To Be Ornette to Be (1989)

About this title: When Italian drummer Aldo Romano recorded this Ornette Coleman tribute for Owl Records (a French label) in 1989, Coleman had been recording for more than 30 years -- and there were still plenty of people who had difficulty comprehending the alto saxman's innovative free jazz. But Romano not only comprehended it -- he had a very deep appreciation of it. In the liner notes that he wrote for To Be Ornette to Be, Romano exalts Coleman as "one of the key voices in Afro-American music" and asserts that if Coleman had been Italian, he would have composed La Traviata. Some bop snobs would be ... read more

Tracks:

1. The Blessing [Coleman]
2. W.R.U. [Coleman]
3. Lorraine [Coleman]
4. Tears Inside [Coleman]
5. Contos de Sonu Intro'e Sonnu [Fresu]
6. Mind and Time [Coleman]
7. Check Up [Coleman]
8. Half Way [DiCastri]
9. Feet Music [Coleman]
10. The Blessing [Variations] [DAndrea]
11. Jayne [Coleman]
12. Theme from a Symphony/Skies of America [Coleman]
13. Dô [Romano]

Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is further described below.