'Genesis of Genius' by Ornette Coleman
Prepare to be haunted by a voice. Now, step inside the realm of Ornette Colman. Few instrumental voices betray their player’s innards as deeply. The person inside that sound, strange to some, became fast friends with me when I first heard it. It tickles a brotherly bone in me, though we never met personally. That’s a rare quality.
His mind and soul are on synchronistic display on his first two albums, finally re-issued as a box set. You readily hear and feel a huge heart, a natural wit and strong empathy with his fellow players. Drummer Shelly Manne, who plays on the first album, once said Ornette's saxophone “is the sound of someone laughing and crying.” Trumpeter Don Cherry, at this juncture, almost as distinctive a voice, sounds like a man rapping and singing at once. Part of the singularity of both players was their unusual axes: Ornette's white plastic alto sax and Don Cherry’s pocket trumpet. Swinging, seminal modern jazz, this set deserves a wide audience. Ornette’s original horn voice is right up there with Miles, Lester Young, Stan Getz, John Coltrane.
