algae bloom in Austin city water & Ornette Coleman on Nov. 19

[Gerry Storm]

Ornette used to play quite often in Ft.Worth at the jazz club built by one
of the Bass brothers. I once saw him in SF and my old friend Chubby was a
buddy of his. Chub once visited him in NYC where he lived (lives?) in what
was once a multi-storied school building, converted by Ornette into a
fortress (to keep out the neighborhood). His major income was (is?) an NEA
grant. While I cannot honestly say that I was ever a big fan of his, I
really liked his first drummer, Ed Blackwell. Ornette, whose talent and
honesty I do not doubt, opened the door for a lot of shucking and jiving and
ultimately watered down the jazz of the day, hard bop. Would not pay $45 to
see him, but realistically I doubt that he will ever visit Silver City nor
am I likely to be in a large city where he is playing. I might pay $45 to
see Paquito de Rivera and was prepared to do so last time I was in Austin
but he cancelled his show...cancer flared up.

I attended the Miles Davis concert of which you speak. Must admit that I too
enjoyed it. I have some of his records from that era which I listened to
quite often trying to figure out what he was doing and why. Never listen to
them anymore, but I do sometimes listen to the 1958 band which made Kind of
Blue and the sessions with the same band variously known as Miles/58, Jazz
Track, and Basic Miles. Also Milestones (my favorite and Philly Joe's and
Red's last hurrahs with the band) and Sketches of Spain and the last
Prestige sessions released as "Relaxin", "Cookin'", etc.

The most enjoyable "new" jazz I have heard is the predominantly female group
of the tenor player Virginia Mayhew with Allison Miller on drums. Most
original and compelling but still in or near the mainstream.
G


----- Original Message -----
From: "Madelon Umlauf" <madelon@austincc.edu>
To: <austin-ghetto-list@pairlist.net>; <byronmarshall2001@yahoo.com>;
<Guylite@aol.com>
Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2004 7:45 AM
Subject: algae bloom in Austin city water & Ornette Coleman on Nov. 19


> until the algae bloom dissipates Austin tap water will
> remain undrinkable. you can even smell it faintly when
> taking a shower. now THAT is something I never
> experienced before whilst living here far too long
>
> 62% of Austin voters voted for light rail
>
> our Lloyd Doggett in his new Delay-ed district was
> handily (as they say), nay very handily elected with
> 68% of the vote
>
> Ornette Coleman will be playing at the UT
> Performing Center on Nov 19. There are 3 ticket
> options: $45, $35 & $20. As the house will not
> sell out, it will be easy to infiltrate better seats.
>
> We used to go and hear him at the Five Spot
> and elsewhere in the late 60s in NYC when we
> lived there. No cover, just a coupla drinks.
>
> My sense is that 40 years later, he is gotta be
> a burnout. Or else he'll pull a Sonny Rollins --
> when Sonny Rollins played the same venue
> he dumbed his set down, way down to accomodate
> what he thought the locals would get off on.
>
> This Uncle Tomming of one's act is not uncommon;
> I remember Maceo Parker doing this shamelessly
> at Katz's.
>
> Some don't though. We heard Miles at the Colliseum
> (best acoustics in Austin according to the soundies,
> now torn down) and he of course made NO compromise
> in terms of where he was playing. I would have to say
> that this set was the ultimate jazz experience of my
> life. I've heard Miles 3 other times. This was the band
> with John Scofield on guitar. Unfortunately it was
> arena seating but they did have a mixed drinks bar.
>
> The set about 2 hours or a little less was without
> breaks and at first it didn't make any sense. Only
> towards the end was one able to get it and then one
> found oneself dwelling in the playing of the music.
>
> Then you dont want it to end anytime soon, like
> good sex, but it does anyway. Damn!
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