Love call: diamond anniversary edition.

Tomorrow, March 9, is Ornette Coleman's 75th birthday.* Who he? What's he done? For those who'd like a thorough schooling, tune your internets to the jazz archives of WKCR, Columbia University's radio station, where you can listen to Jazz Profiles, a five-hour program devoted, in this case, to Coleman's life and work; it originally aired in 2003 on the occasion of OC's 73d birthday. Part 1 is a little over an hour and it is almost all talk, as host Ben Young runs down the details of Coleman's early existence and the sources of his rarefied approach to music. For tunes, better to start with Part 2. Not sure if KCR has one of their birthday broadcasts planned for tomorrow; you might check in with the live stream to see if anything's going on there.

You can also read a 1996 intervew with Coleman from the Austin Chronicle.
And there's this 1987 interview that ran in Cadence magazine, but given the horrid screen background (not to mention this question: "Your music is beautiful, but you also dress beautifully. Explain your interest in clothes."), you might skip this one.
When does this guy get his own, full-fledged biography? I mean, Sun Ra got his. Wayne Shorter, too. And this doesn't even begin to count.

Saw Ornette last June, when he played Carnegie Hall --- part of the JVC Jazz Festival. We were in the cheap seats; his body seemed somewhat bowed, but his playing was full force. Here's hoping we all get to enjoy his genius for years to come. Happy birthday, OC.


* Per Ben Young's audio bio, Ornette's older sister, Trudy, holds that he was born in 1931, not 1930. She was there, and so would know, but, still, we're going with the date on Coleman's own site.

WEDS. UPDATE: KCR is indeed airing a live birthday broadcast all day today (3/9).