Ornette Coleman: The Territory and the Adventure

by Maria Golia

Ornette Coleman’s career encompassed the glory years of jazz and the American avant-garde. Born in segregated Fort Worth, Texas, during the Great Depression, the African-American composer and musician was zeitgeist incarnate. Steeped in the Texas blues tradition, he and jazz grew up together, as the brassy blare of big band swing gave way to bebop—a faster music for a faster, postwar world. At the luminous dawn of the Space Age and New York’s 1960s counterculture, Coleman gave voice to the moment. Lauded by some, maligned by many, he forged a breakaway art sometimes called “the new thing” or “free jazz.” Featuring previously unpublished photographs of Coleman and his contemporaries, this book tells the compelling story of one of America’s most adventurous musicians and the sound of a changing world.

Genres: Music, Biography, Jazz, Nonfiction

368 pages, Hardcover

Published April 13, 2020

Reviews

[Phil Overeem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Golia does a great job of getting all we know from previous publications about Ornette in one place, and also setting his life in a deeper geographical, historical, and social context than usual--as well as an artistic one. If you're a jazz buff, you may feel a good deal doesn't need to be explained to you, and she's guilty of a few oversights (for example, she takes pains to connect Coleman to everything and everyone Fort Worth, but when Julius Hemphill enters the scene she seems only to know he's "from St. Louis"); in addition, the trilogy of Dancing in Your Head, Body Meta, and Of Human Feelings receives very short shrift. But it's valuable, and I'm glad I read it.

[Glenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Among other things, an excellent beginner's guide to Ornette, very coherent on his philosophy and his music which are inextricable in the deepest way possible — not always true of artists. It's also an inspiring portrait of a man who really lived inside the work. There's a lot of stuff here I already knew, but the narrative of Coleman's discovery of the Master Musicians in fleshed out in a way I've never encountered before, and Golia's account of harmolodics as a journey rather than a destination — an adventure, that is — is superb.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've listened to and admired Ornette's music for years. This book definitely increased my appreciation for and understanding of his work, and further convinced me that he really was a prodigy.

[Sam Amidon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely beautiful portrait of the master and his environment.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review of the book: https://www.the-american-interest.com...

My podcast interview with the author: https://www.the-american-interest.com...

[Fernando Pestana da Costa · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book we have a very nice biography of Ornette Coleman, one of the most important jazzmen in the second half of the twentieth century and one of the fathers of free jazz. The book is organized in four parts: a first part is about Ornette's live in Fort Worth, Texas, where he was born in 1930, and his early career moves. Part two deals with what could be classified as the central period of Ornette's career and the most important with respect to its impact in jazz: from the time he arrives in New York in 1959 to the end of the 1960s: the impact of his two records for the Contemporary label (still recorded in Los Angeles in 1958 and early 1959), then the famous album Shape of Jazz to Come, on Atlantic, with the great quartet with Cherry, Haden, and Higgins, the historic stint at the Five Spot, and then the string of Atlantic and Blue Note albums that followed in the years to come. The third and fourth parts, although they looked to me as a bit less chronologically constructed, deal with the later decades in Ornette's life, starting with his return to Fort Worth for the inaugural concert in the Caravan of Dreams Performing Arts Center, and continuing with his life, interests, the evolution of his musical and artistic interests, the gradual acceptance of his work and importance. The book is not only very nicely written but also very engagingly done: although Ornette is the main character, he is far from the only one: Golia describes at length the life of many other jazzmen that crossed paths with Ornette, as well as the historical situations and landscapes which shaped the life and work of all those musicians and, reciprocally, were also constructed by them. In short: this is a first class addition to the literature about Ornette and also about jazz, jazzmen, their art, and the world they live in.

[James Vitarius · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent account of the life and career of one of the world's masters in the arts. Ms. Golia's habit of jumping ahead in the chronology of her depictions can be distracting and leads the reader to underemphasize Coleman's most interesting period in his life, the creation of a new jazz form. Nevertheless, a great read for music lovers. And I learned, or rather was reminded of, something, that is especially important in a age dominated by comfort food, cable news and uncertain times. It can be summed up by the book's quotation that ends the story, as told by musician and early Coleman collaborator Don Cherry: "Music never stops. It's you who is stopping. It's you who is ending."

[Horacio Oliveira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dissapointing and uneven, lots of filler, unnecessary bummer/ruminating ending and weirdly obsessed with validating the history/legacy of Caravan of Dreams, with which Ornette was only tangentially associated (lots of time spent on this, after the meat of Ornette's career has been superficially treated). Fatally flawed, unfortunately the wrong author for the task. Still worth it for Ornette freaks (and often inspiring, of course) but not generally recommended.

[Jacob Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic book for a lamen like myself. I wanted to read this to understand more what attracts me to Ornette's work and I was worried that this would be far too music theory oriented for me to understand. There is a lot of music theory but none of it is daunting because of how well the writer manages to explain my attraction to Ornette more just as an artist. It's not just the little musical notes but the overall intentions and where it all comes from. The writer being a situationist and using Debord makes the latter really clear and well done.

Part of the appeal of Ornette to me is not just the music but the way he addresses his art and it's something I generally want to bring to my film writing. Jazz to me is improvisation, listening and constant adaptation. Coleman best represents that making him arguably the best. He encourages that idea of thinking outside the box and theres this very attractive process to it all. Its always the spirit and attitude that comes through and thats what causes him to pick up so many fans across multiple genres and to those who dont know the musical theory of jazz. He was always the one keeping it fresh and exciting. He clearly always understood the rules to be able to deviate from them and that to me is the difference between artist and fraud. Blew my head off when it talks about the Ornette effect, I've experienced that alright.

[Nelson · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author was deeply associated with an artistic venue in Fort Worth at a time when Coleman (whose home town it was) also had some connections to the place. So one learns all kinds of stuff (and in a purported biography of Ornette Coleman, I would argue too much) about that venue and who bankrolled it and who came there and what the evolving local response was. Golia isn't really a jazz writer so this isn't going to be a nuts and bolts trip through the albums or harmolodics. Instead, it's a kind of who was with him when cultural appreciation studded with loads of collected anecdotes from the relevant parties. So the jazz aficionado isn't going to get much here beyond low level gossip and some decent anecdotes along the way. Sometimes the effort to link him to avant gardistas across genres comes across as special pleading; for a figure as monumental as Coleman is to the music, this move feels unnecessary. There are better musical takes on Coleman out there, as well as stronger contextualizations of him within the various milieu he inhabited. As an introduction to Coleman for those who might not know much about jazz or its history, this might be useful. The snarky asides at Trump and Texas Republicans were, to this reader, a redeeming distraction. YMMV.

[Bob K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been listening to Ornette Coleman's music a lot lately and I was curious and inspired to learn about his life. This turned out to be one of the better jazz biographies I've read. Many contain the subtext that music today isn't as good as it was when the artist covered in the book was around. But she doesn't go there and actually has some positive observations about today's world and culture and how it actually fits in with Ornette Coleman's approach and philosophy. It's a well researched and appropriately detailed account of the environment that this singular American artist's music grew out of and the circumstances and phases of his life once he became an established presence on the world stage.

It does remain though that the best way to experience Ornette Coleman's music is to listen to it and allow it to wash over you.

[Kevin Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent overview of Ornette's life and music. Mostly chronological (it does dip in and out of different times occasionally) without getting too bogged down in unnecessary details. Also talks about his musical philosophy in a way that you don't necessarily need to be an advanced musician to understand. You'll have a good feel for his career arc and (hopefully!) be inspired to turn on Coleman's music.

[Kiof · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doesn’t purport to be a biography and isn’t—it’s kind of a biographical travelogue, veering between different time periods and places. Personally, I would have preferred something more straightforward and comprehensive instead—it’s the treatment Coleman, surely one the key five key innovators in the medium of jazz, deserves. But for the moment, I believe this is the best work on Coleman around.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good. No music theory just good old fashioned Bio that reads as a page turner. Have your streaming software at hand to listen to all the great records by many artists listed in this book. Why 4 * instead of 5*? I really hate a book where the final third is just bibliography and notes.