Tears Inside

This mix is my tribute to the late Ornette Coleman. The first and last time I saw Ornette Coleman play live was in Nottingham back in the eighties. He was fronting his electric band Prime Time. The group comprised guitarists Charlie Ellerbee and Bern Nix, bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma, and drummers Ronald Shannon Jackson and Denardo Coleman. I was sat about two rows from the front and was suffering a bad headache. The band took to the stage and immediately launched into a loud unremitting cacophonous wall of sound. I felt myself pushed back in my chair by the pure weight of the music. They played for two hours solid without a break. At times Ornette sawed away at a violin producing whelps of noise, while each member of the band played a different tune. Suffice it to say I left the gig dazed and confused and with a worse headache. To say the Coleman divides listers is an understatement. But I’ll tell you one thing, I’ll never forget that gig!