Song X
Song X is a collaborative free jazz album by American saxophonist Ornette Coleman and guitarist Pat Metheny, recorded in December 1985 and released in 1986 on Geffen Records.[1][2] Featuring a rhythm section of bassist Charlie Haden, drummer Jack DeJohnette, and Coleman's son Denardo Coleman on drums, the album exemplifies Coleman's innovative Harmolodics approach, blending melody, rhythm, harmony, and improvisation in an avant-garde style.[1][3] The recording sessions, held over three days at The Power Station in New York City, produced eight tracks for the original release, including the title track "Song X," the extended "Endangered Species," and "Mob Job," which highlights Coleman's rare violin playing.[2][1][4] With a total duration of approximately 48 minutes, the album marks a significant intersection of Coleman's free jazz legacy and Metheny's fusion sensibilities, resulting in a fresh exploration of jazz improvisation.[2][3] In 2005, a twentieth anniversary edition was issued, remastered and remixed by Metheny, expanding the album to 14 tracks with six previously unreleased pieces such as "Good Life" and "Compute," providing a more comprehensive view of the collaboration's creative output.[3][5] This edition underscores the enduring influence of Song X in modern jazz, praised for its interlocking rhythmic elements and melodic depth.[3]Background
Conception
Pat Metheny had long admired Ornette Coleman, and this influence was evident in his early career through recordings of Coleman's compositions. On his 1980 album 80/81, Metheny included Coleman's "Turnaround," performed alongside bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Jack DeJohnette, showcasing his deep appreciation for Coleman's innovative approach to jazz.[6][7] This track, along with others like "Round Trip/Broadway Blues" from Metheny's 1976 debut Bright Size Life, highlighted Coleman's impact on Metheny's evolving style, bridging structured improvisation with freer elements.[6] Metheny's dream of collaborating directly with Coleman began to materialize in the mid-1980s when Coleman attended multiple performances by Metheny's trio—featuring Haden and drummer Billy Higgins—at the Village Vanguard. Impressed by the energy and interplay, Coleman returned night after night and proposed they work together, stating, "We gotta do something."[6][7] This encounter, rooted in mutual respect, set the stage for a project that would allow Coleman greater expressive freedom than he had experienced in prior recordings, with Metheny providing a supportive platform through his guitar work.[6] The collaboration originated in late 1985, with Metheny, Coleman, and Coleman's son Denardo spending weeks developing a repertoire of original tunes. The resulting album, Song X, aimed to blend elements of free jazz and fusion, exploring melodic improvisation unbound by traditional harmonic or rhythmic structures.[6][7] Haden and DeJohnette joined for the sessions, contributing to a sound that emphasized collective exploration over conventional song forms.[6]Preparation
In late 1985, Pat Metheny and Ornette Coleman undertook an intensive preparation phase for Song X, spanning approximately four to five weeks of daily collaborative sessions lasting eight to ten hours each in New York City. These gatherings allowed the duo to build a deep musical rapport, experimenting with ideas and honing the album's free jazz aesthetic through extended improvisation and dialogue. Metheny later described the period as transformative, emphasizing how it fostered a shared language between his structured harmonic approach and Coleman's harmolodic improvisation.[6] The rehearsals began with a core trio of Metheny on guitar, Coleman on saxophone and violin, and Denardo Coleman on drums, focusing on outlining "heads"—the main thematic motifs—for the prospective tracks. This intimate setup enabled rapid development of improvisational frameworks, with the participants jamming extensively to explore rhythmic and melodic possibilities without rigid notation. After these core rehearsals, the group added the full rhythm section of Haden and DeJohnette shortly before recording, with limited additional preparation.[8] Central to the lineup selection was bassist Charlie Haden, Coleman's longtime collaborator since their groundbreaking work in the late 1950s on albums like Something Else!!!! (1958), whose intuitive acoustic style provided a stable yet flexible foundation. Drummer Jack DeJohnette was brought in for his versatile swing and textural contributions, marking a fresh pairing with Coleman, while Denardo Coleman handled percussion duties on select pieces, adding familial synergy and explosive energy. This configuration accommodated the project's blend of acoustic tradition and avant-garde exploration.[9][2] Metheny utilized his Synclavier guitar synthesizer extensively across Song X, allowing for real-time manipulation of guitar tones to complement Coleman's raw saxophone lines and violin excursions.[10]Recording and production
Studio sessions
The recording sessions for Song X occurred over an intensive three-day period from December 12 to 14, 1985, at The Power Station studio in New York City.[1] Produced by Pat Metheny, the sessions were engineered by Jan-Erik Kongshaug, who oversaw the live tracking to capture the musicians' real-time interactions.[1] The schedule emphasized spontaneity, with the ensemble—featuring Metheny on guitar, Ornette Coleman on alto saxophone and violin, Charlie Haden on bass, and drummers Jack DeJohnette and Denardo Coleman—performing extended improvisations in the free jazz tradition.[2] Minimal overdubs were employed to preserve the raw energy and improvisational flow, reflecting the album's roots in Coleman's harmolodics and the prior rehearsals that honed the group's chemistry.[3] A key challenge during tracking involved balancing Coleman's piercing alto saxophone lines with Metheny's electric guitar tones, prompting Metheny to incorporate a guitar synthesizer for a more saxophone-like timbre in their dueling exchanges.[11] These dynamics contributed to the album's edgy, collective sound, where individual solos intertwined without rigid structures. The sessions yielded the original eight tracks that formed the core of the 1986 release, including title track "Song X" and "Mob Job," while additional unreleased material from the dates was archived for later editions, such as the 2005 twentieth anniversary reissue.[3]Technical aspects
The recording of Song X was conducted live at The Power Station in New York City from December 12 to 14, 1985, utilizing digital technology for capture, mixing, and initial mastering.[12] This setup allowed for high-fidelity preservation of the ensemble's spontaneous interactions with minimal overdubs, reflecting the album's free jazz ethos.[13] Pat Metheny incorporated the Synclavier II digital synthesizer guitar to generate layered textures and unconventional timbres, particularly in tracks like "Endangered Species," where it amplified the frenetic dialogue between guitar and saxophone. The instrument's capabilities enabled Metheny to extend beyond traditional guitar sounds, contributing to the album's experimental edge through real-time synthesis and multi-tracking elements.[14] Mixing was overseen by producer Pat Metheny alongside engineers Jan-Erik Kongshaug, who also handled recording, and Rob Eaton, ensuring balanced integration of the acoustic and electronic components.[15] The original mastering occurred at Masterdisk in New York City.[12] For the 2005 twentieth anniversary edition, the album was remixed by Pat Metheny and remastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound, enhancing overall clarity, depth, and sonic detail to better suit modern playback systems while preserving the original's raw energy.[16] This process involved careful EQ adjustments and dynamic restoration, drawing on high-resolution sources for improved transparency.[5]Musical content
Style and themes
Song X exemplifies a fusion of free jazz and jazz fusion, rooted in Ornette Coleman's harmolodics theory, which emphasizes simultaneous yet independent lines of melody, harmony, and rhythm played by ensemble members without hierarchical roles.[17] This approach creates a non-traditional structure where musicians engage in collective improvisation, allowing for fluid emotional expression free from rigid bar lines or preselected chords.[17] Pat Metheny's contributions integrate melodic fusion elements through electric guitar and synth, adding rich sonorities that complement Coleman's jagged saxophone lines and "banshee bray," resulting in an exhilarating dialogue between the two lead instruments.[18][19] The album's innovative soundscape is uncluttered, prioritizing space for spontaneous interplay over dense solos, as seen in extended tracks that showcase streaking motifs and lightning-fast responses between saxophone and guitar.[20][18] For instance, the 13-minute "Endangered Species" builds a militant intensity with high screams and relentless attacks, evolving from harmonious contours to jagged, passionate exchanges that highlight Metheny's assimilation of Coleman's breakthroughs.[17] This setup fosters a sense of abstract freedom, where the music coheres despite differing keys, rhythms, and melodies, reflecting harmolodics' social dialectic between individual and communal expression.[17] Thematically, the album's track "Endangered Species" explores themes of environmental peril and a fighting spirit against destruction through a dense, violent yet joyful cacophony that incites panic and euphoria.[17] Tracks like "Mob Job" evoke urban mobility with unison shadowing of phrases, blending mechanical precision and emotional fluidity.[17] Overall, the album prioritizes collective exploration over individual spotlighting, embodying free jazz's liberating ethos while incorporating fusion's textural depth.[19][21]Track listing
The original 1986 edition of Song X features eight tracks, primarily composed by Ornette Coleman with several co-written by Pat Metheny, for a total runtime of 48 minutes and 26 seconds.[4][2]| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Song X | Ornette Coleman | 5:36 |
| 2 | Mob Job | Ornette Coleman | 4:07 |
| 3 | Endangered Species | Ornette Coleman, Pat Metheny | 13:16 |
| 4 | Video Games | Ornette Coleman | 5:17 |
| 5 | Kathelin Gray | Ornette Coleman, Pat Metheny | 4:13 |
| 6 | Trigonometry | Ornette Coleman, Pat Metheny | 5:08 |
| 7 | Song X Duo | Ornette Coleman, Pat Metheny | 3:10 |
| 8 | Long Time No See | Ornette Coleman | 7:39 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Police People | Ornette Coleman (improv form: Pat Metheny) | 4:57 |
| 2 | All of Us | Ornette Coleman | 0:15 |
| 3 | The Good Life | Ornette Coleman (improv form: Pat Metheny) | 3:25 |
| 4 | Word from Bird | Ornette Coleman | 3:48 |
| 5 | Compute | Ornette Coleman | 2:03 |
| 6 | The Veil | Ornette Coleman | 3:42 |
| 7 | Song X | Ornette Coleman | 5:34 |
| 8 | Mob Job | Ornette Coleman | 4:11 |
| 9 | Endangered Species | Ornette Coleman, Pat Metheny | 13:18 |
| 10 | Video Games | Ornette Coleman | 5:20 |
| 11 | Kathelin Gray | Ornette Coleman, Pat Metheny | 4:31 |
| 12 | Trigonometry | Ornette Coleman, Pat Metheny | 5:05 |
| 13 | Song X Duo | Ornette Coleman, Pat Metheny | 3:07 |
| 14 | Long Time No See | Ornette Coleman | 7:38 |