Song X

Denardo Coleman, Jack DeJohnette, Pat Metheny, Ornette Coleman, Charlie Haden

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: December 1985
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Geffen Records
• ASIN: B000000OPX
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #86,986 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording
Pat Metheny confounded fans and critics alike with this opening salvo for his new label, Geffen, delivering among the most uninhibited, collective meltdowns ever released on a major pop label. Song X served notice that this was one artist who refused to be pigeonholed. In joining forces with jazz maverick Ornette Coleman, Metheny midwifed a compelling declaration of principles on behalf of experimental musicians. Jack DeJohnette and Denardo Coleman throw down on acoustic and electronic percussion, and stalwart bassist Charlie Haden holds down the time. Metheny and Coleman journey through the interstellar regions of collective improvisation on the saxophonist's fulminating title tune and "Video Games" (with Metheny's room-full-of-mirrors synth guitar inventions) while unleashing a horde of killer bees on "Endangered Species." Still, for all the collective freneticism, the lyrical, swinging side of each artist is well represented on the Tex-Mex airs of "Trigonometry," the bluesy "Mob Job" and the elegant "Kathleen Grey." --Chip Stern

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great Ornette album, hosted by Metheny, August 3, 2000

By	R. Hutchinson "autonomeus" (a world ruled by fossil fuels and fossil minds) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't dismiss this Pat Metheny--or Ornette Coleman, July 11, 2000

By	Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D. "Douglas Groothuis" (Colorado USA) - See all my reviews

There are no "hooks" in this music. It is not pedestrian! You must listen to it attentively and be prepared to experience something out of the ordinary--which is always true of Ornette Coleman.

Pat Metheny is one of the few jazz musicians who can play and compose melodic and almost orchestral work (with the later Pat Metheny Groups) as well as playing "outside" jazz as well. This work is much more approachable than Pat's work "Sign of Four" (what wouldn't be?). It features the relentlessly creative drum work of Jack Dejohnette, a modern jazz giant, and the superlative bass work of another superstar Charlie Haden (who played with Coleman back in the fifties and sixties). Denardo Coleman chimes in on percussion and drums and is the least noteworthy of the bunch. His electronic percussion is somewhat annoying--as it always is in my book. Give me that old unwired drum set! Ornette also plays some violin, strangely..., of course.

If you have only heard the more recent Pat Metheny Group recordings, and are not familiar with the outside edge of jazz, you may find this work somewhat jarring and/or puzzling. It can be quite frenetic, and is probably not the best choice of music to listen to before retiring for the evening. Nevertheless, it is serious and challenging material. Why stick with the ordinary? Jazz is "the music of surprise"!

Douglas Groothuis

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

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

By A Customer

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.