Miranda Lambert, “Revolution”
In today’s paper: the album review above plus my take on Ornette Coleman at the Rose Theater. (Some readers of The Gig will probably skip right to the latter, but let me say right now that Miranda Lambert is serious business. Ignore her at your peril.) For the concert review and set list, skip to the post below. Meanwhile, a few additional thoughts.
First, regarding any possible hubbub stirred by the prospect of Ornette Coleman at Jazz at Lincoln Center: don’t be silly. Wynton Marsalis has gone on the record as a fan of Coleman’s music (his 1960s music, at least), and in 2004 there was a proper repertory concert involving Marsalis, the JALC Orchestra and Dewey Redman, with Coleman in the audience. Last year Coleman was inducted into the organization’s Nesuhi Ertegun Hall of Fame, which seems like a given until you realize that a number of jazz luminaries arguably more central to the Jazz at Lincoln Center ethos -- Fletcher Henderson, Erroll Garner, Ben Webster, Sarah Vaughan -- have yet to be enshrined.
One striking thing about Saturday night was the level of respect that Coleman seemed to bring to the occasion. Whereas John Zorn, at Rose Hall in 2007, issued benedictory provocations, Ornette was notably dignified -- maybe even a bit conservative, right down to the pinstripe suit. There was nothing incongruous about his star turn in the House of Swing. It felt inevitable, and awesomely so.
Still, there was clear significance behind this booking: Jazz at Lincoln Center has rarely ceded its opening night to someone outside the ranks, and Ornette sends a particular message. After a summer that saw him receiving an award in Montréal and presiding over the Meltdown Festival in London, this was an act of outreach as well as inclusion. To call it mutually beneficial would be stating the obvious. It was a slam-dunk: for Coleman, for JALC and for the rest of us.
Related Links:
- Ornette Coleman on the web, now with video
- My review of Ornette at Town Hall, 2008
- Cover story, JazzTimes, 2006
- Listening with Ornette: Ben Ratliff, 2006
And below, tantalizing footage from Montreal.
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