The Territory and The Adventure

April 2020 is the scheduled publishing date for a new book about the innovative jazz musician Ornette Coleman, whose revolutionary approach to jazz improvisation and composition influenced innumerable musicians in the 1960s and continues to have a strong impact on successive generations. Maria Golia, the author of Ornette Coleman: The Territory and the Adventure, has diligently researched her subject and brought forth the most extensive biographical study of this musical maverick to date. Although the Fort Worth-born saxophonist faced extreme hardship and lack of acceptance during his early years while living in his native city and later in Los Angeles, Ornette Coleman remained true to his belief in an individualistic creative process outside the accepted conventions of his time. In a career that spanned six decades, he proved to be a persistent music rebel who stirred controversy among the reactionaries yet won the hearts of listeners possessing an open mind and receptive ear. This new study was a labor of love for its author, and her book has already received enthusiastic reviews by the likes of jazz critic Gary Giddins and guitarist/composer Pat Metheny. As a longtime follower of Ornette Coleman's varied music adventures since circa 1965, I can strongly recommend this book, not only to fans of the avant garde or free jazz, but to anyone interested in the history and evolution of America's native art form.

Johnny Case - March 2020