Chicapah
I suspect that Ornette Coleman was a genuine nonconformist from the moment he emerged from his mother’s womb in Ft. Worth, Texas. God bless him because we need as many of those individuals as we can get. For in all fields of human-produced art it is the rebellious that instigate drastic, needed change in the accepted patterns via their refusal to accept the status quo as law, preferring to rely on their own compass instead of standard issue. This is usually not because they frivolously opt to be square pegs in a round world but because they have to. Ornette is one of those people. The farther up the jazz ladder he ascended in the 50s the more his unorthodox techniques and radical approach to music in general garnered attention. His peers were somewhat divided in their opinions. Some thought he was a trouble-making maniac while others considered him a vitally important catalyst for releasing the genre from its self-imposed shackles. The passing of time has proven the latter view to be correct.
After two eyebrow-raising LPs on the Contemporary label (each of which created quite a stir in the jazz community) Coleman signed with Atlantic and proceeded to rattle even more cages with this, his landmark “The Shape of Jazz to Come” in ‘59. The record is now acknowledged as one of the first avant garde jazz albums ever unleashed upon the public and it effectively opened the flood gates for the “free jazz” movement to blossom in the 60s. Eschewing the obligatory piano altogether, Ornette put together a quartet consisting of his alto saxophone, Don Cherry’s cornet, Charlie Haden’s double bass and Billy Higgins’ drums and went into the studio on May 22, 1959 to make history. Keep in mind when you listen to the exploratory sounds they made that, while even relatively bold jazzers were suspicious of him and his cohorts, they scared the average American Joe of that era to death. The consensus deemed their music incomprehensible claptrap, that they were just making an infernal and intolerable racket for no reason. One glance at the top of the pop charts that year will tell you why. Johnny Horton’s hokey “Battle of New Orleans” was #1 and teen idols Frankie Avalon and Paul Anka had singles ranked in the top five. No wonder this record was vilified by many on the political right as being outrageous, semi-demonic and a detrimental influence on the youth of America. Just like Elvis.
With Coleman’s eclectic reputation in mind and the fact that unconventional jazz fare usually does very little for me I bravely ventured into “The Shape of Jazz to Come” with some trepidation. However, my fear was unfounded. What I discovered is an intriguing bridge over the river dividing the old regime’s boundaries and the more modern borders that jazz as an art form found itself running between as the 50s came to a close. The album begins with “Lonely Woman” and from the get-go I could tell that I’d entered a room in the jazz mansion where Picasso was the interior decorator. While not dissonant per se, musical notes bend and warp rather unnaturally and the effect is kinda discombobulating. Call it the funhouse effect. While still trying to digest that tune the next cut, “Eventually,” starts and its lightning-speed pace catches me totally off guard. Yet it isn’t frantic or unnerving at all. Ornette’s sax wails like a disturbed bird of prey and Don’s cornet zips and zooms like an excited hummingbird. My favorite song on the disc follows, “Peace.” The horns establish a much calmer atmosphere as they perform a complex melody while Charlie’s bowed bass soothes. The fact that there’s no solid chord structure to be found took some getting used to but there’s something quite alluring about what they’re doing that kept me tuned in. The song soon morphs into a more traditional “walking” rhythm but Billy’s drums are so subdued (on purpose, I’m sure) you can hardly tell he’s there so it’s not your average shuffle by any means. Coleman’s saxophone solo is seductive as a cobra and Cherry’s ride is as cool as a cone of shaved ice on a summer day. The number exits with the odd start & stop theme it made its entrance with.
Following an initial flurry of sound, “Focus on Sanity” opens with Haden stepping forward to assert his presence backed by Higgins’ sneaky tubs. In an abrupt startle, the horns blare and the rhythm section suddenly takes off in a full sprint as if hoping to stay a step ahead of Ornette’s dangerous sax before slowing up a bit to jog alongside Don’s cornet. Billy finally gets a chance to shine toward the end. The strange, off-the-reservation structure of “Congeniality” typifies what this record is all about. Yet, like all the music found here, there are enough vestiges of traditional jazz sensibilities involved to make it palatable for even the most conservative connoisseur. Coleman’s solo is very melodic while clearly maintaining independence from the norm and the same goes for Don when he takes his turn at the mike. Higgins’ drums are significantly inventive while maintaining a low profile. “Chronology” is characterized by cleverly positioned outbursts of notes and a busy foundation flowing underneath. The saxophone and cornet exude a certain scat mentality in their deliveries that’s both engaging and captivatingly rhythmic at the same time. Exhilarating comes closest to describing the song.
As a child growing up during the 50s I recall that music this “out there” was only heard when TV comedians were making fun of it, its practitioners or a combination thereof. But “civilized” society didn’t single out abstract trends in jazz exclusively for their ridicule. Those popular parodies extended into the fields of painting, sculpture, fashion and even folk music with equal amounts of sarcasm. Being an impressionable kid, though, I thought of it all as being wonderfully provocative and inspiring because all that craziness belonged to “my generation” and we were going to take things to places and levels unimagined by our stodgy parents. Their silly mimicry only made me want to hear the real thing. So when experiencing “The Shape of Jazz to Come” revel in the knowledge that it was pioneers like Ornette Coleman that had the guts to force new life into jazz when it most needed it, making it possible for the genre to not only revive and thrive but to expand exponentially.