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Last Call celebrates 13th Anniversary Saturday night

Program to feature 1960s Avant-Garde Blue Note recordings.By Chris Cooke

Omaha, Nebraska – Saturday Night's Last Call will present a musical celebration of the Avant Garde, focusing primarily on recordings from Blue Note Records.

Program host Chris Cooke said the show will also note its 13th Anniversary this evening. The program debuted on KIOS in 1996.

Of particular interest on tonight's show will be selections from Ornette Coleman, At the Golden Circle, Volumes 1 and 2. The Ornette Coleman trio of the time was Coleman on the alto saxophone; David Izenzon on bass and Charles Moffett on drums.

The discs contain recordings of a live date at the Golden Circle in Stockholm on December 3 and 4, 1965. These were made during a period when Coleman was traveling nomadically through Europe, where audiences warmly received his free jazz artistry. Jazz fans continue to cherish these 1965 concert recordings.

Ornette's group alternates between slower dynamic flows and fast moving cookers in tracks such as "Antiques", "Faces and Places", "Doughnuts", and others. Coleman's saxophone soars above and below and to the side of the melody created by bassist Izenzon and drummer Moffett. On some selections Coleman employs a violin and trumpet to add to his musical arsenal.

Born March 9, 1930 in Fort Worth, Texas, Ornette Coleman is known for his introduction of "Free Jazz" to the world. Ornette Coleman's harmolodics, where the mood and the melody of the tune became the source of improvisation, and not the chords, declared the dawn of "Free Jazz". This dawn was not warmly received by all quarters. Reaction to the new music was often highly polarized, as it fundamentally changed the Jazz landscape, offering newfound freedom to those musicians who would take the chance. Many did, including such luminaries as John Coltrane.

The 1960s was a time of great political and social upheaval. Vietnam, the Civil Rights Movement, assasinations, and the emerging youth counterculture created a well of inspiration for musicians of all kinds. Jazz musicians in many cases, emboldened by the freeing of chord constraints, were emotionally moved by the swirling and turbulent circumstances of their time to create music which reflected that uncertain feeling.

Sessions led by Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams and others on Blue Note in the 1960s explored the frontiers of jazz and, eventually, presented recordings that heralded the birth of jazz rock with a bold mix of acoustic and electronic instrumentation.

Last Call will present many of these discs Saturday as the program marks its 13th Anniversary. Listen to Last Call at 11pm Saturday night on KIOS.

Chris Cooke is the host of Last Call on KIOS-FM.