Harmolodic Principle A: Metric Fluidity 102

Harmolodic Principle A is one of the most common characteristics of Coleman’s compositions and improvisations.143 While Jost and others discuss the ability of various Coleman ensembles to perform without the constriction of a pre-established meter, their overall description tends to omit that the melodies of Coleman’s pieces are what establish the metric feel. Wilson does include a brief description of this characteristic in his section on the construction of Coleman themes, dividing the taxonomy into categories of “true” Coleman themes and melodies influenced by bebop patterns.144 Yet he does not acknowledge that both of these categories often exhibit the concept of creating meter from the melodic structure. Coleman was much less concerned with metric regularity than other composers and this lack of regard for regular phrasing has always allowed him to make interesting choices when constructing melodic units.

Coleman’s use of this technique is perhaps his trademark in terms of style and his conception of it is likely to have begun even before the first recorded examples of his work in the

143 _{Wilson refers to this idea as “Metric Liberation.”} 144 _{Wilson, Ornette Coleman, 77.}

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late 1950s. Compositions like “Chronology” (1959) and “Bird Food” (1960) are clear examples of bebop style melodies using this type of structure. The melody of “Bird Food” is transcribed in Figure 3.

Notice how the shape of the melodic line implies and dictates the meter. While holding the beat steady, the band plays one bar of 2/4 to lead into the repeated section. The overall form is 9.5 bars in length. 145 _{The band does not bother to finish a complete 4/4 measure that would allow} space to create a harmonic turnaround (as would be standard practice in bebop). This would typically cause displacement of the beats when the melody is played on the second time through the form from the perspective of the listener. However, the ensemble adapts to the structure of the composition and the abbreviated bar is played smoothly into the beginning of the melodic line.

The structure of themes like these is one explanation for Coleman’s frequent dismissal by other jazz musicians when he was first establishing himself in Los Angeles. If the melody is not played in the same rhythmic space, then any harmony composed to be played alongside it would sound wrong if the abbreviated bar is not readily anticipated by the chord playing instrumentalist. To many practiced bebop artists, it would seem like Coleman was rushing into the restatement of the theme. This unintended consequence may have been one reason for Coleman’s decision to abandon his use of harmony playing instruments for over a decade. The first industry led recordings of Coleman, with Shelly Manne and Percy Heath, are certainly evidence that other musicians were taken off guard by the structure of his pieces at least as much as by his

145 _{Even if the bar was completed with a typical “turnaround” device, odd phrase lengths were generally uncommon}

practice in jazz up until the early 1960s. Most bebop musicians favored phrase lengths that were multiples of 2, 4 or 8 rather than 5, 7 or as in this case 10. Exceptions can be found in works by Horace Silver, Charles Mingus, Dave Brubeck and Eric Dolphy. The Miles Davis Quintet began to employ these forms as well after the addition of Wayne Shorter in 1964.

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improvisatory style. This example also shows that musicians could not simply play anything they wanted in Coleman’s groups.

Figure 3: The bebop derived theme of “Bird Food” (1960) transcribed from Change of the Century.

These metric variations are not limited to bebop derived compositional structures. One of the most frequently cited examples of the Coleman theme, “Lonely Woman” (1959) makes clear use of metric variation in several sections, frequently shifting from 4/4 to 3/4, or 5/4, or 6/4. The first repetition of the A theme from “Lonley Woman” transcribed in Figure 4 depicts these additions and subtractions to suit the phraseology.

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As clearly depicted, the meter of the piece changes based on the wind instruments stress of the melodic line. Both of these examples from Coleman’s early period are concrete evidence of metric fluidity. The theme from “School Work” (1971) (See Figure 5) also shows a distinct metric modulation dictated by how Coleman plays the rhythmic phrase in the B section of the piece. The pattern can be counted in 4/4 but the band follows Coleman’s stylistic cues resulting in a slightly disjointed 8/8 (3+3+2) metric feel because of the emphasis placed on the pickup notes on the “and” of beat four, and the decrease in tempo.

Figure 5: School Work (1971)

Even more interestingly, there are other clear examples of metric ambiguity in Coleman’s recordings that even Coleman alumni are unable to reproduce with the same sense of fluidity. A piece from the Science Fiction recording sessions “Happy House” (later released on Broken Shadows) is played with a great deal of liberty in the metric phrasing. The Old and New Dreams group attempted to recreate this piece (and additionally “Law Years” and “Street Woman”) but without Coleman in the band, the recordings seem to lack the characteristic uncertainty in the phrasing.

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Wilson also draws attention to the creation of Coleman themes based upon a structure of “endless riffs,” or pieces based on a simple melodic fragment that repeats several times in an arbitrary number until it is interrupted by some other melodic material.

Coleman’s “Theme from a Symphony” from 1973 is probably the best known example of this technique. The piece was originally conceived as the A and B section of “School Work” (1971) and then scored for orchestra as a movement called “The Good Life” from Skies of America. It later appeared as “Theme from a Symphony” on the record Dancing in Your Head (1973) and has since been called “Dancing in Your Head” during live performances after 1977, when the album was released.

The first recorded version of the piece is arguably the most consistent with conventional practice. Coleman repeats the A melodic line several times before moving to performing the B material, playing it once and then leaving a pause for the rest of the band to come in on the pickup to the A material once again.

However, live recordings show that Coleman’s performances of this piece display a great deal of variation. The theme often returns arbitrarily, and not always with the same starting offbeat (i.e. with the “and” of 2 instead of the “and” of 4) or sometimes even beginning on a downbeat, creating a general feeling uncertainty for the listener.

Prime Time’s response to the return of the melodic material is to adapt immediately to what Coleman is doing, creating an even more jarring effect than the addition or removal of beats from the meter like in “Bird Food” or “Lonely Woman.” This seems to be the rule for these riff based compositions. Coleman repeats the overall theme as many times as he likes, sometimes embellishing or fragmenting the overall form. The rest of the band then improvises around Coleman’s statements and adapts to each recapitulation, creating an overall sense of moving in

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and out of a previously established tempo and meter. Such works could be considered a logical outgrowth of previously conceived melody-centered experiments from previous decades.