Body Meta
title: "Body Meta" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1978-albums", "ornette-coleman-albums", "artists-house-albums"] topic_path: "arts/music" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_Meta" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox album|"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Body Meta |
| type | Studio album |
| artist | Ornette Coleman |
| cover | Body Meta.jpg |
| released | 1978 |
| recorded | December 19, 1976 |
| genre | Harmolodic funk |
| length | 39:22 |
| label | Artists House |
| producer | Ornette Coleman |
| prev_title | Soapsuds, Soapsuds |
| prev_year | 1977 |
| next_title | Of Human Feelings |
| next_year | 1982 |
| :: |
| name = Body Meta | type = Studio album | artist = Ornette Coleman | cover = Body Meta.jpg | alt = | released = 1978 | recorded = December 19, 1976 | venue = | studio = | genre = Harmolodic funk | length = 39:22 | label = Artists House | producer = Ornette Coleman | prev_title = Soapsuds, Soapsuds | prev_year = 1977 | next_title = Of Human Feelings | next_year = 1982 Body Meta is an album by Ornette Coleman and Prime Time, released in 1978.
Reception
| rev1 = AllMusic | rev1Score = |rev4 = The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | rev4Score = | rev5 = The Village Voice | rev5Score = A− |rev3 = The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings |rev3score = Robert Christgau wrote: "Hidden in Coleman's dense electric music are angles deep enough to dive into and sharp enough to cut your throat. This isn't quite as dense or consistent as Dancing in Your Head -- 'Fou Amour' does wander. But 'Voice Poetry' is as funky as James Chance if not James Brown. And 'Home Grown' is as funky as Robert Johnson." The Globe and Mail noted that "a lot of things could be said about the band—it doesn't swing (rarely even rocks), it's cacophonous, strident and lacking in dynamics—but it also must be acknowledged that it's what Coleman wants."
Writing for Fact, Frank Schindelbeck stated: "While many regard Dancing [In Your Head] to be the key Prime Time document, in my opinion it's Body Meta that first showed the full depth of Ornette's new band. The inaugural release on Coleman's own Artists House label, Body Meta touches on juke joint blues vamps, cubist refractions of James Brown's 'on the one' style, and even militaristic waltzes. It is perhaps the most loose-limbed and deceptively relaxed of any release featuring the Prime Time band, who were known for their taut intensity. The album is also hugely important in that by setting up the Artists House label, Coleman showed that an artist of his stature and reputation could operate outside of the confines of major label hierarchy, ushering in a new era of independent and underground jazz distribution." In a review for AllMusic, Michael G. Nastos wrote that the musicians on Body Meta are "loud, boisterous, imaginative, unfettered by conventional devices, and wail beyond compare with Coleman within relatively funky, straight beats." Regarding the album, he stated: "As every track is different, Coleman's vision has a diffuse focus, but it's clear that things have changed. Even his personal sound is more pronounced, unleashed from shackles, and more difficult to pin down."
Track listing
All tracks composed by Ornette Coleman
Side A
- "Voice Poetry" – 8:00
- "Home Grown" – 7:36
Side B
- "Macho Woman" – 7:35
- "Fou Amor" – 8:01
- "European Echoes" – 7:40
Personnel
- Ornette Coleman - Saxophone, Alto Saxophone
- Charlie Ellerbie - Guitar
- Ronald Shannon Jackson - Drums
- Bern Nix - Guitar
- Jamaaladeen Tacuma - Bass
- Elisabeth Atnafu - Artwork
References
References
- McCord, Jeff. (November 22, 1996). "Independent Yet Empathic: Jazz Legend Ornette Coleman". [[The Austin Chronicle]].
- Nastos, Michael G.. "Ornette Coleman: Body Meta".
- (1985). "The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide". Random House/Rolling Stone.
- Christgau, Robert. (May 28, 1979). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". [[The Village Voice]].
- (2008). "[[The Penguin Guide to Jazz". [[Penguin Books.
- (2 June 1979). "Body Meta". The Globe and Mail.
- Schindelbeck, Frank. (June 23, 2015). "How Ornette Coleman's Prime Time broke the rules and influenced generations: Body Meta".
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