ORNETTE COLEMAN
Dancing In Your Head
Verve
314 543 519-2

Back in the day, Ornette's first foray into what could loosely be termed fusion resulted in a lot of furrowed brows and general puzzlement. As with all of Coleman's music, it's a much easier statement to savor nearly 25 years later. The music of Prime Time, Coleman's first all-electric quintet, veers sharply away from the trademark sounds, motifs, and techniques employed by more pedestrian plugged-in fusion types. What I didn't know then was that Dancing in Your Head was literally worlds away from the territory being explored at the time by Return to Forever or Weather Report. Instead, this music reflects Coleman's extensive involvement with the trancelike, untempered, spontaneous creations of the Master Musicians of Joujouka, a group of Moroccans with whom Coleman recorded on-site in 1973. Most of the public (and, of course, the music press) couldn't make the connection then, despite the presence of a brief track recorded with the group in Morocco. A quarter-century later, we are quite well attuned to all sorts of other ethnic musics from all corners of the globe, and Ornette's brand of world music fusion seems more like a subtly odd, yet joyful, sort of dance music rather than cause for consternation.

The title of "Theme from a Symphony" refers to the fact that Coleman used the same sing-songy, mildly obnoxious, melody (then titled "The Good Life") on his 1972 orchestral opus, Skies of America. This music is highly percussive, to say the least. Added to Ronald Shannon Jackson's forceful drumkit are the twin rhythm guitars of Nix and Ellerbee, and an additional layer of overdubbed percussion played by Jackson, Coleman and Coleman's lawyer at the time, Bob Burford. Jamaladeen Tacuma's fluent electric bass provided melodic and harmonic counterpoint that was, for the time, astonishingly complete. Tacuma's bass-playing here, and on subsequent recordings as a soloist and as a sideman with Coleman, has influenced a generation of bassists, whose increasing harmonic and melodic liberation is one of the most pleasant developments in jazz over the last 20-odd years. Though both guitarists get brief solos on both versions of "Theme…," they are really there to provide extra rhythmic impetus for Coleman's own lengthy impassioned improvisations, the sum of which suggests the existence of some sort of cultural nexus between rural Texas and rural Morocco. My only quibble here is that some of the overdubbed percussion (particularly that slightly dragging, nasty-sounding, poorly-tuned marching drum) could have been toned down a bit. That said, the CD transfer seems to have enhanced the depth and color of a recording that was already quite fascinating on vinyl.

The two lengthy versions of "Theme From a Symphony" provide fascinating contrast when juxtaposed with the two pieces recorded in Morocco by Coleman and clarinetist (and writer) Robert Palmer with the Master Musicians. Though Palmer's clarinet is barely audible on the snippet that appeared on the original LP version, he is gloriously audible on a second, non-LP, fragment. Next to Coleman's Texas wail, Palmer sounds like a lonesome klezmer, wandering the desert. Like the rest of this CD, these tracks are not just great music, they represent a fascinating study in cultural adaptability. None of this is lost on ethnomusicologist Scott Currie, whose detailed, beautifully-written and thoughtful liner notes round out an already impressive package.

Dave Wayne

Track Listing: 1. Theme From a Symphony (Variation 1); 2. Theme From a Symphony (Variation 2); 3. Midnight Sunrise; 4. Midnight Sunrise (alternate take)

Personnel: Ornette Coleman, alto saxophone, percussion; Charles Ellerbee, guitar (tracks 1, 2); Bern Nix, guitar (tracks 1, 2); Jamaaladeen Tacuma, electric bass (tracks 1, 2); Ronald Shannon Jackson, drums, percussion (tracks 1, 2); Bob Burford , percussion (tracks 1, 2); Robert Palmer, clarinet (tracks 3, 4); The Master Musicians of Joujouka, ghatia, stringed instruments, percussion (tracks 3, 4)