Ornette Coleman - 1958

‘The Blessing’ is from Ornette Coleman’s first album “Something Else!”. It’s a nice glimpse at how Coleman was interpreting the Jazz of the day and turning it into his own.

The Blessing
The Blessing
The Blessing

‘The  melody is clearly in the Key of ‘G’ and the tonality is “Directional” (Link). Ornette Coleman’s compositions are for the most part rooted in tonality; it is his treatment of these melodies that is distinctive. Even though Walter Norris tries his best to accompany the solos on the piano it’s pretty clear he is, for the most part, just getting in the way. Coleman stopped using pianos in his band after this album. This allowed the harmony to be collective or incidental (Link). That is – conversational.

We have said repeatedly in these pages that being able to hear and play any interval at will is an essential skill for playing Jazz. Creating melody and counterpoint on the fly rather than relying on set chord changes and pre-arranged scales is what makes this music work. Think in terms of motifs, repetition and recurrence. That’s what gives the music it’s Aural Logic.