Friday, December 29, 2017
ORNETTE COLEMAN – Body Meta LP 1978 Artists House – AH 9401
ORNETTE COLEMAN – Body Meta LP 1978 Artists House – AH 9401
Label: Artists House � AH 9401 / Artists House � AH 1
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Gatefold / Country: Canada / Released: 1978
Style: Free Jazz
Recorded at Barclay Studios, Paris, Dec. 1976 / Mixed at Sound Ideas, N.Y.C.,1978
Artwork [Booklet] � Robert Rauschenberg
Artwork [Cover Backside] � Elizabeth Atnafu
Artwork [Cover Front] � Chief Z.K. Oloruntoba
Artwork [Cover Inside 1] � Barbara Hager
Artwork [Cover Inside 2] � Guy Harloff
Photography By [Artwork Booklet] � Wallace Litwin
Photography By [Artwork Cover] � Mike Hoeye
Photography By [Portrait] � James Hamilton
Engineer � Francis Maimay
Mastered By � Bob Ludwig
Mixed By � John Snyder, Kathy Dennis, Ornette Coleman
Composed By, Producer � Ornette Coleman
Matrix / Runout: side a: AH9401-A AH-1-A
Matrix / Runout: side b: AH9401-B AH-1-B
This release can be found with least two different versions of the booklet. One with the Rauschenberg art and another (later? more commonly found) version with art by David Sharpe.
A1- Voice Poetry ............................................................................... 8:10
A2- Home Grown ..............................................................................7:45
B1 - Macho Woman ........................................................................... 7:30
B2- Fou Amour.................................................................................. 8:30
B3- European Echoes....................................................................... 9:25
Ornette Coleman � alto saxophone
Bern Nix � guitar
Charlie Ellerbee � guitar
Jamaaladeen Tacuma � bass
Ronald Shannon Jackson � drums, percussion
The establishment of Ornette Colemans 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.
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.
This album was the 1st ever to be released on the Artists House label back in 1978, & that translates literally to the cover of Body Meta, a gatefold featuring 4 works by different artists, that one on the front is by a tribal leader, probably from when Ornette went to Morrocco to see the Jajouka musicians which inspired Dancing In Yr Head...
Staccato drums then guitars open the album on Voice Poetry, & it flows along brilliantly to feature this new band of guitarists Bern Nix & Charlie Ellerbee, bassist [electric that is] Jamalaadeen Tacuma & drummer Shannon Jackson for a couple of minutes before the arrival of the man himself. He is the star & his playing is as pure & soulful as it was back on the Shape of Jazz to Come, & in a way its unfortunate that everything else gets buried underneath it after this but it works well. The comparisons to the Trout Mask Magic Band do make sense although this is not as cacaphonous & seemingly chaotic [Beefheart although being highly influenced by Coleman, like to only have himself allowed to improvise while his groups must stick strictly to what he composed & his personality is a bit more obsessive too], Body Meta is one of the rare things worthy of being played directly after that in-a-world-of-its-own masterpiece. Each track here is around 8 minutes which is enough time to explore without losing the listening audience. The next 2 tracks move along nicely in a similar vein whilst Fou Amour [i.e. Mad Love] is a ballad & the guitars are playing parts normally designed for a piano. European Echoes if Im not mistaken was an older tune from the Golden Circle & is rather graceful but thankfully lets loose a bit on the outro, by which time I want to spin the whole platter again which I could do for hours on end. This is music of pure soul expression & deserves a lot of repeated listening, its highly danceable/funky too. I would highly recommend it to anyone, for the body and the mind.
By Funkmeister G on April 17, 2001
Every track is different, Colemans vision has a diffuse focus, but its clear that things have changed. Even his personal sound is more pronounced, unleashed from shackles, and more difficult to pin down.
And of course, HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone!
And of course, HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone!
If you find it, buy this album!
