ORNETTE COLEMAN
was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre.
Talking with Ornette
Twelve years old and my little friend from Harlem had never been to a museum to see beauty! I took a group of kids to go see the Egyptian art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was the birthday of Doupie Norford and he sat in the middle of the room of the museum like a Buddha with his legs folded. He closed his eyes and he sat there for five minutes in silence in front of the Egyptian door. When he got up he said, “Martine, I didn’t know the Egyptians did so much beauty.” That’s what he said! And, he did not care about the visitors around him or anything else. He cared about feeling the beauty. That was one of the most beautiful presents that I got in my life.
Ornette was very important in my life for many, many years. We had planned to do a big show where kids were going to be involved.
Ornette Coleman sketched some logo ideas for me. It was his desire that I have a logo that represented both my name and what my photography stands for. He worked very hard for a whole afternoon.
He always told me, "Don’t tell me what you want, tell me what you need.”
Ornette took this picture of me.
A few days before Ornette died, I made for him little prints of the pictures I took of him and he enjoyed to play with them.