New vocabulary

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New vocabulary
Studio album by Ornette Coleman , Jordan McLean , Amir Ziv

Publication
(s)

2014

Label (s) System dialing records

Format (s)

Download

Genre (s)

Free jazz

Title (number)

12

occupation

production

Jordan McLean, Amir Ziv

Studio (s)

Loft by Ornette Coleman

New Vocabulary is a jazz album produced by Jordan McLean and Amir Ziv . It contains recordings of several sessions of the two musicians with saxophonist Ornette Coleman , which have not been released for publication , which were recorded in his house between June 18 and 20, 2009. The private recordings were supplemented by an additional piano track by Adam Holzman for three titles during post-production and released as a download on System Dialing Records at the end of 2014. Coleman's son Denardo Coleman sued McLean and Ziv in June 2015 for failure to publish, as his father never intended to do so.

Background of the litigation

In 2008 Ornette Coleman met trumpeter Jordan McLean, who played in the Brooklyn afro-funk band Antibalas . In the following year, according to McLean and the drummer Amir Ziv, the then 79-year-old Coleman gave teaching lessons in his house , which were recorded by the two musicians. Until a few years ago, as long as his state of health still allowed it, Coleman often and gladly invited musicians to joint sessions in the small studio that was integrated into his apartment. McLean, on the other hand, replies that Coleman very well agreed to the recordings and knew about the intensive external processing of the sessions. A few years later, McLean asked Coleman whether the recordings could be published, which Coleman declined; he requested the recordings through his lawyer. McLean and Ziv subsequently released the recordings under the title New Vocabulary . On the website of his band Antibalas , McLean announced New Vocabulary as "a new album by Ornette Coleman, with performances by McLean, drummer Amir Ziv and keyboardist Adam Holzman." In fact, the piano tracks with Holzman were only added afterwards. Jordan McLean, Amir Ziv and Adam Holzman previously worked together in the jazz formation Droid.

Following the publication of New Vocabulary , McLean described the Coleman encounter as follows in an interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram :

“It was weeks, if not months, of just hanging out, socializing, jamming. It was an evolution in the way of a friendship. For me, a totally surreal, intergenerational friendship with someone whose music I'd studied pretty closely for 20 years [and who] turned out to be one of the sweetest human beings you'd ever want to meet and talk to. "

“It was weeks, if not months, of hanging out together, socializing, making music together. It was an evolution in a kind of friendship. For me a totally surreal, cross-generational friendship with someone whose music I have studied quite intensely for 20 years and who is one of the most pleasant people you would ever meet and talk to. "

Coleman and his son Denardo indicated McLean and Amir Ziv, private audio recordings of Coleman in violation of the federal law against bootlegging (anti-bootlegging Act and the Lanham Act) to have published. In the legal battle, Coleman's camp accused the other side of

  • a person is listed as a participant who has not participated at all (An individual not recorded at the sessions is credited as having participated) ,
  • additional music was added to the recordings (Music was added to the recordings after the fact) ,
  • the public is misled into believing that Coleman approved the recordings (The public is likely to be misled into believing that Coleman approves of, or is affiliated with, the public release of these recordings) .

According to Coleman, the recordings were never recorded with the aim of later publication; Coleman never gave permission to do so. According to Brian Caplan, Coleman’s attorney, there was never an agreement that the 2009 recordings should be used on an album. “That was a jam session where a legend allowed some people to play with him, but not with the expectation to make a record out of it.” (This was a jam session among a legend where he was permitting individuals to play with him not under the auspices of creating a record) . According to the attorney, it is therefore clear that New Vocabulary is expressly not a publication authorized by Ornette Coleman. The damage to Coleman's artistic reputation and life's work is immense.

Music of the album

The album begins with Baby Food , an atmospheric piece, a combination of McLean's playing with the mute in the background and low-rumbling electronics. Free improvisation predominates in Sound Chemistry , along with Holzman's piano track, which gives the piece a slightly dark mood. Alphabet starts with Ziv's drum solo and leads to a wild interplay of drums and brass. Bleeding And Wife Life appear like classic Ornette Coleman pieces that refer to his playing on the albums of the 1960s, with minimal electronics in the former and in the traditional acoustic style in the latter. If It Take a Hatchett contains funky beat and value and knowledge funky afrobeat echoes, with the trumpet Mcleans floating in the background, while Ornette Coleman, similar to Miles Davis, uses minimalist phrasing. The other pieces - Bleeding, What's Hotter than the Sun, and Population appear like short exercises with no clear focus.

Track list

Ornette Coleman, moers festival 2011
  • New Vocabulary: New Vocabulary (System Dialing Records - SDR # 009)
  1. Baby food
  2. Sound chemistry
  3. alphabet
  4. Bleeding
  5. If It Takes a Hatchet
  6. Value and Knowledge
  7. population
  8. Wife Life
  9. The Idea Has No Destiny
  10. H2O
  11. What's Hotter Than the Sun
  12. Gold Is God's Sex

reception

Immediately after publication, the Wall Street Journal headlined Completely New Yet Pleasantly Familiar ; Kevin Whitehead benevolently noted in Fresh Air that McLean and Ziv were "generous in getting Coleman to do his best." “Fluid structures and a strange instrumentation give New Vocabulary an elusive, ephemeral quality. The trio feels less like a band than a temporary alliance. "

In All About Jazz , Mark Corroto wrote that New Vocabulary , a project by the McLean / Ziv duo, had created a musical environment for Coleman's expression and voice. Not dissimilar to the productions Aura (1989) or Tutu (1986) by Miles Davis ; but where Miles Davis' projects seemed sterile, New Vocabulary exuded fertility. Each piece “is a kind of vignette , reduced to a brief rhythm and electronics as a petri dish for Coleman's contributions. Every composition from the shaggy Wife Life to the inflating H2O has a liveliness in it, a calm minimalism of the 'new'. "

Ornette Coleman 2005

Ken Waxman noted on the blog The Whole Note that the idiosyncratic pieces on the album are classic Coleman language, even if his name is not on the cover. Significant is its malicious but bubbly tone, which is as individual, staccato and pointed as always. The results led to elaborate spherical timbres. With calculated chords, Holzman's harmonies add another dimension, as in Value and Knowledge . New Vocabulary is a record that is both sociable and challenging. It also shows that Coleman's authentic ideas can be convincingly adapted by young, undogmatic musicians .

Stefan Wood noted that Coleman was not doing a cameo here , but was present throughout the album, "an active and energetic participant." One of the highlights of the album is the author The Idea Has No Destiny , in which the saxophone and drums blend in increased a furious duet. H20 is the best example of the fusion of old and new; “The new classic avant-garde sound from Coleman with the Downtown New York music scene of the Vocabulary Trio.” The last track on the album, Gold is God's Sex , has a strong Wayne Shorter influence, similar to that of his quartet in recent years remember, the group creating an intelligent and sophisticated soundscape. This is an unexpected album, sums up Stefan Wood, which was released on a small label without much notice. It not only shows Coleman's brilliant abilities, but is an example of the interaction of old and new sounds.

Andrian Kreye was more critical of the music on the album: “You get to hear a rather erratic session. Coleman plays the alto saxophone with piercing clarity as always. He also finds a dialogue with drummer Amir Ziv every now and then. Jordan McLean, on the other hand, loses himself on the keyboard in half-hearted electronic rumblings and torments his trumpet with effect devices . Pieces run nowhere or break off. ”However, Coleman always embedded his work in compositions“ which were determined by lyrical beauty and high complexity. In any case, he never published aimless improvisations . Copyright should protect him from that. "

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Ornette Coleman Lawsuit Against Antibalas' Jordan McLean: Both Sides Weigh In on Billboard
  2. ↑ a b Interview with Kevin Whitehead (February 2015)
  3. ↑ a b Coleman Vs. McLean in JazzThing
  4. ^ A b Ornette Coleman Sue's Jordan McLean of Antibalas
  5. ↑ http://systemdialingrecords.com/market/albums/new-vocabulary/
  6. ^ A b Andrian Kreye : Right on the tone . Süddeutsche Zeitung of June 5, p. 11
  7. ^ A b Ornette Coleman Sue's Over 'New Vocabulary' on National Public Radio
  8. ↑ Ziv added this statement in an email to NPR on June 4, 2015: New Vocabulary is a collaborative, joint work by professional musicians Jordan McLean, Amir Ziv, and Ornette Coleman, made with the willing involvement of each artist. The album is the end result of multiple deliberate and dedicated recording sessions done with the willing participation and consent of Mr. Coleman and the other performers. Any suggestion to the contrary is unfounded and we deny any allegations of wrongdoing. Source Ornette Coleman Sues Over 'New Vocabulary' on National Public Radio
  9. ↑ Preston Jones: Ornette Coleman files federal lawsuit over new album in Star-Telegram (May 2015)
  10. ↑ a b Review of Stefan Wood's album in Free Jazz Blog (February 2015)
  11. ↑ http://www.discogs.com/New-Vocabulary-New-Vocabulary/release/6757099
  12. ↑ Mark Corroto: Review of the album in All About Jazz (January 2015)
  13. ↑ Review of Ken Waxman's album in The Whole Note