Playing the Ornette Coleman alphabet

“As I listen to the music it almost feels like a different time. A time when we weren’t afraid to be close to each other. A time when we could still play in a packed room, with the audience right in front of us, and just feed off their energy. A time that will come back soon enough. And when it does, we’ll be ready to do it all over again,” says Miguel Zenón.

Later this week the great one ushers in his latest album with the release of Law Years: The Music of Ornette Coleman, a live quartet Ornette themed affair recorded at the Bird's Eye club. It seems that the spot is a good place to make a live album given that the recent excellent Metropolis Paradise was also captured in the Basel spot.

Ninety-one years ago this week Ornette was born. So the timing chimes. With the Puerto Rican titan are tenor saxophonist Ariel Bringuez, bassist Demian Cabaud and the Art of the Trio legend drummer Jordi Rossy. Look out for the Catalan on the soon-to-be-released Sam Braysher trio record Dance Little Lady, Dance Little Man. Top tip, no messing.

As for Zenón as recently as January, and still the best thing marlbank has heard all year El Arte Del Bolero, proved an incredible piece of work: bolero classics delivered in an alto saxophone and piano setting from Zenón and pianist Luis Perdomo, thinking as one.

Ahead of Friday's release the Zenón quartet's delicious treatment of 'Dee Dee' (a piece that appeared on the 1965 Blue Note album of the Ornette Coleman trio's At the ''Golden Circle'' Stockholm) is streaming.

The Miguel Zenón quartet, top.

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Ghost Light by Luca Boscagin and Jason Rebello is quite a prospect particularly for the cover of The Zombies' melancholic psychedelic pop-styled 'A Rose for Emily'. The album, to be released by the Babel label, has no confirmed release date and there is no official information about it at all so far although the label has confirmed its intentions and provided two tracks as an indicator but so far not shared online.

A ''ghost light'' burns away all day, all night, in theatres to provide enough light to prevent workers on stage from otherwise falling into the orchestra pit. The cast of its light is also thought enough to banish resident sprites.

Footage of the ex-Jeff Beck and Sting keyboardist Rebello and guitarist Boscagin (Emilia Mårtensson, Irene Serra) has surfaced online featuring a 'Live at Belmont Villa' instrumental version of the song by the duo.

The song itself, inspired lyrically by the 1930 William Faulkner short story of the same name that concerns the mysterious, reclusive, Emily Grierson, was written by Rod Argent of The Zombies and is from Odessey and Oracle released in April 1968, an album nowadays held in considerable awe.

Boscagin says in the 'Villa' video (the song appears at the 14 minute and 25 second mark) that he and Rebello are playing the number in a ''classical style.''

Shaped in the dappled sunlit-voiced arrangement by a baroque complexity harmonically this version is faithful to what we can expect.

The sound quality of the album track itself is unsurprisingly even better and it is Rebello on piano on the Ghost Light track rather than the Fender Rhodes 'Villa' choice. SG

Turn to marlbank for more on Ghost Light later in the year

Playing the Ornette Coleman alphabet

Conjuring A Rose for Emily