Ornette Made in America

It's a bit disconcerting to see Ornette Coleman (b. 1930) and his band Prime Time collaborating with a symphony orchestra early in this 1984 film, as Coleman is best known for the spontaneous improvisation of free jazz. We also see him performing on Italian TV, on the streets of New York City, in Nigeria, and with the Master Musicians of Joujouka. Coleman's music was so revolutionary that an audience once destroyed his saxophone, and musicians were known to leave the bandstand when he showed up. Director Clarke (1919-97; Portrait of Jason) employs a vast palate of techniques-from quick cuts to stylized biographical vignettes, interviews, and downright hallucinatory animation-that wonderfully echo the disorienting near chaos of free jazz. Extras include an interview with Coleman's son, drummer Denardo Coleman, who performed with his father from a young age. VERDICT Though it only covers roughly the first half of Coleman's ongoing career, this restored film serves as an easy intro to free jazz and its first master and also succeeds as a work of art in its own right. [Trailers, LJ 10/1/14.]-John Hiett, formerly with Iowa City P.L. © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.