An evening with Ornette Coleman, his first European performance, was presented by Live New Departures (headed by Victor Schonfield, Pete Brown and me) in Fairfield Hall, Croydon, on 29 August 1965. The concert introduced Ornette’s violin and trumpet playing as well as his blazing alto sax, in nonstop empathy with David Izenzon’s gymnastic double bass and Charles Moffett’s scintillating percussion. It also featured Ornette’s compositions for classical musicians. The entire gig has been re-released on CD, and a few of the titles on its tracklist indicate the unprecedented energies and spirit of what took place: Sounds and Forms for Wind Quintet; Sadness; Clergyman’s Dream; Falling Stars; Silence; Happy Fool and Doughnuts.
At one point, in one of many longer than then customary tacit moments within one of the trio’s wildest free-flying improvisations, a strident voice yelled: “Now play Cherokee”, referring to Ray Noble’s theme, which had become a classic bebop standard via the manifold interpretations of Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Freddie Hubbard et al. Ornette instantly whizzed into an immaculately faithful version, whose lightning variations prompted the first of the evening’s extensive series of standing ovations. He said later: “I just wanted them to know I knew.”
The diverse fruits of that knowledge remain on a cornucopia of mind-stilling recordings for posterity’s continual refreshment.
