Song X

Denardo Coleman, Jack DeJohnette, Pat Metheny, Ornette Coleman, Charlie Haden, Pat Metheny/ornette Coleman | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Geffen Records
• ASIN: B000000OPX
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #62,578 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Song X

2. Mob Job

3. Endangered Species

4. Video Games

5. Kathelin Gay

6. Trigonometry

7. Song X Duo

8. Long Time No See

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great Ornette album, hosted by Metheny, August 2, 2000

By 

R. Hutchinson "autonomeus" (a world ruled by fossil fuels and fossil minds) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Song X (Audio CD)

All the outrage and confusion engendered by this record could be alleviated by recognition of a simple fact -- this is an Ornette Coleman record, not a Pat Metheny record. It was a great gesture on Metheny's part to offer Ornette star billing on "his record" on Geffen, and he surprised us by playing quite well with the master, but it's not a balanced collaboration. Ornette is clearly the leader, and Metheny a sideman and arranger, in the sense of putting together the band. With a clear recognition of Metheny's contribution, we can only thank him immensely!

Since he put together his Prime Time band, Ornette has had an unfortunate tendency to play with younger musicians that offer him no challenge. (As opposed, say, to Cecil Taylor, who positively thrives on playing with the most advanced improvisers.) Here on SONG X, Ornette is pushed to some of his best and most inspired playing by Haden, DeJohnette, and yes, by Metheny, both on the wild side and on the lyrical side. I saw Ornette with Prime Time in 1982 and 1987, and I saw the SONG X tour in between. Interestingly, Prime Time sounded better live than the band with Metheny, but of studio documents, SONG X is far better than anything ever recorded by Prime Time. (I hope the live Prime Time recording, OPENING THE CARAVAN OF DREAMS, will be re-released soon, an outstanding document of the early-mid '80s band that I saw in Chicago in 1982.)

As for the outraged fans of the mellow, non-threatening Metheny, I suggest that you open your ears and give a good listen to Ornette's THE SHAPE OF JAZZ TO COME. Its lyrical quality clearly reveals the later bridge to this music with Metheny. You can use that historic album's stylistic innovation (hey, the harmony, melody and rhythm are all mixed up!) as a bridge back to SONG X. You'll hear it as you've never heard it before once your ears have a chance to become attuned to the potentiality of music that is Free!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Strong performance of Ornette's music, December 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Song X (Audio CD)

It always has been a hoot to see the befuddled reaction to this by some of Pat's fans. "Ornette is on the fringe of jazz" they say.

Sorry folks, in the history of jazz, Metheny is a paragraph. A good paragraph, to be sure. Ornette is a whole chapter.

That Pat can play Ornette's music is a testament to his ability. But Ornette is the master. Those who get it, get it. Those who don't are left behind.

Thank you for considering my words.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I finally get it . . ., June 27, 2005

By 

Jan P. Dennis "Longboard jazzer" (Monument, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Song X (Audio CD)

. . . after ten years. I don't know why it took me so long, but I'm finally enjoying this wonderful, if slightly off-kilter, session. I think this is at least the third disc of this music that I've bought--not all, thankfully, at full price. And I'm keeping this one.

Maybe it's just that my ears have, over the past decade, opened up a little. That's part of it, I think. And I do remember listening to it this time around with no particular expectations. A few observations. I'm entirely taken by Coleman's violin playing on "Mob Job," so much so that I'd like to have heard more of it represented here. I don't think I'd like a whole disc of it, and I know he doesn't play the violin "correctly," but he has a unique way of approaching it, achieves some delicious sonorities, and interacts with Metheny and bandmates very interestingly. I was also surprised by the quieter, more lyrical selection, "Kathelin Gray" (a mournful, elegiac ballad), and parts of "Mob Job."

I also think the inclusion of Denardo is more than nepotism. He adds a kind of percussive thrust and coloration--granted, a little dated--that Coleman pere and Metheny obviously wanted, and to these ears, at least, he admirably acquits himself. Haden and DeJohnette are at the absolute top of their game and come across as absolutely comfortable in this, for the most part, free-jazz setting.

There is much to recommend this music to anyone used to more outré jazz--the sly blues/field holler/gospel sensibility, the unique aural signature, snatches of beauty emerging from what initially sounds like aural chaos, the last half of "Endangered Species" with its train motif, weirdo Denardo contributions, and sheer high energy, and some of Coleman's most inspired playing. One should also acknowledge the adventurous spirit demonstrated by Metheny, who risked alienating his fan base (mission accomplished, if the reviews posted at this site are typical) by setting aside his hugely popular regular jazz gig to play with one of his heroes. And it's not as if Metheny has never done this kind of thing before; the title cut to Off Ramp shares a similar approach to what's going on here.

Certainly not for everybody, but he who has an ear, let him hear.