iTunes

Opening the iTunes Store.If iTunes doesn't open, click the iTunes application icon in your Dock or on your Windows desktop.
iTunes

iTunes is the world's easiest way to organize and add to your digital media collection.

We are unable to find iTunes on your computer. To preview and buy music from Sound Grammar by Ornette Coleman, download iTunes now.

Already have iTunes? Click I Have iTunes to open it now.

I Have iTunes Free Download
iTunes for Mac + PC

Sound Grammar

Ornette Coleman

View More By This Artist

Open iTunes to preview, buy, and download music.

iTunes Review

Recorded before an audience in Germany in October 2005, Sound Grammar is Ornette Coleman’s first release in nearly a decade and it’s remarkable on many levels. Featuring six new compositions and two old ones (“Turnaround” from 1959 and “Song X” from 1985), the album includes darting, high-energy tracks that would have fit on his groundbreaking late-1950s masterpieces, along with some deep blues numbers that offer the musicians ample space to explore. The quartet is made up of Coleman on alto, violin, and trumpet, and two bassists – Greg Cohen plucks, Tony Falanga bows — playing off of one another alongside the dynamic drumming of Coleman’s son, Denardo. The band is nimble and powerful, from the rhythmic thrill-ride of “Jordan,” where the quartet builds up and rides waves of tension without ever completely releasing them, to the emotionally direct ballads (“Once Only,” “Sleep Talking”) that showcase Coleman’s singular sax style at its most visceral, moving, and joyous. The music is edgy and adventurous at times, but there are also long lyrical passages of rich beauty and clarity as each musician moves around the melody in order to find their place in the conversation. Coleman has been recording visionary work for nearly 50 years (!) and Sound Grammar proves he’s still a vital presence in jazz.

Customer Reviews

An excellent addition for any Ornette Collection

This album marks the first album in 11 years from Ornette Coleman, his first live album in over 20 and his first album with the double-double bass quartet he's been performing with. The songs and solos, as to be from expected from Ornette are as lyrical as they are demanding. While the performances themselves make this record worth buying, what keeps it from 5 stars, is the production: Ornette comes too far up, and with the drums too far behind in the mix. However, it's still highly recommended.

New music from an old master

Ornette played a key role in changing jazz in the 60s and 70s, and has been taking victory laps ever since. Even so, he still outruns most of the competition. Backed by a duo of basses- one plucked, one bowed, and his drumming son Denardo, the avant-garde alto sax player delivers a satisfying set of songs that evoke, if not eclipse, past glories. The playing is strong, the inevitable excursions on violin and trumpet mercifully brief. Those already in love with Ornette will revel in the first new recording in over a decade. For those unmoved, Ornette's quartet with Charlie Haden, Don Cherry and Ed Blackwell is the place to be seduced.

Honored at 2007's Grammys (+read 'Irish Jazz's metaphor*)

I think he was introduced after Alyson Hannigan was on stage. I'd like to see some clips of "Buffy, d' Vampire Slayer" on YouTube, put to O.C.'s stuff! Anyway, he came onto the stage, sans sax, accepted his lifetime achievement award (or something like that) with a thanks, and millions of people still have NO CLUE who the hell he is. I wondered at the time if it's that he was unable to play, or that such a venue was prohibitive of his genius. I'm happy to praise iTunes for revealing to me that he was still wailing in 2005. Thank gods (him too)! ...*He stopped a victory lap long enough to smile at the judges.

Biography

Born: March 9, 1930 in Fort Worth, TX

Genre: Jazz

Years Active: '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, '00s

One of the most important (and controversial) innovators of the jazz avant-garde, Ornette Coleman gained both loyal followers and lifelong detractors when he seemed to burst on the scene in 1959 fully formed. Although he, and Don Cherry in his original quartet, played opening and closing melodies together, their solos dispensed altogether with chordal improvisation and harmony, instead playing quite freely off of the mood of the theme. Coleman's tone (which purposely wavered in pitch) rattled some...
Full Bio

Top Albums and Songs By Ornette Coleman

Listeners Also Bought

Become a fan of the iTunes and App Store pages on Facebook for exclusive offers, the inside scoop on new apps and more.