Ornette Coleman
‘The baddest technician’: how Don Cherry is still making jazz new
The man who turned bebop upside down with Ornette Coleman went on to work with artists from Sonny Rollins to Ian Dury – and the London jazz festival is set to show he’s still inspiring
Ammar Kalia
16, Nov, 2022 @4:48 PM
Bill Callahan’s listening diary: ‘My daughter makes me listen to Harry Styles 20 times in a row’
The US songwriter guides us through a few days in sounds, from his son’s love of the Hamster Dance to Texas’s local Mexican radio stations and Traxman
As told to Laura Snapes
28, Sep, 2022 @7:00 AM
‘There is no fear’: how a cold-war tour inspired Pakistan’s progressive jazz scene
A US state department initiative was the unlikely catalyst for a creative explosion of Pakistani rhythm and western improv
Haseeb Iqbal
12, Jul, 2021 @8:49 AM
'Jazz was the catalyst for change': Jim Marshall’s images of 60s festivals
Photographer Jim Marshall shot era-defining images of 60s stars including Hendrix, Joplin and Dylan; before that he captured intimate moments with the giants of jazz
Sean O'Hagan
03, Sep, 2016 @6:00 PM
Paul Bley – a genuine visionary of jazz
The late Canadian pianist spotted Ornette Coleman’s great gift and influenced Keith Jarrett, but above all he was a masterful and intelligent musician
John Fordham
05, Jan, 2016 @2:07 PM
Ornette Coleman remembered by Neneh Cherry
The singer-songwriter recalls the ‘quiet intensity’ of the American saxophonist who took jazz in wild new directions
Neneh Cherry
27, Dec, 2015 @10:30 AM
Letter: A free-flying evening in Croydon with Ornette Coleman
Michael Horovitz writes: An evening with Ornette Coleman, his first European performance, was presented by Live New Departures in Fairfield Hall, Croydon, in 1965
Michael Horovitz
18, Jun, 2015 @12:51 PM
Robert Wyatt writes tribute to the late Ornette Coleman
Experimental musician praises the ‘timeless vocal beauty of the actual sequences of notes and phrases he could come up with, and the feeling of pure living joy of playing they can communicate’
Guardian music
16, Jun, 2015 @8:32 AM
The week in music: the Apple Music launch, Miley Cyrus's latest sexual revelations, and more
From Ariana Grande’s Twitter feminism to the fallout from Ten Walls’ anti-gay Facebook rant, here’s our weekly music news roundup
Tshepo Mokoena
12, Jun, 2015 @4:21 PM
Six of the best – Ornette Coleman through the decades
John Fordham picks a classic Coleman track from each decade of Coleman’s career
John Fordham
12, Jun, 2015 @1:26 PM
Harmolodics and ham sandwiches: meeting Ornette Coleman
It may have been simple to track down the jazz pioneer, but it was not so easy to interview him, as Philip Clark found out in 2007 when he visited Coleman at his Manhattan apartment
Philip Clark
11, Jun, 2015 @6:00 PM
Ornette Coleman at Ronnie Scott's: from the Observer archive, 17 April 1966
Observer jazz critic Benny Green’s review includes the memorable line ‘Like a stopped clock, Coleman is right at least twice a day’
Benny Green
11, Jun, 2015 @5:10 PM
1 / 4 pages