February 14, 2004
Don Cherry
OK, I read Terry Teachout regularly, as he has some very good things to say about the arts. So when I encounter this post about the "Don Cherry affair" I get really excited. Don Cherry was one of the most interesting free jazz players, always the top of my own Talent Deserving Wider Recognition list (the current person to hold that spot is Sonny Simmons - go buy the Live in Paris double CD from Arhoolie and you will see what I mean. I will warn you that the sound quality is pretty bad. Chris was not sure he even wanted to put it out, but we listened to it, and the music was incredible, bad sound or no).
Since I have about all of Cherry's records, I thought, "great, stuff on Cherry." It tuns out that it is a hockey player with the same name who scandalized folks in Canada by doing something or other. I don't follow hockey. Soccer on Ice. Yawn. Anyway this Conan O'Brian or O'Brien fellow was saying something insulting to the Quebecois and it had something to do with Don Cherry (hockey boy Cherry), and....wake me up later. I used to watch this Conan fellow, once in a great while. He was pretty funny, but the main reason I liked to watch him was the bandleader, a drummer with a really awful style. And his Ed McMahon character was good. I think his name was Andy or something.
Anyway, obviously I am not too up on pop culture these days. I used to at least know who was who and what was which, but no longer.
I guess I should not be surprised by the lack of a post on free jazz, since the musician Don Cherry has been dead for a number of years, and I really can't imagine much of a scandal involving him (save the cracks about free jazz being scandalous). So, there you go.
Since there is obviously a deficit in free jazz posts, let me recommend a couple of great free jazz records:
Ornette Coleman. The Art of the Improviser. Even Melanie likes this one.
Art Ensemble of Chicago. Actually I recommend anything and everything they ever did. Great guys. Great musicians. Lester Bowie is another great one who deserved wider recognition.
Sonny Simmons. In addition to Live in Paris, Manhatten Egos is great, as well.
Sun Ra. The Heliocentric World of Sun Ra. Both volumes are great.
Posted by erik at February 14, 2004 2:15 AM | TrackBackEldrige was a great player but totally wrong on free jazz (he was also very wrong on bebop, although he saw the light later). For Sun Ra, start with The Nubians of Plutonia. I guarantee you will like it. I do recommend that you check out Cherry. If you like Ornette Coleman, you will like Cherry. There is also Mingus to reckon with (who was an all-around better musician than Eldridge any day).
Posted by: Erik Keilholtz at February 23, 2004 11:34 PMOrnette Coleman is the only free player who isn't "jiving", as Roy Eldridge had it, referring to the free crowd. I also like Lester Bowie (ever heard his "Nessun Dorma"?!), but is he really in that camp?
I don't get Sun Ra at all. I assume that's his fault, not mine.
Posted by: John Salmon at February 21, 2004 10:00 PM