Milestones

Well, Maldron probably had more cache since almost from the start he was fairly prolific as a composer. And starting around 1960 he started to show real originality. His own album The Quest is superb, and of course one should hear his work with Dolphy and Little on the Five Spot records. Later Maldron, though I'm not much familiar with it, doesn't do much for me.

When I want to hear some really marvelous Oscar, I always put on "If You Only Knew" from the album Live (1986). It's just beautiful, and no one will convince me otherwise. Also, a big thumbs up to the post-stroke record The More I See You.

I don't know. As far as I can recall, Spaulding played both alto and flute on most sessions he appeared on--and was credited for both. All I do know for sure is that A Slice of the Top is one hell of a record.

But on this record he might have the likes of Chris Potter, Uri Caine, Joey Baron.

I really liked Scofield's live album En Route (2004). The recent A Moment's Peace did almost nothing for me.

There are a lot of great long tracks by Miles Davis, particularly from the early fusion days. Anything from Silent Way, Bitches Brew, Jack Johnson--that is, if you don't already have these classics.

Actually, I found that the music was less prominent than I expected. As for the film, not bad, though it is curious that the main lovers (Moreau and I can't recall the actor's name) have no scenes together, with the exception of the opening phone conversation.

I just want to let people know this French film with the soundtrack by Miles Davis is showing on TCM on Friday at something like 3 in the morning. This was Miles during an early peak: 1957. I've known the music for a long time, but this is the first time I will see the film.

I love Neil Young, but admit it: sometimes you cringe when you hear his vocals, and he cut many records with what amounted to a garage band. It's all about the sound?

So there was a meeting of Ornette and Trane on stage. That would be interesting to hear.

I have a lot of Hank Jones, though not much from the early years. To me his first impressive recordings are as a sideman: The Hawk Flies High (Hawkins) and Somethin' Else (Adderley).

I was pretty big on Yes back in the day, though I've never had any of their stuff on CD or in digital format. It may be time to rectify that. It would be interesting to follow the "Yes tree," since it appears that Bill Bruford and Steve Howe have dabbled (or more than dabbled) in jazz.

Ornette and Max? There was that early violent reaction by Max--so much so that he hit Ornette (or at least so the story goes).

Trane had open ears and was very adaptable, and it's worth noting that both Elvin Jones and Jimmy Garrison played with Ornette.

Why not? Why not at least the attempt? Isn't it fair to say that Trane and Sonny admired Ornette as much as did Jackie Mac?

Raise your hand if you wish Ornette had met up with Coltrane one time (instead it was Trane and Cherry) or if you wish Ornette and Sonny had recorded together in their primes.

I remember trying to track down the Jackie McLean record for a long time, then I finally did find it. Certainly a winner, though (like many) I wish Ornette had played alto and/or tenor.

It's not always clear to me how much Ornette influenced this or that musician...there have been countless. For the most part I have followed those who actually played with Ornette, especially the earlier musicians. Unfortunately, I think they are all gone now. I particularly liked Old and New Dreams with four Colemen alumni, especially Playing on ECM. I'm a big fan of Charlie Haden, and the Ornette influence is strong on several of the "Montreal" records. Drummers...Ed Blackwell and Billy Higgins...oh yeah! Please discuss your favorites.

I'll have to check out "First Take" again...it's been a long time. I'm not sure about killer compositions, but I really like the duet album with Charlie Haden: Soapsuds, Soapsuds. I had it on a cassette that went bad, but it can be heard in its entirety on YouTube.

I guess that can happen. I've seen Lovano on stage three times--two good performances and one great one.

By the way, Lovano has written at least two direct tributes to Ornette: "Fort Worth" and "Etterno." Count me as another who loves the Mostly Coltrane disc with Kuhn. He can sound a lot like Trane on some moody, ballad-type pieces (more often on other records), but ultimately Lovano always plays Lovano.

As we all know, Ornette was one of the music's great compsoers. Here are my top 10 Ornette pieces: Lonely Woman Peace Ramblin' Blues Connotation Una Muy Bonita Mob Job Broken Shadows The Legend of Bebop Cross Breeding Happy House

For a man so well-travelled, it's kind of remarkable he talked about Memphis so much. But roots run deep.

For relatively latter-day Van, I strongly recommend Too Long in Exile, A Night In San Francisco, and Down the Road.

Is there really that big a connection between Ornette and the punk rockers? See the article on AllMusic.com.