Ornette Coleman Quartet :: Roma 1974 #1

[@bluv6]

Damn this is wonderful. Ornette is incredible and monumental as always, Ulmer just plays the beautiful hell out of it, Sirone is doing so much on bass if you listen closely. And it is so very nice to see the great Billy Higgins again, one of my favorite drummers of all time who was comfortable in and excelled in all sorts of settings from straight-ahead hard bop to the type of free jazz Ornette is laying down here.

[@JSTNtheWZRD]

And then the rhythm splits and dispersed into space chaos just holding on - to something - I know not what. Back, out like more dynamic, very deceptive, subtle. Then. Wham!!!! He beats them all. Genius. Man I wish there was more filmed early stuff.

[@newmusicbass]

Awesome quartet, I wish there were more recordings, Sirone is incredible. One of my favorite bassists ever.

[@emilianoturazzi]

they never entered a studio... it's a pity, it was really an interestng group.

[@judmckin]

On the edge of my seat for a guitar solo!

[@udderhippo]

If a person hates a certain music, thats a good sign as it means someone else will love it. The worst music is music that creates no reaction, or that almost everyone thinks "yeah...it's alright, not bad". Ornette is brilliant because everyone has a reaction to his music - whether its good or bad.

[@CCEX]

Thanks for posting this! "Harmolodic theory" clouds the issue of this energetic jam with Ornette, Blood Ulmer, Sirone, and Billy Higgins. I'd love to see more like this.

[@HoytWClagwell]

Thanks for setting all of us straight. I foolishly thought I enjoyed Ornette's music, plus hundreds of other jazz musicians from past 60 years, until you showed me the error of my ways! Thanks again.

[@GiovanniPola]

simply amazing, I love this record, taken from Italian TV!

[@v1m]

Delightfully squeaky and discordant. Long live Ornette Coleman!

[@gogorobo]

The guitarist is James Blood Ulmer, he's brilliant.

[@postmeback]

some crazy editing going on there - upside down ornette and all that. positively surreal...

[@chonches]

I WANT THAT SUIT!!

[@spring95q]

The drummer kicks ass. He makes it look effortless.

[@StephaneVorstellung]

@trufiend138 Yeah, I'm with you. I don't understand why someone would even bother listening to Ornette without relaxing their expectations for how ALL instruments are played. I don't want anyone to feel unwelcome but for Christ's sake there's plenty of conventionally-tuned guitars to listen to elsewhere on the tube.

[@MarsHottentot]

I love this!! Ulmer is wild!!

[@fralemieux]

This is great especially the guitar!

[@AcridPeter]

Amazing editing!

[@BuddyDog03]

James Ulmer is the man who connected the rough and high energied ancient bluesspirit with jazz and funk.

[@StephaneVorstellung]

I love this clip BECAUSE of the guitar. I love both OC and JBU. I wish they did even more work together.

[@saxnova]

I love this. Free your mind and enjoy it!

[@NeuMasterful]

Each to his own taste. I love this.

[@novonautas1902]

Larga vida a Coleman!!!!!!!!

[@incongra]

Can anyone put their hand on their heart and say they have listened to this all the way through?

[@emilianoturazzi]

several times and even more than you could ever imagine. I'm a bit late, I know

[@davidenardoni988]

un grande lutto incolmabile .

[@ericivanhoecarrier]

ah man can't you folks see that ulmer is an essential part at making this whole performance sound the way it does and the same goes to all the other musicians. there just talking why should ulmer sound any different in this conversation... the conservative music world really grinds my gears sometimes

[@markuselipka]

haha! agree.

[@Odin029]

I have to admit that I'm not the biggest fan of free jazz. Usually its a bunch of guys trying too hard to be 'free' and making in the end of a jumble of noise. But this is great. It starts out like a spring day then morphs into a tempest and near the end Ornette takes us out of the storm and back to that bright sunny day. Blood wanted to stir that storm back up again, but Ornette didn't let him.

[@eleberr]

Mi saxofonita preferido :)

[@willmunroe]

thank you! i really like this :)

[@rhythmking10]

cool vid, well done for posting ! this is one of Ornette's undocumentd bands, hardly knew they existed, did they ever record ? early 70s pre-Prime Time but a direction OC could have explored further i wish with Blood Ulmer + Sirone ? on bass never seen him before so its great watch Billy Higgins in action a master , smiling + playing his ass off lol, they all do

[@keltyk]

Love the story of Ornette first appearing on the scene playing a plastic sax (see artwork for 'Shape of Jazz' lp) Established musicians used to tease him by asking if was filled with candy.

[@teddydog6229]

Thank you so much for the upload. It’s priceless as history. It shows a young JB Ulmer. I mean no disrespect and will gladly accept a smack down if someone with better sources then me knows but isn’t this sort of an odd film ? I’m not saying they are - i’m just saying some of the musicians seem to be nodding out at times. There’s one part where I became certain the song was collapsing into chaos. I love this song and can’t thank you enough for uploading it.

[@jpmteixeira]

Sirone is tripping! Awesome!

[@solargesture]

@trufiend138 you're totally right, the guitar sounds perfectly in tune with the sax, it's obvious that whatever detuning, if any, it was intentional and sensational at that. i believe this to be some of the coolest guitar playing ive heard. anyone who states how long theyve been playing guitar then says the guitar might be out of tune as if it's a bad thing should stop playing guitar

[@ESD2814GLC]

Blood Ulmer sounds like Django Reinhardt broadcast across the galaxy scrambled to prevent enemy worlds from understanding his message.

[@AubreyDrumLessons]

This is probably one of the very best descriptions of "Blood's" playing! :)

[@ReminiscenceHr]

Thanks for this comment, I thought the end was nigh :D

[@chewyflea]

How much heroine are these guys on???Jesus man...I still love Colemans revolutionary usage of harmonic instruments way of approaching jazz improvisation

[@326Ka]

this mans a legend

[@BennyGaberMusic]

@trufiend138 free jazz is not just about pushing the limits, sure it's daring but there's also a lot of heart in the musicianship and instrumentation, not to mention the beautiful avant garde jazz cool aspect of it

[@cindyandrob]

Definitely. It's happy, sad, disappointed and so many things. He brings a lot of confusion out in people because so many are looking for superficiality in Art to confirm for them that life is without meaning and the choices they've made that brought them to empty robot-headed fate.

[@maxigoodvibes]

one of the best things that happen in my life

[@gogorobo]

The guitaist is James Blood Ulmer, he's fantastic

[@pjustusxi]

They seem happy to me. :)

[@postmeback]

correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Ornette has ever done drugs.

[@emilianoturazzi]

you're right

[@606kwan]

great!!!

[@kill9945]

James Blood Ulmer, bloody brilliant. no his guitar IS NOT out of tune

[@DolphLundgrenix6909]

ornette is one of the greatest musicians of all time he knows what he's doing and so does mr. blood ulmer so fuck you guys saying shits out of tune.

[@starsandnobodys]

Cool...I really wish the guitar was completely edited out

[@pjustusxi]

It's actually "School Work" from Science Fiction, but they re-worked it into "Theme from a Symphony."

[@nobodady1]

My interpratation of this guitarist's tuning: guitar is not playing "harmonies" for the soloist, but providing textures, rhythm, energy, and sounds. Therefore he can tune or detune it anyway it pleases him.

[@michaellane432]

bravo

[@bbherman]

What an incredible piece of film!. Billy Higgins is particularly fantasic....If I'm not mistaken Ornette's playing on an alto with a low A. Thanks for sharing! Cheers from Amsterdam.

[@emilianoturazzi]

yes he used to play an alto with a lower A since 1965 ... I bet it was a customed one since I never saw any of these horns in more than 30 years

[@samdees3886]

R.I.P.

[@sitarnut]

@shroomangel True Brother- Love Dave Stewart, Pip Pyle, Mont Campbell, EGG, Hatfield and the North et.al-- I too, think they cut their teeth on this. Ornette is from my Hometown..Ft. Worth,TX. My brother and I still play like this...or try to play like this.....

[@benderdostokowski]

só tem microfone no sax e na guitarra??

[@barrystockdoesnotexist]

Aaahhhhh...I think he's just overmic'ed and comping some chords. Sounds pretty damn good to me.

[@giovannisugonatoli]

out from the stars...ornette

[@AndreasSchmidtHappens]

that band is on 2 LP boxes : www.discogs.com/Ornette-Coleman-In-Concert/master/613506 and www.discogs.com/Ornette-Coleman-In-Concert/release/2341746

[@emilianoturazzi]

thnak you: very interesting!

[@danielstearns9080]

just to straighten-out some BS here... Love or Hate Ulmer, he's absolutely there because Ornette wants him there AS IS. I'm 100% positive of this.... If you don't dig it, okay, but this is a distinction some guys just refuse to admit into reality--- another way, that's not the one you want.

[@sleepdep]

i pledge allegiance to the jazz Ornette nation

[@TinyUnits]

"Dancing In Your Head"

[@poverhxxx]

здорово! ))

[@MarsHottentot]

The guitarist is James Blood Ulmer. Period.

[@sitarnut]

PURE DOPE!

[@solargesture]

the part at 0:27 and 0:50, especially the whole section after :50 is some fuggin awesome guitar work. it's so spazzy and contorting. it comes back like a demon at 6:00 some the most satisfyingly complex and deconstructed guitar playing ive heard. fuck the haters

[@mlzellers]

this is the best comment ever. you win. we can all go home.

[@catgumart]

I agree with you I dont think they were looking for a perfect conventional tone quality, I think they were trying to move away from all the stuff before(20's-60's) and create new sounds, I like the off kilter feeling that comes from not haveing everything in exact balance, I like the old stuf and this as well, if they are off pitch a bit I think it is on purpose, you know makeing use of quartertones, and pitches that dont fallexactly within standard tunning etc..

[@briteness]

@trufiend138 Where did I say anything about leaving the club because the guitar was out of tune? How is it that you read that? Do you think I am incapable of saying whether or not the guitar was out of tune? Unless there is something very distorted about the recording we have, the guitar was out of tune. Whether it was intentional or not is an open question. I have played guitar for 25 years and can say that much. Also, whether or not you like Aguilera (I don't), she can sing in tune.

[@rillloudmother]

why does billy higgins have that smirk on his face if they aren't jivin'?

[@TheIkaraCult]

Pointless arguements over the nature of free jazz... ON THE INTERNET! Just when i thought it couldnt get any sadder

[@Soul74]

Let those who have ears hear.

[@BlackMonk66]

I don't let 10 year old kids dictate my taste in music.

[@sonor1]

James "Blood" Ulmer.

[@briteness]

@trufiend138 Actually, the guitar does sound like it is out of tune. This may be intentional, or it is possible that I am not hearing it correctly. But it is not for lack of knowledge or appreciation of Ornette Coleman's music that I say this. Also, I cannot recall ever hearing an instrument sound out of tune on any of Coleman's records. It is most likely an error, although it might be intentional. But why do you believe people who think that are assholes? Is it beyond the realm of possibility?

[@10094926]

@trufiend138 Um are you sure you want to refer to "Radiohead" and imply that it's a shallow or popish band? I like this Jazz to, it has a beautiful chaotic feel to it, but if I where you I'd take a listen to some Radiohead.

[@TheHelterskelter97]

If it is free then you CAN play whathever you want whenever you want, anyway it sounds really well to me, c'mon man, you gotta say this is awesome 5:58 he's a killer.

[@friele80]

@BlackMonk66 Don't have a fit, i was just expressing my thoughts there and then. Music is cool enough. i was just remarking that it was a bit dissonant. and btw. i'm not 10... wow, impressive.

[@avelaz3]

who is the guitar player?

[@postmeback]

well, seeing as ornette's whole concept was about the liberation of 'sidemen' and the equality of all group members, perhaps you might want to rethink that view

[@BlackMonk66]

I don't think Ulmer is playing accompaniment as much as he is another voice in dialogue with the sax.

[@giovannisugonatoli]

Billy on Hollywood President set

[@dubbedcrazy]

didn't he play a plastic sax? he's brilliant

[@emilianoturazzi]

not since 1965 (he retired from 1962 to 1965)

[@scabcastle5786]

Blood!!!

[@Hide_and_Tweak]

There is a beautiful ironic-ugly texture in the guitar comping. The theme at saxophone is not tuned with guitar and the beauty is in that. It's very strange and humoristic. It can also scary.

[@davidwatson]

actually fred is quoting brecht here ( sorry to be pedantic, but ..)

[@reilly236]

Ornette coleman Quartet Roma Ornette Coleman(as) James Blood Ulmer(g) Sirone(b) Billy Higgins(ds) Free jazz I chose this because Coleman takes chances on his solo and expands on what could have been a boring repetitive tune.

[@fishybishbash]

haha good point - It does sound a bit like they got the janitor to play guitar in this instance tho

[@PiertomasDellErba]

Listen PIERTOMAS DELL'ERBA :-)

[@maaya111mk]

@ajsara76 thanks i can sleep tonight.

[@albertfish69]

i clicked this to see if ulmer had a single video where he wasnt terrible. i guess not

[@Davidrowellbass]

Higgins rules

[@konstkaras]

I suppose they are good musicians, at least 3 of them; that is, they could play (more traditionalk jazz) well, but they just didn't want. Nice.

[@jorytindall]

its called dancing in your head.

[@damfs]

5:11

[@NJlo]

@trufiend138 Hey, nothing wrong with Radiohead! Au contraire, mon frere! Norah Jones however, I agree ;)

[@BennyGaberMusic]

@friele80 ummm it's Blood Ulmer kiddo.. a miserable downer? Can't you see them really digging this?

[@Sketcher86]

john mcLaughlin the jazz guitarist

[@Hide_and_Tweak]

To me, Ornette coleman is sometimes very funny, sometimes very evil, sometimes just talking into a saxophone.

[@JuanFelipeAvila]

Its FREE FREE FREE

[@frontosa6]

Free Jazz/Avant-Garde, look those terms up.

[@jaydeejazzone]

We mock what we dont understand!