Ornette Coleman Trio (1966)
3.0 of 5 from 1 ratings
0h 55min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
In this indispensable video, two of the most interesting films ever made modern experimental jazz are included. The first one, "Ornette Coleman Trio", presents Ornette Coleman's famous trio during their visit to Paris in 1966 in order to record the soundtrack of a very nutty-looking Belgium film called "Who's Crazy?". Realized by Richard "Dick" Fontaine--who is considered to be one of the founding fathers of erotic gay cinema (with such famous titles as "The Days of Greek Gods") and that years later realized the full length film "Art Blakey: The Jazz Messenger"-. the film was made in three days and offers a portrait of the trio that becomes an "ironic essay in dignity in the face of insanity". Ornette, who in this era was one of the leaders of the Jazz Avant-garde movement, faced the challenge with his two fellow musicians by responding with passionate improvisations to the stimuli that reached him from the screen where the images are projected. A priceless testimony to the innovations which revolutionized the world of jazz in the sixties.
The second film, also directed by Fontaine, is a curious and original musical and cinematographic experiment. Its strange title, "Sound??", clearly indicates the objective of the work, which is merely to take advantage of the ideas of an innovative jazzman (Roland Kirk) in order to permit an Avant-garde contemporary (John Cage) to speculate with silence and with sound as two facets of the same reality. Kirk appears in the film demonstrating his ability to play three saxophones simultaneously, incorporating at the same time recordings of birdsongs or his giving out whistles to the audience in order that they accompany him "in the key of w, if you please". Parallel to this, Cage talks about his concepts and prepares a piece "musical bicycle" with two of his collaborators at the Seville Theatre of London, introducing Kirk's music in an echo chamber in its search for the sound of silence.- Actors:
- Roland Kirk, Charles Moffett, David Izenzon, Ornette Coleman
- Directors:
- Dick Fontaine
- Studio:
- Quantum Leap Group Limited
- Genres:
- Music & Musicals, Performing Arts, Special Interest
