Meltdown Festival : Ornette Coleman Quartet, Royal Festival Hall, London (GB) - 21 juin 2009

The Master Musicians of Jajouka played their Sufi music from the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. Then came Coleman alto sax/trumpet/violin/viola, Al McDowell bs guitar, Tony Falanga double bass, Denardo Coleman dms – virtually the same band as in 2007. Another wonderful performance of collective jazz, immense technical proficiency at the service of making astounding music. McDowell played the bass guitar like a guitar, spitting notes into the mix. It didn’t matter that they played much the same set as last time – Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, Lonely Woman, Turnaround, Dancing in Your Head, Bach’s Cello Suite No 1 (a Falanga standout), other back catalogue. Flea with bass guitar joined them to provide even more of a thunderous rhythmic interplay. Then Baaba Maal added his voice to the proceedings and the Master Musicians came on again. Finally, erstwhile colleague Charlie Haden joined in on double bass. Reviewed by John Fordham 23 June 2009 in The Guardian and Dave Gelly 24 June in The Observer.