Sound check: Sounding a free horn

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Barriers blown apart: free jazz torchbearer Ornette Coleman follows earlier Meltdown curators Jarvis Cocker and Massive Attack

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Sounding a free horn
The Southbank Centre's annual Meltdown festival has become an undoubted highlight of a London summer —two weeks of eclectic, collaborative concerts.

But given the successes of recent years, with acts selected by the chart-friendly Massive Attack and Jarvis Cocker, the latest curator presents something of a risk. Ornette Coleman, at 79, is not only the oldest artist to choose the bands in the season's 16-year history — he's also the first jazz act, and a far from comfy one at that.

As the saxophonist who almost single-handedly brought about the free jazz movement of the Sixties, Coleman ditched the conventions of rhythm and harmony in favour of something altogether looser — and even went so far as to ditch a metal sax in favour of a plastic one.
He continues to divide opinion like few others in music. He was assaulted by a bebop drummer after a show 50 years ago — and many still maintain, slightly less violently, that he is a
charlatan.

If you're anything less than a full-time jazz aficionado, is it really worth getting involved this far down the line? Yes, is the short answer — as the full line-up for Coleman's Meltdown, which begins next weekend, suggests that his influence spreads far enough to make him relevant to more than just turtleneck-wearing chin-strokers.

Forward-thinking, experimental music from across the board dominates, not only jazz. There's rock trio Yo La Tengo, hip hop band The Roots and artist-turned-musician Yoko Ono for starters.

A few younger groups also appear —and they attempted to explain to me why Coleman isn't as unapproachable as his daunting reputation might suggest. Saxophonist Pete Wareham of Acoustic Ladyland, the fiery sax-rock band who perform a free show in the Clore Ballroom on 14 June, isn't going to convert the masses when he says: “When I first heard his music as a 16-year-old I loved it because it was so extreme. I wasn't into jazz at the time, I was just seeking out weird stuff.”

However, he goes on to say: “He has this amazing melodic sense, playing these beautiful melodies without any structure. It's a simple, natural thing.”

London-based Led Bib are more obviously Coleman's descendants, an unhinged, freeform quintet of duelling saxophonists, drums, bass and keyboards who also play the Clore Ballroom on 19 June.

Their new album, Sensible Shoes (out now on Cuneiform), sounds as though they have thrown all of those intruments off a tall building and recorded the crash at the bottom. It's fun, in a somewhat scary way.

“I think what puts people off Ornette is the reputation that goes before him,” says drummer and bandleader Mark Holub.

“He's really very listenable in the grand scheme of music. A lot of other stuff is much harder going. He has such a playful sound, such a sense of joy.”

At the very least, a high-profile event like Meltdown ought to encourage the previously intimidated to give Coleman a try. Listening now to the landmark albums The Shape of Jazz to Come and This Is Our Music — which form the basis of Coleman's two performances at the festival — there is abstraction and abandon there but it's hardly fingers in ears time.

There's a clear beauty to tracks such as Lonely Woman and Embraceable You (a rare cover) that shouldn' t alienate anyone but the least adventurous pop fan.

“Enjoying it is a question of switching off your mind, not thinking you need to try to understand it,” Wareham says. “Just let go.” Which sounds like good advice.

MELTDOWN HIGHLIGHTS
Ornette Coleman
The man of the hour plays two concerts at Meltdown based around different albums, the first on The Shape of Jazz To Come (1959), one of the earliest free jazz albums. The second show features compositions from This Is Our Music, released a year later, on which he continued to push boundaries with his plastic sax. Special guests are promised.
19/21 June
 
Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band
This is the first time John and Yoko's supergroup has ever appeared on stage, although an always flexible line-up means this isn't the same thing as the band that recorded Give Peace a Chance — this time it features Yoko Ono, Antony Hegarty, Mark Ronson, Sean Lennon and numerous others.
14 June
 
Baaba Maal
The Senegalese superstar has just released his first album in eight years, a modern recording full of electronic beats and electric guitar.
15 June
 
The Roots
Opening the whole festival are this Philadelphia hip hop band, who are a long way from the traditional rap
set-up of two turntables and a microphone. A long career has produced no hit singles but built a reputation as an extraordinary live act, uniting jazz, funk and much else.
13 June
 
Patti Smith And The Silver Mount Zion Orchestra
Veteran punk poet Smith collaborates with lesser known Canadian post-rockers in an evening that will see both acts perform their own sets before combining for a unique finale.
18 June
All at Royal Festival Hall, SE1. Tickets: 0871 663 2500 / www.southbankcentre.co.uk.

 

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