{"id":7609,"date":"2024-01-18T20:58:24","date_gmt":"2024-01-19T02:58:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=7609"},"modified":"2024-01-21T20:58:16","modified_gmt":"2024-01-22T02:58:16","slug":"harmony-george-coleman-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/harmony-george-coleman-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Harmony on Your Side: A Conversation with George Coleman (Part One)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Unfortunately, sometimes life gets in the way of interviews making it to print. This interview with the legendary George Coleman, which took place on May 19, 2023, is one such conversation. At the time, the NEA Jazz Master was promoting his latest live recording, Live at Small’s Jazz Club<\/em> (Cellar Live, 2023), an electrifying quartet recording with songs that highlight various moments throughout his career. The album is one of his finest in a long line of releases. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coleman’s bona fides as an ambassador for jazz are beyond reproach. The saxophonist’s experiences include stints with Max Roach, Lionel Hampton, Wild Bill Davis, Charles Mingus, Chet Baker, Lee Morgan, and Elvin Jones. He was with Miles Davis during a critical transitionary time for the trumpeter’s career, wedged between the First and Second Great Quintets. Coleman was also part of the landmark ensemble on Herbie Hancock’s Maiden Voyage<\/em> (Blue Note, 1965). And he boasts several excellent recordings under his own name and a long run as a gifted music educator. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Coleman also holds a fairly traditional view of what constitutes jazz. He does not appreciate the jazz-rock fusion or avant-garde experimentalism that emerged to prominence in his years since Miles’ band. While this author disagrees with his perspective, Coleman is nevertheless an authoritative voice on the development of Black American music, in large part, because he lived it. At first glance, Coleman’s view of jazz seemingly makes him an unusual choice for coverage on a website focused on musical transgression of genre. But as emerges in our conversation, distinguishing lines are more obfuscated than they seem. Early in his career, “Big George” played with some titans of the Blues, and hues of those influences remain in his work. So does an interest in the jazz-R&B hybridized stylings of artists like Earl Bostic, Louis Jordan, and Ray Charles. Actually, Coleman freely admits he borrows from many different kinds of music in making his own. Ultimately, it seems that even with a more conservative perspective on the idiom, Coleman is a testament to the fact that jazz itself is an art form built on the blending of musical and cultural ideas and inspirations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PostGenre: You have been making music professionally for seventy years. How do you feel your music has changed or evolved during that time?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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George Coleman: Well, my music is definitely different from what it used to be, say, a few decades ago. But it\u2019s normal for artists to adapt and change as the years pass. I’m at the twilight of my career and, at this particular time, am pretty satisfied with what I’ve achieved in my life. I also feel good about my experience teaching music to others throughout the world. I’ve had students from all over the place and am still getting them coming in. I’ve also been trying to retire from teaching, but that is pretty hard to do. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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PG: Why is retiring difficult?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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GC: Because so many people need to learn this music. Many have chosen me as the person to enlighten them and give them teachings in this area. I have been pretty successful in teaching what I know. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When somebody wants to get some knowledge from me, I try to give them that. It’s not about money, either. I had seriously considered teaching someplace formal to boost my income. I could have done quite well in that area. But I don’t have the patience to do that. I would have had to have maybe five or six students a day and charge them enormous amounts of money, which I didn’t want to do. Back in the day, and even now, I give free lessons to people who are incredibly gifted and want to learn but who I know don’t have the resources to pay me.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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