instances too.
I find Dave Liebman a curious player. The music he produces is extremely intense and he is a musician who takes the whole jazz process in a serious and analytical manner. Sometimes I find this approach to be not very accessible and a little bit clinical although his commitment never seems less than 100%. In the liner notes, Liebman is pretty frank about Ornette's music and even goes so far as to state that the minor role harmony plays in Coleman's music means that hasn't been that influential on him. What he admires is his "seemingly never ending repository of lyrical melodies" which is something that most Ornette fans will be nodding their head in agreement. The liner notes conclude with an assessment of Ornette's harmonic tendancies within his improvisation and a summary that "as in all great music, it is the spiritthat shines brightest."
Having played this CD through once, I think that this is a pretty exceptional piece of music making it albeit probably the most "mainstream" interpretation of Ornette's music. The playing does go "outside" yet Liebman's approach is the polar opposite of Coleman's organic free-wheeling music that is as deep-rooted in the blues as Charley Patton. Juris is a revelation though - somewhere midway between Metheny and Frisell in his approach but eschewing the other two musician's "Americana" leanings.
Definately a CD checking out if you are curious. All in all, this is a very controversial approach to the music of Ornette Coleman and a fascinating one too. Juris is especially not afraid of mixing it yet the use of harmony tugs the music more towards the jazz mainstream - at odds perhaps with Ornette's original intention to liberate the music from set harmony. Reading the liner notes, it is fascinating to read between the lines that Ornette's improvisational tool kit is perhaps more "orthodox" and not quite as "free" as imagined. Fascinating to compare Ornette's earthier approach to Liebman's more theoretical one with regard to harmony and see than neither's music is any less corruscating when need be.
Seems to be that eventually Ornette has been embraced within the mainstream and what was once devisive amongst fans, musicians and critics alike, is finding the universal acclaim that his music deserves. I think this is a very good tribute from one of the more intelligent musicians of today to one of the seminal figures in all music of the 20th century.
What makes this unusual is that Liebman, one of the most harmonically astute jazz musicians around today, tackles the repertoire largely from Ornette's ground-breaking Atlantic era by adding sophisticated harmonies to the music. The overall effect isn't too disimilar to the album Ornette made with Pat Metheny although the method of improvisation is totally different. "Cross breeding" could easily have strayed off "Song X" whereas something like "Lonely Woman" is reinterpreted on a wooden flute so become a piece of Indian-like music making. "The blessing" re-emerges as a breezy be-bop theme and "Turnaround" is under-pinned by a snakey bass line that almost renders this as a new tune as opposed the bouncy original. The music does appear to be arranged in many instances too.
I find Dave Liebman a curious player. The music he produces is extremely intense and he is a musician who takes the whole jazz process in a serious and analytical manner. Sometimes I find this approach to be not very accessible and a little bit clinical although his commitment never seems less than 100%. In the liner notes, Liebman is pretty frank about Ornette's music and even goes so far as to state that the minor role harmony plays in Coleman's music means that hasn't been that influential on him. What he admires is his "seemingly never ending repository of lyrical melodies" which is something that most Ornette fans will be nodding their head in agreement. The liner notes conclude with an assessment of Ornette's harmonic tendancies within his improvisation and a summary that "as in all great music, it is the spiritthat shines brightest."
Having played this CD through once, I think that this is a pretty exceptional piece of music making it albeit probably the most "mainstream" interpretation of Ornette's music. The playing does go "outside" yet Liebman's approach is the polar opposite of Coleman's organic free-wheeling music that is as deep-rooted in the blues as Charley Patton. Juris is a revelation though - somewhere midway between Metheny and Frisell in his approach but eschewing the other two musician's "Americana" leanings.
Definately a CD checking out if you are curious. All in all, this is a very controversial approach to the music of Ornette Coleman and a fascinating one too. Juris is especially not afraid of mixing it yet the use of harmony tugs the music more towards the jazz mainstream - at odds perhaps with Ornette's original intention to liberate the music from set harmony. Reading the liner notes, it is fascinating to read between the lines that Ornette's improvisational tool kit is perhaps more "orthodox" and not quite as "free" as imagined. Fascinating to compare Ornette's earthier approach to Liebman's more theoretical one with regard to harmony and see than neither's music is any less corruscating when need be.
Seems to be that eventually Ornette has been embraced within the mainstream and what was once devisive amongst fans, musicians and critics alike, is finding the universal acclaim that his music deserves. I think this is a very good tribute from one of the more intelligent musicians of today to one of the seminal figures in all music of the 20th century.
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