Free jazz

Style · 1956-1975 · New York · Avant-garde and collectives

A break with harmonic grids. Ornette Coleman, Free Jazz (rec. December 21, 1960), Cecil Taylor, Albert Ayler. October Revolution in Jazz (Oct. 1-4, 1964), ESP-Disk (1963), Impulse! (1960).

How to recognize it by ear

• No imposed chord changes: the track no longer follows a succession of chords fixed in advance, and sometimes no key at all.
• A pulse that frees itself: the tempo can disappear, return, speed up. The drums converse with the soloists rather than keep time.
• Collective improvisation: several musicians play at the same time instead of taking turns. This is the principle of Free Jazz (1960), played by a double quartet.
• New timbres: cries, breaths, raw sounds. The sound counts as much as the note.
• Different schools: Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, then Coltrane, Ayler, and Sanders do not play the same music. The debate over these three branches remains open.

Where to start

• Lonely Woman — Ornette Coleman (1959, Advanced): A slow lament, almost sung: one of Ornette Coleman's most accessible tracks.
• Theme de Yoyo — Art Ensemble of Chicago (1970, Classic): A short, rhythmic piece by the Art Ensemble of Chicago (1970), showing the danceable side of the style.
• Free Jazz — Ornette Coleman Double Quartet (1960, Advanced): About 37 minutes for double quartet: one to try once you are comfortable with the rest.
• Levels and Degrees of Light — Muhal Richard Abrams (1967, Advanced): The Chicago side: textures, silences, and collective work, by way of the AACM.

Free jazz and modal jazz

Modal jazz lightens the chord changes but keeps a frame: a scale, a pulse. Free jazz gives up the frame itself. Many musicians move from one to the other, Coltrane foremost, between A Love Supreme (1965) and his last records.

What is still debated

Three branches to distinguish: Coleman, Taylor, Coltrane-Ayler-Sanders.

Where it comes from

• Tristano School
• Bebop (Minton's, Monroe's)
• Modal

What it gave rise to or influenced

• Spiritual jazz
• AACM
• Collectives and lofts (BAG, loft jazz)
• ECM and European jazz
• South African jazz
• Japanese jazz
• Fusion, jazz-rock, jazz-funk
• Harmolodic funk, Prime Time
• Downtown New York, No Wave
• Free improvisation and European free
• Krautjazz (German jazz-rock)
• Turkish and Anatolian jazz
• Current scene (New York, Chicago, worldwide)

Artists

• Max Roach (1924–2007, drums)
• John Coltrane (1926–1967, tenor and soprano saxophones)
• Alice Coltrane (1937–2007, harp, piano, organ)
• Charles Mingus (1922–1979, double bass, composition)
• Ornette Coleman (1930–2015, alto saxophone)
• Sun Ra (1914–1993, keyboards)
• Pharoah Sanders (1940–2022, tenor saxophone)
• Abbey Lincoln (1930–2010, vocals)
• Carla Bley (1936–2023, piano, organ, composition)
• Michel Portal (1935–2026, clarinet, saxophone, bandoneon)
• Emile Parisien (1982, soprano saxophone)
• Paul Motian (1931–2011, drums)
• Enrico Rava (1939, trumpet)
• Sam Rivers (1923–2011, tenor and soprano saxophones, bass clarinet, flute, piano)
• Sunny Murray (1936–2017, drums)
• Roscoe Mitchell (1940, saxophones, flute, clarinet)
• Henri Texier (1945, double bass)
• Krzysztof Komeda (1931–1969, piano, composition)
• Chris McGregor (1936–1990, piano, composition, conducting)
• Aldo Romano (1941, drums, guitar)
• Misha Mengelberg (1935–2017, piano, composition)
• William Parker (composition)
• Clusone Trio (alto saxophone, clarinet, cello, drums)
• Ernst Reijseger (1954, cello)

Sources

• EN : Free jazz

Facts checked against these pages (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA). Method and licenses

The editorial sections of this page (how to listen, where to start, landmarks) are written by Jazzency and are being proofread.