By 1961, when Free Jazz was released, alto saxophonist and composer Ornette Coleman was infamous in the jazz world. His searing alto sax and full-ensemble take on melody were assailed by critics. Free Jazz only furthered Coleman's infamy, with its seamless, seemingly atonal high energy and wholesale lack of a melodic or harmonic center. For the session, Coleman assembled two complete quartets and had them play the same music opposite each other, with diving power and a kind of strange grace usually associated with acoustic blues. The music is raw and incisive, with sharp tones and biting solos appearing amidst propulsive rhythms that still seem whispery in their swishing shuffle. This recording helped cast the 1960s--and every decade since--in jazz. It drew a line in the sand, and critics, fans, and musicians are still haggling over the line today. --Andrew Bartlett
Free Jazz (A Collective Improvisation),Ornette Coleman Double Quartet,Atlantic / Wea,Avant-Garde,Avant-Garde Jazz,Free Jazz,Jazz,Jazz Music,Pop
Jazz Music:
- Glenn Miller [Import]
- Heavy Days Are Here Again
- Heavy Nights [Import]
- Here's to My Lady [Hybrid SACD]
- Idle Moments
- In Person: Friday & Saturday Nights Complete [Box set] [Import]
- Integrale Django Reinhardt, Vol. 8: 1938-1939
- It Just Got to Be [Import]
- Jazz Corps Featuring Roland Kirk
- Jim Ridl's Door In a Field
Jazz Music
Pierre Fournier Plays Beethoven
Music: Nancy Wilson & Cannonball Adderley
Round & Round [CD-single] [Import]
Officially Missing You [CD-single]
Maxximum [Limited Edition] [Import]
One Drop in a Dry World [Import]
Morton Feldman: String Quartet No. 2 [Box set]