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Ornette Coleman: Last Word

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Marc Myers
Jun 16, 2015
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On Friday, the Wall Street Journal's Arts in Review editor asked me for a career essay on Ornette Coleman, who died on June 11 at age 85 (go here). So I spent the weekend listening to Coleman's albums—both of the Contemporary releases, all of the Atlantic recordings as well as his celebrated works over the decades.


My conclusion is that for too long, Col…

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