Prime Time | |
|---|---|
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1975–1995 |
| Labels | Horizon Records Artists House Antilles Records Portrait Records Harmolodic/Verve Records |
| Past members | Charles Ellerbee Jamaaladeen Tacuma Denardo Coleman Kenny Wessel Bern Nix Ronald Shannon Jackson Albert MacDowell Sabir Kamal Dave Bryant |
Prime Time was a band formed by Ornette Coleman in 1975[1] featuring two electric guitarists, two drummers, and occasionally two electric bassists alongside Coleman's saxophone.[2][3][4] The band utilized Harmolodics to create their music.[3] Founding members included guitarist Bern Nix, guitarist Charles Ellerbee, bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma, drummer Denardo Coleman (Ornette's son) [1] and drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson.[5][6] Later members including bassist Albert MacDowell and drummer Sabir Kamal.[1]
The band's first album was Dancing in Your Head.[1] Their 1988 album, Virgin Beauty, was their most successful going to number two on Billboard magazine’s jazz chart and has sold more in its first year than any previous Coleman record.[2] The album featured Jerry Garcia on guitar, which granted Coleman and Prime Time a cross-over audience of Deadheads.[2] Prime Time later opened for Grateful Dead in 1993 at Oakland Coliseum.[7]
In 2017, two years after Ornette Coleman's death, his son Denardo reunited Prime Time for a concert at Alice Tully Hall in tribute to Ornette Coleman and Bern Nix.[8]
