Sound Grammar

Coleman, Ornette
Sound Grammar
Jazz | Oct 2006

Reviews

Craig Matsumoto
Reviewed 2006-10-12
yeah, that's right, a NEW Ornette Coleman album, first one in about a decade, bee-yatch!!

If you've heard Ornette's '60s stuff, this sounds about the same at first glance. Acoustic band: 2 basses, drums, sax (as opposed to his electric band, "Prime Time").

Upbeat, blues-derived jazz that splits into free group solos for some nice jamming. The composed themes are easygoing and bright. Even mainstream musicians play Ornette's compositions today, but Ornette still has an "outside" feel beyond what most folks do.

"Sound Grammar" is the term Coleman uses nowadays to describe his musical system (replacing "Harmelodics," which some of us never understood anyway).

1- Spoken band intro.
2- Swirly, chaotic theme, into nicely propulsive bebop stylings
3- Midtempo and sly, with a catchy theme. Romantic mystery. Includes quiet violin solo.
4- Light, pleasant. Mid/fast with a slow-flowing background. Solo gets a bit wild.
5- Happy and bouncing, gets into tangly free soloing
6- Loose jamming feel, fairly fast after a contemplative start.
7- High energy, a classically Ornette-styled tumbling theme
8- Slowish, romantic bowed bass behind a midtempo jam that gets energetic and shrill, nice stuff
9- Fast and crazy. Includes drum solo and wacky violin solo.

Recent airplay

Song X
Memory SelectMar 12, 2010
Jordan
Sleep Talking
Jena and GomorrahJan 30, 2007
Jordan
No Cover, No MinimumDec 15, 2006
Sleep Talking
Morning GloryDec 06, 2006
Song X
Memory SelectNov 24, 2006

Charting

2006-10-15 — 2006-12-17 Jazz
Week EndingAirplays
Dec 17 1
Dec 10 1
Nov 26 2
Nov 12 4
Nov 5 3
Oct 29 4
Oct 22 5

Track listing

1. Intro
2. Jordan
3. Sleep Talking
4. Turnaround
5. Matador
6. Waiting For You
7. Call To Duty
8. Once Only
9. Song X