Lonely Woman - the list (update December 2008)

Well then, here it is : my list (and collection) of Lonely Woman covers. This song by Ornette Coleman is for me one of the most beautiful compositions ever. It is musically so complete, with a wonderful melody, heart-breaking, sad, with a dramatic crescendo, a moment of hope, then back to despair, the music halts at moments like someone unable to speak through her tears, ... absolutely phenomenal how with so few notes such rich emotions can be created, rich in nuance, without being mellow, and I've listened to this song hundreds of times without getting tired of it. And it must be said, you can't kill this song. Even Diamanda Galas is not able to. But let's not get too negative : there are absolutely superb versions of this song. Better than the original, harder, rawer, richer, ... and I even gave five versions the maximum of five stars, two in which Don Cherry performs. And these five versions are all longer than 10 or even 15 minutes. For each performer I indicated also the album on which the song is to be found.

Do you know more of them? Send me a comment with suggestions. I wish you lots of joy and sadness ...

*****
8 Bold Souls – Side Show
Ahmed Abdullah’s Ebonic Tones – Tara’s Song
Old & New Dreams – Old & New Dreams
Charlie Haden/Don Cherry/Ed Blackwell – The Montreal Tapes
Hugh Ragin – Metaphysical Question
Guido Mazzon - Other Line
Trio X - Live In Vilnius

****
Ornette Coleman – The Shape Of Jazz To Come
Charlie Haden’s Quartet West – In Angel City
Trio X – Roulette At Location One
Trio X – Moods : Playing With The Elements
Stephanie Winters – Through The Storm (classical cello solo)
Double U – The Glands of External Secretion (slide guitar, blues)
Bill Carrothers & Marc Copland – No Choice
Lester Bowie – Fast Last
Assif Tsahar - Open Systems
Branford Marsalis - Random Abstract
Marcin Oles - Ornette On Bass (3 versions of bass solo)
Vandermark 5 - Alchemia
Juhani Aaltonen Trio - Illusion Of A Ballad
Oles/Trzaska/Oles - Danziger Strassenmuzik
Claudio Cojaniz & Gianarlo Schiaffini - War Orphans
Stephan Oliva & Claude Tchamitchian - Huit Femmes
Stephan Oliva & Jean-Marc Foltz - Huit Femmes
João Lencastre's Communion - One
Waclaw Zimpel, Wojtek Traczyk, Robert Rasz - The Light
Aki Takase & Silke Eberhard - Ornette Coleman Anthology
Miroslav Vitous Group - Remembering Weather Report
Gebhard Ullmann and Andreas Willers - Suite Noire

***
John Zorn – Naked City
Larry Schneider Quartet – Ornettology
Natraj – The Goat Also Gallops (world jazz)
Radka Toneff – Live In Hamburg (vocal)
Kronos Quartet – White Man Sleeps (modern classical)
Mark Doyle – Guitar Noir (rock)
Michael Bisio & Joe McPhee – Fingers Wrigglers (1) (free)
Michael Bisio & Joe McPhee – Fingers Wrigglers (2) (free)
Don Cherry – Featuring Ornette Coleman & Steve Lacy
Joe Giardullo & Michael Bisio – Primal Intentions
Dave Goldberg – Jazz Standard
Tango Lorca – Mujer Sola (tango)
Astrosonic - Speeder People
Fred Hersch - Evanescence
Hugh Hopper - Hopper Tunity Box
Gary Bartz & Sonny Fortune - Alto Memories
Hellen Merrill & Dick Katz - A Shade Of Difference
HR Big Band - Plays The Music Of Ornette Coleman
Juhani Aaltonen Trio - Illusion Of A Ballad
Modern Jazz Quartet - Lonely Woman
Marzette Watz - Lonely Woman
Quest - Quest
Terence Blanchard - Simply Stated
Willem Breuker Kollectief - Thirst
Kyle Bruckman - Wrack
Peter Brötzmann - 14 Love Poems
SF Jazz Collective - Inaugural Season Live 2004
Sunny Murray - Perles Noires
Otomo Yoshihide - Lonely Woman
James Blood Ulmer - Music Speaks Louder Than Words
Renaud Garcia-Fons & Gérard Marais - Acoustic Songs (guitar/bass duo)
Denison Kimball Trio - Soul Machine
Charlie Haden & Jim Hall
Jacques Berrocal - Catalogue
Elsner/Räther/Maichel - The Song Is You
Basquiat Strings - Basquiat Strings
Sophia Domancich & Goubert Simon- You Don't Know What Love Is
Renata Friederich Close-Up - Lonely Woman
Ariel - 31 Bars
Kiyoshi Kitagawa - Prayer
Billy Bang - Bangception Willisau 1982
Jay Clayton - All Out
Charlie Haden - The Private Collection
Stephan Oliva & Suzanne Abbuehl - Huit Femmes
Marc Copland & Bill Carrothers - Huit Femmes
Stephan Oliva & Joey Baron - Huit Femmes
Bruno Angelini - Lonely Woman - Huit Femmes
Giovanni Mirabassi - Huit Femmes
Stephan Oliva & Linda Sharrock - Huit Femmes
Michael Bocian - Premonition
Greg Malcolm - Homesick For Nowhere (noise rock)
Denny Zeitlin - Live At The Trident
Sophia Domancich - Tirana Moods + You Don't Know What Love Is
Addax - Pa' Mi Gitana
Taarka - The Martian Picture Soundtrack
Linda Sharrock -

**
Big Tall Wish – Leverage (Rock – ambient)
Ken Peplowski – The Other Portrait (classical symphonic)
Claudine François – Lonely Woman
Borah Bergman & Hamid Drake – Reflections On Ornette Coleman
Cooke Quartet – Searching
John Lewis & Sven Asmussen - European Encounter
Dave Liebman – Ghosts (world)
Joshua Redman – Momentum
Pierre Dorge – Giraf
Guarneri Underground - New World
George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band - The MPS Years
Chris Conner - Free Spirit
Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Quintet
Janka Flachsman - Breath
Nancy Walker - Luminosity
Boel/Emborg/Vinding/Riel - Shadow Of Love
Steve Berrios And Son Bacheche - First World
Sergi Sirvent - Free Quartet
Magos Herrera, Iraida Noriega - Soliluna (vocal)
Amon Duul - Hijack (bizarre rock latin version)
Sheila Cooper - Tales Of Love And Longing (vocal)
Linda Sharrock - And She Answered (vocal)
Silvia Donati - Singing In The Brain (vocal)
Ryan Burns - Live At The Lab

*
Diamanda Gallas – La Serpenta Canta
Masayuki Takayanagi - Lonely Woman (solo electric guitar)
BB-Band - Odissey On Earth