Report On Musical Impressions

"(Lonely Woman by Ornette Coleman)", "(Willisau Concert, Part 3 by Cecil Taylor)" and "(Ghosts by Albert Ayler)", The Civil Rights Movement had various standard bearers in the struggle for equal rights across the colour line but music perhaps is the least well known of these. Ornette Coleman’s ‘Lonely Woman’ is a haunting piece containing several crooning sounds with the orchestral backing extremely effective. The woodwind and string sounds almost recreate the sounds of the Mississippi Delta where racial injustice was probably the most pronounced in the United States. Coleman’s voice contains typical African American tones which almost send a shiver down one’s spine. I felt very sad when listening to the music since it brought back the haunting memories of the violence which perpetrated the Deep South in the 1950’s and 1960’s and which ran unchecked with the complicity of local authorities. It is a powerful music statement full of compassion and at the same time, proud dignity.
Cecil Taylor’s work is similarly effusive and dramatic at the same time. The Willisau Concert uses the orchestral and jazz tapestry very effectively throughout with several instruments creating extremely haunting tones. The performance is very professional although the sound quality occasionally leaves something to be desired. Again it is a wonderful description of the racial injustice which permeated the South in those heady years.
Finally, ‘Ghosts’ by Albert Ayler is similarly haunting and expressive. It almost makes you recall the ghosts of those who perished in the struggle for civil rights, personages such as Emmett Till and the three boys murdered in the dead of the night in Neshoba County, Mississippi. A powerful and at times deeply emotional statement indeed.
All three pieces are a testament to the struggle for justice in the 1960’s and are essential for those who have this period at heart.