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For the Ornette Coleman album after which this genre was named see Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation. Free Jazz A Collective Improvisation is an Album by Jazz saxophonist and Composer Ornette Coleman, recorded in 1960
Free jazz
Stylistic origins
Cultural origins
1950s in the United States
Typical instruments
Derivative forms Experimental rock

Free jazz is a movement of jazz music first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States The saxophone (commonly referred to simply as sax) is a conical- bored transposing Musical instrument considered a member of the Woodwind The trombone is a Musical instrument in the brass family Like all brass instruments it is a lip-reed Aerophone: sound is produced when the player’s The piano is a Musical instrument played by means of a keyboard that produces sound by striking steel strings with Felt covered hammers The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles The double bass is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed String instrument used in the modern symphony orchestra. A drum kit (also drum set or trap set) is a collection of Drums Cymbals and sometimes other Percussion instruments such as cowbells Experimental rock or avant-garde rock is a type of music based on rock which experiments with the basic elements of the genre and/or which pushes the boundaries Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States The 1950s Decade refers to the years of 1950 to 1959 inclusive The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969

Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the expressive possibilities of the jazz styles of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and '50s. Bebop or bop is a form of Jazz characterized by fast Tempos and Improvisation based on Harmonic structure rather than Melody Hard bop is a style of Jazz that is an extension of Bebop (or "bop" music Modal jazz is Jazz using Musical modes rather than chord progressions as its harmonic framework Each in his or her own way, free jazz musicians attempted to alter, extend, or break down the conventions of jazz, often by discarding hitherto invariable features of jazz, such as fixed chord changes or tempos. A chord progression (also chord sequence and harmonic progression or sequence) is a series of chords played in order 2266-Tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl or TEMPO is the Chemical compound with the formula (CH23(CMe22NO While usually considered experimental and avant-garde, it has also oppositely been conceived as an attempt to return jazz to its "primitive," often religious roots.

Free jazz is most strongly associated with the '50s innovations of Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor and the later works of saxophonist John Coltrane. Ornette Coleman (born March 9, 1930) is an American saxophonist Violinist Trumpeter and Composer. Cecil Percival Taylor (born March 15 or March 25, 1929 in New York City) is an American Pianist and poet Other important pioneers included Eric Dolphy, Albert Ayler, Archie Shepp, Bill Dixon, and Sun Ra. Eric Allan Dolphy ( June 20, 1928 &ndash June 29, 1964) was an American Jazz alto saxophonist, flautist, and Albert Ayler ( July 13, 1936 – November 1970 was an American avant-garde Jazz saxophonist, singer and Composer. Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is a prominent American Jazz Saxophonist. for the designer of Board games see Bill Dixon (game designer. Sun Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, Legal name Le Sony'r Ra;

Although today "free jazz" is the generally-used term, many other terms were used to describe the loosely-defined movement, including "avant-garde", "energy music" and "The New Thing" . Free-jazz players were often said to be playing "outside" or "out" (as opposed to "inside", that is, conventionally).

Contents

Definition

There is no universally accepted definition of free jazz, and any proposed definition is complicated by many musicians in other styles drawing on free jazz, or free jazz sometimes blending with other genres. Many musicians also tend to reject efforts at classification, regarding them as useless or unduly limiting.

Free jazz uses jazz idioms but generally considerably less compositional material than in most earlier styles — improvisation is essential, and whereas in earlier styles of jazz the improvised solos were always built according to a template provided by composed material (chord changes and melody), in free jazz the performers often range much more widely. Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States Musical composition is an original piece of Music the structure of a musical piece the process of creating a new Improvisation (also called extemporization) is the practice of acting singing talking and reacting of making and creating in the moment and in response to the stimulus of This article describes musical chords in traditional Western styles In Music, a melody (from Greek μελῳδία - melōidía, "singing chanting" also tune, voice, or Free jazz as a style has grown considerably since its inception, and the ability to improvise freely is a common skill. But, as guitarist Marc Ribot has remarked, free jazz musicians like Ornette Coleman and Albert Ayler, "although they were freeing up certain strictures of bebop, were in fact each developing new structures of composition. Marc Ribot ( born 21 May 1954 in Newark New Jersey) is an American Guitarist and Composer. Ornette Coleman (born March 9, 1930) is an American saxophonist Violinist Trumpeter and Composer. Albert Ayler ( July 13, 1936 – November 1970 was an American avant-garde Jazz saxophonist, singer and Composer. "[1]

Typically this kind of music is played by small groups of musicians, but some albums like John Coltrane's 1965 album Ascension, use larger groups (said album has 11). This article is about the John Coltrane album For other uses of the term see Ascension. Many critics, particularly at the music's inception, suspected that the abandonment of familiar elements of jazz pointed to a lack of technique on the part of the musicians. The word critic comes from the Greek el κριτικός ( el-Latn kritikós) "able to discern" which in turn derives from the word A musician is a person who plays or writes Music. Musicians can be classified by their roles in creating or performing music An instrumentalist plays a Many free jazz musicians, notably Pharoah Sanders and John Coltrane, use harsh overblowing techniques or otherwise elicit unconventional sounds from their instruments. Pharoah Sanders (born October 13, 1940 Today such views are more marginal, and the music has built up a tradition and a body of accompanying critical writing. It remains less commercially popular than most other forms of jazz. Popular music is Music belonging to any of a number of musical styles that are accessible to the general public and are disseminated by one or more

Beyond this, free jazz is most easily characterized in contrast with what we refer to here as "other forms of jazz", an umbrella which covers ragtime, dixieland, swing, bebop, cool jazz, jazz fusion, and other styles. Ragtime (alternately spelled Rag-time) is an American musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918 Dixieland or Dixie is a name for the southeastern portion of the USA; see Southern United States, Dixie. Swing music, also known as swing jazz, is a form of Jazz music that developed in the early 1930s and had solidified as a distinctive style by 1935 in the United Bebop or bop is a form of Jazz characterized by fast Tempos and Improvisation based on Harmonic structure rather than Melody Cool jazz is a Jazz style that emerged in the late 1940s in New York City. Fusion or more specifically jazz fusion or jazz rock, is a Musical genre that merges Jazz with elements of other styles of music particularly

Other forms of jazz use clear regular meters and strongly-pulsed rhythms, usually in 4/4 or (less often) 3/4. Meter or metre is a concept related to an underlying division of time characteristic of western music Rhythm (from Greek ῥυθμός - rhythmos, "any measured flow or movement symmetry" is the variation of the length and accentuation of Free jazz normally retains a general pulsation and often swings but without regular meter, and often with frequent accelerando and ritardando, giving an impression of the rhythm moving in waves. 2266-Tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl or TEMPO is the Chemical compound with the formula (CH23(CMe22NO A wave is a disturbance that propagates through Space and Time, usually with transference of Energy. Often players in an ensemble adopt different tempi. A musical ensemble is a group of two or more Musicians who perform instrumental or vocal Music. 2266-Tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl or TEMPO is the Chemical compound with the formula (CH23(CMe22NO Despite all of this, it is still very often possible to tap one's foot to a free jazz performance; rhythm is more freely variable but has not disappeared entirely. A performance, in Performing arts, generally comprises an event in which one group of people (the performer or performers behave in a particular way for another group of people

Other forms used harmonic structures (usually cycles of diatonic chords). In Acoustics and Telecommunication, the harmonic of a Wave is a component Frequency of the signal that is an Integer This article describes musical chords in traditional Western styles Improvisors played solos using notes based on the notes in the chords. Free jazz almost by definition dispenses with such structures, but also by definition (it is, after all, "jazz" as much as it is "free") it retains much of the language of earlier jazz playing. It is therefore very common to hear diatonic, altered dominant and blues phrases in this music. In Music, the dominant is the Fifth degree of the scale. For example in the C Major scale (white keys on a piano starting with C the The Blues is a vocal and instrumental form of Music based on the use of the Blue notes It emerged as an accessible form of self-expression It is also fairly common for free jazz songs to use an "open vamp" of one chord for solos, like Coltrane's later recordings of the song "Afro Blue" to underpin a performance (see modal jazz). The VaMP Driverless car was one of the first truly autonomous cars along with its twin vehicle the VITA-2. Modal jazz is Jazz using Musical modes rather than chord progressions as its harmonic framework In fact, many lead sheets of Ornette Coleman's compositions contain the instructions, e. g. "solos in B-flat; disregard the form. "

Finally, some forms use composed melodies as the basis for group performance and improvisation. Free jazz practitioners sometimes use such material, and sometimes do not. In some music which is called "free jazz", other compositional structures are employed, some of them very detailed and complex; the music of Anthony Braxton furnishes many examples. Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American Composer, saxophonist, Clarinettist flautist, pianist It would perhaps be best to call this modern or avant-garde jazz, reserving the term "free jazz" for music with few or no pre-composed elements. Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz) is a style of music and Improvisation that combines Avant-garde Art music and composition with

History

The earliest documented example of free-form improvisation is a pair of 1949 recordings for Capitol by a group led by Lennie Tristano, "Intuition" and "Digression. Leonard Joseph Tristano ( 19 March[[ 919]] - 18 November[[ 978]] was a Jazz Pianist and Composer. " These do not, however, seem to have had a direct influence on the later free jazz movement.

The mid-1950s recordings of Ornette Coleman for Contemporary (Something Else! and Tomorrow Is the Question) and the first two albums by Cecil Taylor (Jazz Advance and Looking Ahead) mark the beginnings of free jazz, though they still retain a hold on bebop and hard bop languages. Ornette Coleman (born March 9, 1930) is an American saxophonist Violinist Trumpeter and Composer. The movement received its biggest impetus (and its name), however, when Coleman moved from the West Coast to New York and was signed to Atlantic Records: albums such as The Shape of Jazz to Come and Change of the Century marked a radical step beyond his more conventional early work, and when he released a 1960 recording titled Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation, the name stuck to the movement as a whole. The Shape of Jazz to Come is an influential Album by Ornette Coleman. Change of the Century is an Album, recorded in 1959 and originally released in 1960 by Jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman (see Free Jazz A Collective Improvisation is an Album by Jazz saxophonist and Composer Ornette Coleman, recorded in 1960

Much of Sun Ra's music could be classified as free jazz, especially his work from the 1960s, although Sun Ra said repeatedly that his music was written and boasted that what he wrote sounded more free than what "the freedom boys" played. Sun Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, Legal name Le Sony'r Ra;

Some of bassist Charles Mingus' work was also important in establishing free jazz. Charles Mingus ( 22 April 1922 &ndash 5 January 1979) was an American Jazz Bassist, Composer, Of particular note are his early Atlantic albums, such as The Clown, Tijuana Moods, and most notably Pithecanthropus Erectus, the title song of which contained one section that was freely improvised in a style unrelated to the song's melody or chordal structure. Pithecanthropus Erectus is a 1956 Album by Jazz composer and Bassist Charles Mingus.

Since the mid-1950s, saxophonist Jackie McLean had been exploring a concept he called "The Big Room", where the often strict rules of bebop could be loosened or abandoned at will. John Lenwood (Jackie McLean ( May 17 1931 &ndash March 31 2006; some sources erroneously give 1932 as his year of birth was an American Bebop or bop is a form of Jazz characterized by fast Tempos and Improvisation based on Harmonic structure rather than Melody Similarly, Cecil Taylor, the most prominent free jazz pianist, began stretching the bop boundaries as early as 1956. Cecil Percival Taylor (born March 15 or March 25, 1929 in New York City) is an American Pianist and poet

The Jimmy Giuffre Trio (with Paul Bley and Steve Swallow) received little attention during their original incarnation from 1960-62, but afterwards were regarded as one of the most innovative free jazz ensembles. James Peter Giuffre ( April 26, 1921 &ndash April 24, 2008) was an American Jazz composer arranger and Saxophone Paul Bley, CM, (born November 10, 1932) is a Canadian Free jazz pianist. Steve Swallow (b October 4, 1940) is a Jazz Bass guitarist and Composer born in Fair Lawn New Jersey.

Eric Dolphy's work with Charles Mingus, John Coltrane, and Chico Hamilton, along with his solo work, helped to set the stage for free jazz in the music community. Chico Hamilton (born Foreststorn Hamilton on September 21, 1921, Los Angeles) is a jazz drummer and band leader

In Europe, free jazz first flowered through the experiments of expatriate Jamaican alto saxophonist Joe Harriott. Joseph Arthurlin 'Joe' Harriott (born July 15 1928 in Kingston Jamaica - died January 2 1973 in Southampton, Beginning in the late 1950s, he worked on his own distinctive concept of what he termed free form. These explorations were parallel to Coleman's in many respects but Harriott's work was barely known outside of England.

Free jazz has primarily been an instrumental genre. However, Jeanne Lee was a notable free jazz vocalist; others such as Sheila Jordan, Linda Sharrock, and Patty Waters also made notable contributions to the genre. Jeanne Lee (January 29 1939 - October 25 2000 was a Jazz singer Sheila Jordan (born Sheila Jeanette Dawson November 18 1928 in Detroit Michigan is an American Jazz singer and songwriter Linda Sharrock (also Lynda Sharrock) (born Linda Chambers, April 2, 1947, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American Patty Waters is a Jazz vocalist best known for her Free jazz recordings in the 1960s for the ESP-Disk label

Much of the multi-instrumentalist Anthony Braxton's music could be classified as free jazz. Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American Composer, saxophonist, Clarinettist flautist, pianist His Ghost Trance Music, which introduces a steady pulse to his music, also allows the simultaneous performance of any piece by the performers. Braxton has recorded with many of the free jazz musicians, including Ornette Coleman and European free improvisers such as Derek Bailey, Evan Parker, and the Globe Unity Orchestra.

The 1960s free jazz ethos was continued in the New York 1970s "loft jazz" scene (in locations such as Sam Rivers' Studio RivBea), and the 1980s "downtown" scene associated with places such as the Knitting Factory. A younger generation of players including David S. Ware, Matthew Shipp, William Parker and Joe Morris continued to play free jazz inspired by the ground-breaking work of the 1960s New Thing. David Spencer Ware (b Plainfield, New Jersey, November 7, 1949) is an American Jazz saxophonist. Matthew Shipp (born December 7, 1960) is an American Pianist, composer and bandleader William Parker may refer to Sportsmen Tony Parker, William Anthony Parker II, (born 1982 Belgian basketball player Joe Morris (born September 13, 1955) is an American Jazz Guitarist In addition to leading his own groups he has recorded with Like other styles of jazz, free jazz also adopted elements of contemporary rock, funk and pop music: Ornette Coleman was a leader in this vein, embracing electric music with his 1970s band Prime Time, and a number of other players including James Blood Ulmer, Sonny Sharrock, and Ronald Shannon Jackson forged styles combining elements of free jazz and fusion. James "Blood" Ulmer (born 2 February 1942 in St Matthews South Carolina) is an American Jazz and blues Warren Harding "Sonny" Sharrock ( August 27 1940 &ndash May 25 1994) was an American Jazz Guitarist Ronald Shannon Jackson (born January 12, 1940) is an American Jazz Drummer. Fusion or more specifically jazz fusion or jazz rock, is a Musical genre that merges Jazz with elements of other styles of music particularly

The 1981 documentary film Imagine the Sound explores free jazz through interviews with and performances by Archie Shepp, Paul Bley, Cecil Taylor and Bill Dixon. Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt in one fashion or another to " Document " reality Imagine the Sound is a 1981 Canadian Documentary film about Free jazz, directed by Ron Mann.

In Europe, beginning in the mid-1960s, players such as guitarist Derek Bailey, saxophonists Peter Brötzmann and Evan Parker and drummer John Stevens developed an idiom that came to be called "free improvisation. Derek Bailey ( January 29, 1930 – December 25, 2005) was an English avant-garde Guitarist and leading figure in the Peter Brötzmann (born 6 March 1941) is a German Free jazz Saxophonist and Clarinetist. Evan Shaw Parker (born 5 April 1944 in Bristol is a British free-improvising Saxophone player from the European free jazz John Stevens is the name of a number of prominent people John Stevens (immigrant (1682-1737 immigrant to America Port Collector at Perth Amboy Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the taste or inclination of the musician(s involved in many cases the musicians make " It drew sustenance from free jazz while moving much further from jazz tradition (often drawing equally on contemporary composers such as Anton Webern and John Cage for inspiration). WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Anton Webern (December 3 1883 &ndash September 15 1945 was an Austrian Composer WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> John Milton Cage Jr

Many musicians are keeping the free jazz style alive in the present day, continuing its development as a jazz idiom.


Philosophies

The emergence of free jazz, like previous developments in jazz, was largely tied to the African-American experience. African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa This idea can be seen in the approaches of the musicians themselves, as in Ornette Coleman's This Is Our Music (1960). Ornette Coleman (born March 9, 1930) is an American saxophonist Violinist Trumpeter and Composer. This Is Our Music is a Free jazz Album, recorded and originally released in 1960, by saxophonist Ornette Coleman (see Both these developments, bebop in 1940 and free jazz in 1960, reveal directions that were more intellectual, less danceable, and less marketable to white audiences. Musicians like Shepp, the Art Ensemble of Chicago (the flagship group of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians or AACM), and Sun Ra made Black identity an integral part of their public personae as musicians, more visibly than previous generations of jazz musicians. The Art Ensemble of Chicago is an Avant-garde Jazz ensemble that grew out of Chicago 's AACM in the late 1960s The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians ( AACM) is a Non-profit organization, founded in Chicago, Illinois, United States by Sun Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, Legal name Le Sony'r Ra; This is not to say that the music was racially segregated; white bassist Charlie Haden was a member of Ornette Coleman's influential quartet, and free jazz's principles were quickly assimilated into musical developments in all corners of global society. White People is the second album by Handsome Boy Modeling School. Charles Edward Haden (born August 6, 1937) is a Jazz Double bassist probably best known for his long association with saxophonist Ornette

Many free jazz musicians regard the music as signifying in a broadly religious way, or to have gnostic or mystical connotations, as an aide to meditation or self-reflection, as evidenced by Coltrane's Om album, or Charles Gayle's Repent. A religion is a set of Tenets and practices often centered upon specific Supernatural and moral claims about Reality, the Cosmos Gnosticism (γνώσις gnōsis, Knowledge) refers to a diverse Syncretistic Religious movement consisting of various Belief systems Mysticism (from the Greek grc μυστικός mystikos, an initiate of a Mystery religion) is the pursuit of communion with identity Om is a 1965 album by John Coltrane. In October 1965 Coltrane recorded Om, referring to the sacred syllable in Hindu religion Charles Gayle (born February 28, 1939) is a Free jazz saxophonist, pianist, Bass clarinetist and percussionist Other may emphasize nihilism, determinism and fatalism, as exemplified in the Brötzmann-designed Last Exit album cover showing a smashed, pulverized crow. Nihilism (from the Latin nihil, nothing is a philosophical position that argues that Existence is without objective meaning Purpose Determinism is the philosophical Proposition that every event including human cognition and behaviour decision and action is causally determined Fatalism is a Philosophical doctrine emphasizing the subjugation of all events or actions to fate or inevitable predetermination As traditional mysticism denigrates the significance of transitory reality and the material world, highlighting the meaningless of time and the essentiality of living in the moment, the two outlooks are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Some African-American free jazz artists could also be seen as gnostic, by way of the blues tradition, highlighting the arbitrariness, senselessness and pain of life and phenomenal consciousness, with a subtext of transcendence by way of a higher power. Gnosticism (γνώσις gnōsis, Knowledge) refers to a diverse Syncretistic Religious movement consisting of various Belief systems The Blues is a vocal and instrumental form of Music based on the use of the Blue notes It emerged as an accessible form of self-expression Consciousness has been defined loosely as a constellation of attributes of Mind such as Subjectivity, Self-awareness, Sentience, and the See, for example, Archie Shepp's "Rufus (Swung, his face at last to the wind, then his neck snapped)" which dramatizes the lynching of an African-American slave.

Free jazz in the world

Outside of North America, free jazz scenes have become established in Europe and Japan. Alongside the aforementioned Joe Harriott, saxophonists Peter Brötzmann, Evan Parker, trombonist Conny Bauer, guitarist Derek Bailey and drummer Han Bennink were among the most well-known early European free jazz performers. Joseph Arthurlin 'Joe' Harriott (born July 15 1928 in Kingston Jamaica - died January 2 1973 in Southampton, Peter Brötzmann (born 6 March 1941) is a German Free jazz Saxophonist and Clarinetist. Evan Shaw Parker (born 5 April 1944 in Bristol is a British free-improvising Saxophone player from the European free jazz Konrad "Conny" Bauer (born July 4, 1943 in Halle Saxony-Anhalt, Germany) is a world-renowned Free jazz Trombonist Derek Bailey ( January 29, 1930 – December 25, 2005) was an English avant-garde Guitarist and leading figure in the Han Bennink (born April 17, 1942) is a Dutch Jazz Drummer, Percussionist. European free jazz can generally be seen as approaching free improvisation, with an ever more distant relationship to jazz tradition. Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the taste or inclination of the musician(s involved in many cases the musicians make That being said, specifically Brötzmann has had a significant impact on the free jazz players of the U. S. Japanese guitarist Masayuki Takayanagi and saxophonist Kaoru Abe, among others, took free jazz in another direction, approaching the energy levels of noise. Masayuki 'Jojo' Takayanagi (高柳昌行 (1932 - 1991 was a Japanese Jazz / Free improvisational musician Kaoru Abe (阿部薫 ( May 3, 1949 - September 9, 1978) was a Japanese Free jazz alto saxophonist who generally played solo Some international jazz musicians have come to North America and become immersed in free jazz, most notably Ivo Perelman from Brazil and Gato Barbieri of Argentina (this influence is evident in Barbieri's early work, but fades in his later, more commercially oriented efforts). Ivo Perelman (born January 12, 1961) is a Brazilian Free jazz saxophonist born in Sao Paulo. |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld Leandro Barbieri (born on November 28 1934 in Rosario, Santa Fe Province, Argentina) better known as Gato Barbieri For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Argentina topics. American musicians like Don Cherry, John Coltrane, Milford Graves, and Pharoah Sanders integrated elements of the music of Africa, India, and the Middle East for a sort of World music-influenced free jazz. Don (Donald Eugene Cherry ( November 18 1936 &ndash October 19 1995) was an innovative African-American Jazz Trumpeter Milford Graves (b Queens NY, August 20, 1941) is an American-born jazz drummer and Percussionist, most noteworthy for Pharoah Sanders (born October 13, 1940 The music of Africa is as vast and varied as the continent's many regions, nations and Ethnic groups Although there is no distinctly pan-African The music of India' includes multiple varieties of folk, popular, pop, and classical music. Arabic music or Arab music ( Arabic: موسيقى عربية;) includes several genres and styles of Music ranging from Arabic classical The term world music includes Traditional music (sometimes called Folk music or roots music of any culture that are created and played by indigenous musicians

References

See also

External links

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