Prime Time was a band formed by

Ornette Coleman Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Jazz: A Colle ...

in 1975 featuring two electric guitarists, two drummers, and occasionally two electric bassists alongside Coleman's saxophone. The band utilized

Harmolodics Harmolodics is a musical philosophy and method of musical composition and improvisation developed by American jazz saxophonist-composer Ornette Coleman. His work following this philosophy during the late 1970s and 1980s inspired a style of forwa ...

to create their music. Founding members included guitarist

Bern Nix Bern Nix (September 21, 1947 – May 31, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist. He recorded and performed with Ornette Coleman from 1975 to 1987, notably with guitarist Charlie Ellerbee in Coleman's Prime Time group on their key recordings, inc ...

, guitarist Charles Ellerbee, bassist

Jamaaladeen Tacuma Jamaaladeen Tacuma (born Rudy McDaniel; June 11, 1956) is an American free jazz bassist born in Hempstead, New York. He was a bandleader on the Gramavision label and worked with Ornette Coleman during the 1970s and 1980s, mostly in Coleman's Pr ...

, drummer

Denardo Coleman Denardo Ornette Coleman (born April 19, 1956) is an American jazz drummer. He is the son of Ornette Coleman and Jayne Cortez. Biography Born to Jayne Cortez and Ornette Coleman in Los Angeles, California, in 1956,

(Ornette's son) and drummer

Ronald Shannon Jackson Ronald Shannon Jackson (January 12, 1940 – October 19, 2013) was an American jazz drummer from Fort Worth, Texas. A pioneer of avant-garde jazz, free funk, and jazz fusion, he appeared on over 50 albums as a bandleader, sideman, arranger, and ...

. Later members including bassist Albert MacDowell and drummer Sabir Kamal. The band's first album was ''

Dancing in Your Head ''Dancing in Your Head'' is a studio album by jazz artist Ornette Coleman, released in 1977 by Horizon Records. Recording "Theme from a Symphony" was the first recording to feature Coleman's electric band, which later became known as Prime ...

''. Their 1988 album, ''

Virgin Beauty ''Virgin Beauty'' is an album by Ornette Coleman and his Prime Time ensemble. It was released by Portrait Records in 1988. Three of the album's tracks feature guitarist Jerry Garcia, whose involvement with the recording can be traced back to Se ...

'', was their most successful going to number two on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine’s

jazz chart A chord chart (or chart) is a form of musical notation that describes the basic harmonic and rhythmic information for a song or tune. It is the most common form of notation used by professional session musicians playing jazz or popular music. I ...

and has sold more in its first year than any previous Coleman record. The album featured

Jerry Garcia Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician best known for being the principal songwriter, lead guitarist, and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence ...

on guitar, which granted Coleman and Prime Time a cross-over audience of

Deadhead A Deadhead or Dead Head is a fan of the American rock band the Grateful Dead. In the 1970s, a number of fans began travelling to see the band in as many shows or festival venues as they could. With large numbers of people thus attending strings o ...

s. Prime Time later opened for

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

in 1993 at

Oakland Coliseum Oakland Coliseum, currently branded as RingCentral Coliseum, is a stadium in Oakland, California. It is part of the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Complex, with the adjacent Oakland Arena, near Interstate 880. The Coliseum is the home ba ...

. In 2017, two years after Ornette Coleman's death, his son Denardo reunited Prime Time for a concert at

Alice Tully Hall Alice Tully Hall is a concert hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in the Upper West Side neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The hall is named for Alice Tully, a New York performer and philanthropist whose donations assist ...

in tribute to Ornette Coleman and Bern Nix.

Discography

Studio albums

*''

'' (1976) *'' Body Meta'' (1978) *''

Of Human Feelings ''Of Human Feelings'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader Ornette Coleman. It was recorded on April 25, 1979, at CBS Studios in New York City with his band Prime Time, which featured guitarists Charlie Ellerbee ...

'' (1979) *''

In All Languages ''In All Languages'' is a 1987 double album by Ornette Coleman. Coleman and the other members of his 1950s quartet, trumpeter Don Cherry, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Billy Higgins, performed on one of the two records, while his electr ...

'' (1987) *''

'' (1988) *''

Tone Dialing Dual-tone multi-frequency signaling (DTMF) is a telecommunication signaling system using the voice-frequency band over telephone lines between telephone equipment and other communications devices and switching centers. DTMF was first developed ...

'' (1995)

Live albums

*'' Opening the Caravan of Dreams'' (1985)

References

External links

Prime Time discography
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{Authority control American jazz ensembles Jazz fusion ensembles Jazz musicians from New York (state) Musical groups established in 1975 Musical groups from New York City