Our undercover correspondent has provided us with a report of last nights event at the National Arts 
Club. Stanley Bard doesn't know why he was invited, but, surprise suprise the
breaking news was he loves the Chelsea. (Update -- Our neighbor, Rachel Cohen, has just stopped by and given us a copy of an original poster from Ornette: Made in America. Update II - Rachel and her son Just sent us a better image to post.)
I arrived after the buffet, for the (free) talks and Shirley Clarke film. Stanley was there with his wife and (according to what the speakers indicated--I couldn't tell from the back) Michele and Stanley's five grandchildren. Linda Troeller and her husband were also there. The room was full, but I didn't recognize any of the other people. Most of them were over age 50. The representative from the NAC mentioned that someone from The New Yorker was in the audience. Also Adrienne Mancia, a former film curator at MOMA now at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. A surprise guest was expected, but he wouldn't say who it was.
He introduced Dr. Carole Chazin, the "fire behind this Chelsea program." It turns out that she was the one who came up with the idea of putting up a bronze plaque for Shirley Clarke, and who saw the entire process through, with a little help from Stanley and others. She was relentless, which is the only reason it's getting done. The idea came out of a conversation she had with Adrienne Mancia. The two women had agreed that it was ridiculous that there were no women honored by a plaque on the hotel facade, and agreed that one woman who should be so honored was Shirley Clarke. Carole then turned thought into action. "I think we should all have a legacy of some kind," she said. This plaque was hers.
Carole then pushed Ornette Coleman's new CD, "Sound Grammar" and Ken Burns' documentary about jazz. She pointed out that Shirley Clarke was this month's New York Women in Film cover girl (on their newsletter, apparently). Suddenly, the surprise guest--Ornette Coleman--arrived in person, in a very dapper blue-and-green plaid suit, with a ravishing blond named (I think--sorry, I don't know Ornette's personal history) Michaela. He looked great. Carole was very happy and relieved that he showed up. Everyone applauded. He took a seat in the audience.
Stanley was introduced. Stanley said that he didn't really know why he was invited. But he couldn’t resist a wonderful dinner, because he often skipped meals at work at the hotel. But the real reason he had to come to the event was that Carole promised him that Ornette Coleman would be there.
Stanley went on for quite a while about what a wonderful musician Ornette is. He also said that the National Arts Club reminded him very much of the Chelsea. And, looking back on his life with the hotel, remarked that he had had no idea when his father first asked him to come and work with him that he'd spend his life running the place. He hated it at first. His friends worked eight-hour days and "I can't tell you how much I envied them." But he thought his father was perfect, so he followed orders. Now, he said, he's 72 and should be working a little less. But he loves being in the Chelsea Hotel.
Then Matthew Postal of the Landmarks Commission spoke. "These buildings need to be kept alive by the people who use them," he said, among other similar things.
Finally, Ornette Coleman spoke. He said Shirley Clarke would never take no for an answer. She knew right from wrong. And she didn't know what 'cheap' was. About music, he said, "Whatever the idea is, it's never something you can tell to another person and have them be sure what it is, so...just play the music." He concluded by saying something like, "Love, belief, and appreciation keep us all alive, day by day..."
Then Shirley Clarke's film, "Ornette: Made In America," was shown. In it, Ornette talked a lot about how Buckminster Fuller was his idol ever since high school. He was blown away by the geodeisic dome. "This is how I write music!" Ornette wanted to be an architect, but didn't have money for college, so became a jazz musician instead.
The film includes a scene in which Ornette Coleman, William Burroughs and Brion Gysin reminisce about Coleman's early-Seventies trip to Morocco to hear and play music. Burroughs was also shown reading at the Caravan of Dreams opening, saying, among other things, "Every man is a god, if you can qualify..."
The film itself is wonderful, of course. Colorful, lyrical, dancelike in typical Shirley Clarke style. Very funny sequences of white symphony musicians in Fort Worth Coleman's hometown) trying to
get with Coleman's band's music. Also some animation of Coleman on the moon, and bicycling around inside the shuttle as the astronauts go through their daily routine. (Coleman had been asked by NASA if he'd be open to going into space sometime.)
I ducked out as the credits rolled, so that's all I have to tell. Overall, it was a nice evening, kind of sweet, but pretty mild in tone. I'd say there were about 50 or so people at the film.
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