Ornette Coleman

[sal]

Good for Ornette for $$ but of no consequence otherwise. He can "blow their fucking minds" and what good are they then?

Lots of "beautiful things" of no real importance.

If a jazz artist's performance can convince just one person to go out and explore this great music and very likely get hooked, then something special happened. Ornette Coleman performing at Bonnaroo, because of the nature of the festival and the festival goers, has the potential to convince many folks to go out and discover jazz. This music needs to be discovered by new generations in order to keep the flame burning and keep it from becoming a museum exhibit, and this is an opportunity to expose this music to open ears unlike any other that has taken place during my years of listening to jazz. This festival attracts so many different kinds of people with so many different tastes, but the majority of them come with a very open ear. I don't think there's another thing like it around anywhere, and I don't think there's a better suited jazz musician alive to do the job than Ornette. He's a legend and most importantly, is playing at a very high level right now. No matter what one's opinion is on the state of jazz today, the fact is that Ornette is going to get alot of these people at the festival thinking, and that is a very good thing.

Might I also add, that if this wasn't Bonnaroo, but rather something like Woodstock 95 or Lollapalozza (sp?), I wouldn't be very optimistic about this. But my impression of Bonnaroo was that the majority of the people were there for the music first, which is rare nowadays.

Edited April 11, 2007 by sal

[Aggie87]

Coleman Collapses on Bonnaroo Stage

Ornette Coleman was treated for heat-related dehydration after he collapsed during his performance at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival this weekend.

The 77-year-old saxophonist, who is considered a pioneer of "free jazz," was taken to a local hospital Sunday and released later that night, said publicist Ken Weinstein.

Coleman won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for music for his 2006 album, "Sound Grammar," his first live recording in 20 years. The album features six new compositions and remakes of classics "Song X" and "Turnaround."

He received a lifetime achievement award at this year's Grammy Awards.

Conditions at the Bonnaroo festival, about 60 miles southeast of Nashville, were hot and dusty. One fan died and officials were investigating whether drugs or heat played a role.

[sal]

Shit.

[7/4]

Wow, I hope he's doing better.

[ep1str0phy]

Geez. Hope Ornette is recovering.

And a fan died! I hope the officials are taking the weather seriously enough.

[clifford_thornton]

[Guy Berger]

I wouldn't worry too much about Ornette* -- this doesn't sound too serious.

Hope he gets better soon.

Guy

*Aside from worrying that he's really old!

[clifford_thornton]

He was probably wearing an overcoat and hadn't cut his hair... just like the "old days."

[ep1str0phy]

An article in this morning's LA Times used the words "out of the hospital" with regard to Ornette's case, so it seems as if he's recovered on some level (with whatever recovery entails at 77 in heat--yeesh!).

[Kalo]

And could someone tell me why else these summer festivals don't suck?

[md655321]

Im pretty sure every other performer in the 6 year history has not passed out on stage. So thats still a very good percentage.