ORNETTE COLEMAN - Body Meta (1975-1996) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The establishment of Ornette Coleman's self-determining Artists House label and his electric double-trio Prime Time coincided with the release of Body Meta, which changed many of the business and musical contours of jazz in the mid- to late '70s. Coleman proved that jazz musicians could determine their own fate and market their music without a major-label contract. He also advanced the orientation of jazz away from swing rhythms and into a deeper blues driven by funk and angular electric guitars inspired by the precepts of Thelonious Monk. A music that turned out to be crazier than most while attempting to be more people-oriented resulted in controversy. It was an indisputable new music amalgam that Coleman could claim as his own, yet which sprang forth into the so-called M-Base music movement of New York City. Jamaaladeen Tacuma on electric bass guitar, Bern Nix and Charlie Ellerbe on electric guitars, and drummers Denardo Coleman and Ronald Shannon Jackson comprise the first Prime Time band heard here. They are loud, boisterous, imaginative, unfettered by conventional devices, and wail beyond compare with Coleman within relatively funky, straight beats. "Voice Poetry" sets the tone, a boogaloo funk with an unmistakable kinship to the churning Bo Diddley beat, with Coleman's obtuse alto sax between the guitarists' obtuse castings creating intense, passionate, and obsessed music. Where "Home Grown" uses the same wall-rattling sound within repeated lines, there are dense and bulky layers embedded deeply in the thick rhythms. Fans of Coleman will relate more to "Macho Woman," which spurs on a sound similar to his style from years past, as the brief melody gives way to solos. "Fou Amour" is a soulful, off-minor, bitter ballad, while "European Echoes" is a militaristic waltz -- hardly a traipse through flowers -- with various free sections. As every track is different, Coleman's vision has a diffuse focus, but it's clear that things have changed. Even his personal sound is more pronounced, unleashed from shackles, and more difficult to pin down. Michael G. Nastos  
Tracklist :
1     Voice Poetry 8'10
Ornette Coleman
2     Home Grown 7'47
Ornette Coleman
3     Macho Woman 7'43
Ornette Coleman
4     Fou Amour 8'36
Ornette Coleman
5     European Echoes 9'39
Ornette Coleman
Credits :
Alto Saxophone, Producer – Ornette Coleman
Bass – Jamaaladeen Tacuma
Drums – Ronald Shannon Jackson
Guitar – Bern Nix, Charlie Ellerbe

ORNETTE | THE ORIGINAL QUARTET & PRIME TIME - In All Languages (1987) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This is an unusual and very stimulating double CD. On the first CD, Ornette Coleman, on alto and tenor, has a reunion with his original quartet, which is comprised of trumpeter Don Cherry, bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Billy Higgins. The second CD features Coleman's then-current edition of his "double quartet" Prime Time with guitarists Charlie Ellerbe and Bern Nix, electric bassists Jamaaladeen Tacuma and Al MacDowell, and drummers Denardo Coleman and Calvin Weston. Five of the ten songs the quartet plays are also heard in versions by Prime Time, and the latter electric group almost makes the acoustic unit sound conservative in comparison. While the quartet displays subtle use of space and interplay between the musicians, Prime Time comes across as overcrowded and loud, but no less stimulating. Highly recommended to fans of Ornette Coleman. Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
1     Peace Warriors 2'35
Ornette Coleman
2     Feet Music 3'32
Ornette Coleman
3     Africa Is the Mirror of All Colors 2'58
Ornette Coleman
4     Word for Bird 3'16
Ornette Coleman
5     Space Church (Continuous Services) 3'59
Ornette Coleman
6     Latin Genetics 3'39
Ornette Coleman
7     In All Languages 3'33
Ornette Coleman
8     Sound Manual 3'08
Ornette Coleman
9     Mothers of the Veil 3'45
Ornette Coleman
10     Cloning 3'14
Ornette Coleman
11     Music News 3'00
Ornette Coleman
12     Mothers of the Veil 4'28
Ornette Coleman
13     The Art of Love Is Happiness 2'29
Ornette Coleman
14     Latin Genetics 2'45
Ornette Coleman
15     Today Yesterday and Tomorrow 3'10
Ornette Coleman
16     Listen Up 2'29
Ornette Coleman
17     Feet Music 3'49
Ornette Coleman
18     Space Church (Continuous Services) 4'34
Ornette Coleman
19     Cloning 2'28
Ornette Coleman
20     In All Languages 3'06
Ornette Coleman
21     Biosphere 2'20
Ornette Coleman
22     Story Tellers 2'49
Ornette Coleman
23     Peace Warriors 2'23
Ornette Coleman
Credits :    
Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Ornette Coleman (tracks: 1 to 10)
Bass – Al MacDowell (tracks: 11 to 23), Jamaaladeen Tacuma (tracks: 11 to 23)
Double Bass – Charlie Haden (tracks: 1 to 10)
Drums – Billy Higgins (tracks: 1 to 10), Calvin Weston (tracks: 11 to 23), Denardo Coleman (tracks: 11 to 23)
Ensemble – Prime Time (5) (tracks: 11 to 23)
Ensemble [Quartet] – The Ornette Coleman Quartet (tracks: 1 to 10)
Guitar – Bern Nix (tracks: 11 to 23), Charlie Ellerbee (tracks: 11 to 23)
Saxophone, Trumpet – Ornette Coleman (tracks: 11 to 23)
Trumpet – Don Cherry (tracks: 1 to 10)
Vocals, Written-By [Rhyme Written By] – Avenda "Khadijah" Ali (tracks: 2)