Prime Time (band)

Prime Time
Genres
Years active1975–1995, 2017
LabelsHorizon Records
Artists House
Antilles Records
Portrait Records
Harmolodic/Verve Records
Past membersCharles Ellerbee
Jamaaladeen Tacuma
Denardo Coleman
Kenny Wessel
Bern Nix
Ronald Shannon Jackson
Albert MacDowell
Sabir Kamal
Dave Bryant

Prime Time was an American free funk band formed by Ornette Coleman in 1975.[1][2][3][4] The band utilized Coleman's theory of harmolodics to create their music.[3] Founding members included guitarists Bern Nix and guitarist Charles Ellerbee, bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma, and drummers Denardo Coleman and Ronald Shannon Jackson.[1][5][6] Later members included bassist Albert MacDowell and drummer Sabir Kamal.[1]

Ornette's first album with Prime Time was Dancing in Your Head, released in 1977.[1] Their 1988 album Virgin Beauty, which featured guest appearances by Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia, was their most successful, peaking at number two on Billboard Jazz Albums chart and selling more in its first year than any previous Coleman record.[2] Prime Time would later open for Grateful Dead at a 1993 concert at the Oakland Coliseum.[7]

In 2017, two years after Ornette's death, Denardo reunited Prime Time for a concert at Alice Tully Hall in tribute to both Ornette and Bern Nix, who had died earlier that year.[8]

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

References

  1. ^ a b c d Palmer, Robert (July 16, 1986). "The Pop Life; Ornette Coleman's Music Develops in Prime Time". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 2, 2013. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Fricke, David (March 8, 1989). "Ornette Coleman's Time". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 12, 2019. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Davis, Francis (September 1985). "Ornette's Permanent Revolution". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  4. ^ Jones, Mickey IQ (June 26, 2016). "How Ornette Coleman's Prime Time broke the rules and influenced generations". Fact. Archived from the original on August 19, 2018. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  5. ^ Tamarkin, Jeff (October 19, 2013). "Drummer & Composer Ronald Shannon Jackson Dies at 73". Jazz Times. Archived from the original on May 24, 2024. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  6. ^ Shteamer, Hank (April 2014). "In Memoriam: Ronald Shannon Jackson". Modern Drummer. Archived from the original on August 12, 2019. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  7. ^ "Ornette and Grateful Dead". WCBN. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  8. ^ Chinen, Nate (July 13, 2017). "Denardo Coleman Reunites Prime Time, In Harmolodic Tribute to His Father, Ornette". WBGO. Archived from the original on May 7, 2018. Retrieved November 18, 2019.