For the Ornette Coleman album after which this genre was named see Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation.

Free jazz is movement of jazz music developed in the 1950s and 1960s by artists such as Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy, Cecil Taylor, Albert Ayler, Joe Harriott, Archie Shepp, Bill Dixon, Paul Bley, and Sun Ra. Some of the best known examples are the later works of John Coltrane. Though the music produced by these players varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the expressive possibilities of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz; each in his own way, free jazz musicians attempted to break down or extend the conventions of jazz, often by discarding hitherto invariable features of jazz such as fixed chord changes or tempos. Jazz is a musical art form that originated in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States around the start of the 20th century. ... A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... The saxophone (colloquially referred to as sax) is a conical-bored instrument of the woodwind family, usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece like the clarinet. ... The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... A drum kit (or drum set or trap set) is mostly a collection of drums, cymbals and sometimes other percussion instruments arranged for convenient playing by a single drummer. ... Jazz is a musical art form that originated in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States around the start of the 20th century. ... This does not cite its references or sources. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ... Ornette Coleman (born March 19, 1930) is an American saxophonist and composer. ... Eric Allan Dolphy (June 20, 1928 – June 29, 1964) was a jazz musician who played alto saxophone, flute and bass clarinet. ... Cecil Percival Taylor (born March 15 or March 25, 1929 in New York City) is an American pianist and poet. ... Albert Ayler (July 13, 1936–November 1970) was an American jazz saxophonist, singer and composer. ... 1954 Cool Jazz With Joe EP cover Joseph Arthurlin Joe Harriott (July 15, 1928 in Kingston, Jamaica-January 02, 1973 in Southampton, Hampshire) was a Jamaican jazz musician and composer, whose principal instrument was the alto saxophone. ... Archie Shepp on the cover of his album Tomorrow Will Be Another Day Archie Shepp is an American jazz saxophonist. ... Bill Dixon (October 5, 1925, Nantucket, Massachusetts–) is an American trumpet, flugelhorn, and piano player; composer; artist; educator. ... Paul Bley is a free jazz pianist born in Montreal, Canada in 1932 and long-time resident in the USA. His music characteristically features strong senses both of melodic voicing and space. ... Sun Ra (Born Herman Poole Blount; legal name Le Sonyr Ra [1]; born May 22, 1914 in Birmingham, Alabama, died May 30, 1993 in Birmingham, Alabama) was an innovative jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, who came to be known as much for his cosmic philosophy as for... John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967), nicknamed Trane, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. ... Bebop is a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos and improvisation based on harmonic structure rather than melody. ... Hard bop is an extension of bebop (bop) music which incorporates influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in the saxophone and piano playing. ... Modal jazz is jazz played using musical modes rather than chord progressions. ...

Although today "free jazz" is the generally used term, it has held many other names. In the 1960s, the loosely-defined movement was sometimes called "Energy Music" or "The New Thing". Free-jazz players were either said to be playing "outside" or "out" (as opposed to "inside"--conventionally), and the word became a favorite one among musicians and record labels: albums from this period include Outward Bound, Out There, Out to Lunch (all by Dolphy), Out Front (Jaki Byard), and Destination Out (Jackie McLean). Jaki Byard (June 15, 1922 - February 11, 1999) was a jazz piano player. ... John Lenwood (Jackie) McLean (born May 17, 1932) is an American jazz alto saxophonist and educator, born in New York City. ...

While free jazz is most often associated with the era of its birth, many musicians — including Ken Vandermark, William Parker, John Zorn, Paal Nilssen-Love and George Lewis — have kept the style alive to the present day, continuing its development as a jazz idiom. In Europe the style was further extended by players such as Derek Bailey, Peter Brötzmann and Evan Parker into an idiom that came to be called "free improvisation." Ken Vandermark (born September 22, 1964 in Warwick, Rhode Island) is an American jazz saxophone and clarinet player. ... This article is about the jazz bassist. ... John Zorn (born September 2, 1953 in Queens, USA) is a Jewish American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. ... Paal Nilssen-Love (born December 24, 1974) is a Norwegian drummer active in the jazz and free jazz genres. ... George Lewis (born 1952) is a jazz trombone player. ... Derek Bailey pictured at the Vortex Club, Stoke Newington, 1991. ... Peter Brötzmann (born March 6, 1941) is a German free jazz saxophonist. ... Evan Shaw Parker (born 5 April 1944 in Bristol) is a British free-improvising saxophone player from the European free jazz scene. ... Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the taste of the musicians involved, and not in any particular style. ...

[edit] 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." 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. 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 titled a 1960 recording Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation, the name stuck to the movement as a whole. Leonard Joseph Tristano (19 March 1919 - 18 November 1978) was a jazz pianist and composer. ... Ornette Coleman (born March 19, 1930) is an American saxophonist and composer. ... The Shape of Jazz to Come was the first free jazz album ever recorded. ... Change of the Century is an album, recorded in 1959 and originally released in 1960, by jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman (see 1960 in music). ...

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 Sonyr Ra [1]; born May 22, 1914 in Birmingham, Alabama, died May 30, 1993 in Birmingham, Alabama) was an innovative jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, who came to be known as much for his cosmic philosophy as for...

Some of Charles Mingus' work was also important in establishing free jazz. Of particular note are his early Atlantic albums, such as Pithecanthropus Erectus, The Clown, and Tijuana Moods, in which he employed a compositional technique of humming tunes to his players and allowing them to feel their own melodies. Charles Mingus (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979), also known as Charlie Mingus, was an American jazz bassist, composer, bandleader, and occasional pianist. ... 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. Similarly, Cecil Taylor, the most prominent free jazz pianist, began stretching the bop boundaries as early as 1956. John Lenwood (Jackie) McLean (born May 17, 1932) is an American jazz alto saxophonist and educator, born in New York City. ... Bebop is a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos and improvisation based on harmonic structure rather than melody. ... 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 (born in Dallas, Texas, 1921) is an American jazz saxophone and clarinet player. ... Paul Bley is a free jazz pianist born in Montreal, Canada in 1932 and long-time resident in the USA. His music characteristically features strong senses both of melodic voicing and space. ... Steve Swallow (b. ...

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. Foreststorn Hamilton, better known as Chico Hamilton (born September 21, 1921 in Los Angeles) is a jazz drummer. ...

In Europe, free jazz first flowered through the experiments of expatriate Jamaican alto saxophonist Joe Harriott. Beginning in the late 1950s, he worked on his own distinctive concept of what he termed free form rather than free jazz, which generally involved a more fluid ensemble interaction than the American models. 1954 Cool Jazz With Joe EP cover Joseph Arthurlin Joe Harriott (July 15, 1928 in Kingston, Jamaica-January 02, 1973 in Southampton, Hampshire) was a Jamaican jazz musician and composer, whose principal instrument was the alto saxophone. ...

Free jazz has primarily been an instrumental genre. However, Jeanne Lee was a notable free jazz vocalist; others such as Sheila Jordan and Patty Waters also made notable contributions to the genre. Jeanne Lee (January 29, 1939 - October 25, 2000) was a jazz singer. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Patty Waters is an experimental jazz vocalist. ...

Free jazz had its heyday in the 1960s, but musicians like David S. Ware, Matthew Shipp and Joe Morris continue to play free jazz. Perhaps influenced by Ornette Coleman's embrace of electric music in the 1970s, James Blood Ulmer, Sonny Sharrock, Ronald Shannon Jackson and others forged styles combining elements of free jazz and fusion. David Spencer Ware (b. ... Matthew Shipp (born December 7, 1960) is an American free jazz pianist. ... Joe Morris (born September 13, 1955) is an American jazz guitarist. ... James Blood Ulmer (born 2 February 1942 in St Matthews, South Carolina) is an American jazz and blues guitarist and singer. ... Warren Harding Sharrock (August 27, 1940 – May 25, 1994) was an American jazz guitarist. ... Ronald Shannon Jackson (born January 12, 1940) is an American jazz drummer. ... Bitches Brew (1970) by Miles Davis is considered the most influential early fusion album. ...

The 1981 documentary film Imagine the Sound explores free jazz through interviews with and performances by several key players. 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 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. ...

[edit] 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. 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."[1] Jazz is a musical art form that originated in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States around the start of the 20th century. ... Musical composition is: a piece of music the structure of a musical piece the process of creating a new piece of music // A piece of music exists in the form of a written composition in musical notation or as a single acoustic event (a live performance or recorded track). ... Improvisation is the practice of acting and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of ones immediate environment. ... Typical fingering for a second inversion C major chord on a guitar. ... Look up melody in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Marc Ribot (born 1954) is a Jewish American guitarist, composer and occasional singer from Newark, New Jersey. ... Ornette Coleman (born March 19, 1930) is an American saxophonist and composer. ... Albert Ayler (July 13, 1936–November 1970) was an American jazz saxophonist, singer and composer. ...

Typically this kind of music is played by small groups of musicians. In popular perception, free jazz is loud, aggressive, dissonant and in general full of sound and fury. 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. Most free jazz musicians use overblowing techniques or otherwise elicit unconventional sounds from their instruments. 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. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... A musician is a person who plays or composes music Musicians can be classified by their role in creating or performing music: A singer (or vocalist) uses his or her voice as an instrument. ... 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 of the mass media. ...

Beyond this, free jazz is most easily characterised 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. Second edition cover of Maple Leaf Rag, perhaps the most famous rag of all Ragtime is an American musical genre enjoying its peak popularity between 1899 and 1918. ... Dixieland music is a style of jazz. ... Swing music, also known as swing jazz, is a form of jazz music that developed during the 1920s and had solidified as a distinctive style by 1935 in the United States. ... Bebop is a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos and improvisation based on harmonic structure rather than melody. ... CD reissue of Daviss 1957 LP Birth of the Cool, collecting much of his 1949 to 1950 work. ... Bitches Brew (1970) by Miles Davis is considered the most influential early fusion album. ...

"Other forms of jazz" use clear regular meters and strongly-pulsed rhythms, usually in 4/4 or (less often) 3/4. 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. Often players in an ensemble adopt different tempi. 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. Metre or meter (US) is the measurement of a musical line into measures of stressed and unstressed beats, indicated in Western music notation by a symbol called a time signature. ... For the popular Tamil film, see Rhythm (film) Rhythm (Greek = flow, or in Modern Greek, style) is the variation of the length and accentuation of a series of sounds or other events. ... This article is about tempo in music. ... This article is about tempo in music. ... This article is about waves in the most general scientific sense. ... A musical ensemble is a group of two or more musicians who gather to perform music. ... The first two measures of Mozarts Sonata XI, which indicates the tempo as Andante grazioso and the metronome marking as = 120. (Metronome markings were not used in Mozarts day. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

Other forms used harmonic structures (usually cycles of diatonic chords). 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. It is also fairly common for a drone or single chord to underpin a performance (see modal jazz), but the absence of such rudimentary devices is typical as well. In acoustics and telecommunication, the harmonic of a wave is a component frequency of the signal that is an integer multiple of the fundamental frequency. ... In Music theory, the diatonic major scale (also known as the Guido scale), from the Greek diatonikos or to stretch out, is a fundamental building block of the European-influenced musical tradition. ... Typical fingering for a second inversion C major chord on a guitar. ... In Music theory, the diatonic major scale (also known as the Guido scale), from the Greek diatonikos or to stretch out, is a fundamental building block of the European-influenced musical tradition. ... In music, the dominant is the fifth degree of the scale. ... Blues is a vocal and instrumental form of music based on the use of the blue notes and a repetitive pattern that typically follows a twelve-bar structure. ... Modal jazz is jazz played using musical modes rather than chord progressions. ...

Finally, other 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. 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. Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American composer, multi-reedist and pianist. ... Avant-jazz (also known as avant-garde jazz) is a style of music and improvisation that combines elements of avant-garde art music and composition with elements of traditional jazz. ...

[edit] Philosophies

The emergence of free jazz, like previous developments in jazz, was largely tied to the African-American experience. Just as the development of bebop was a reaction against popular swing music, free jazz emerged to counter the growing white interest in finger-popping soul jazz and other music of the 1950s. This idea can be seen in the approaches of the musicians themselves, as in Ornette Coleman's This is Our Music (1960). 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. Groups like the Art Ensemble of Chicago, the flagship group of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), and Sun Ra made Black identity an integral part of their public personae as musicians, more visibly than previous generations of jazz musicians. This is not to say that the music was racially segregated; white bassist Charlie Haden was a member of Ornette Coleman's influential quartet from the very beginning, and free jazz's principles were quickly assimilated into musical developments in all corners of global society. Languages Predominantly American English Religions Protestantism (chiefly Baptist and Methodist); Roman Catholicism; Islam Related ethnic groups Sub-Saharan Africans and other African groups, some with Native American groups. ... Bebop is a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos and improvisation based on harmonic structure rather than melody. ... Swing music, also known as swing jazz, is a form of jazz music that developed during the 1920s and had solidified as a distinctive style by 1935 in the United States. ... Soul jazz was a development of hard bop which incorporated strong blues and gospel influences in music for small groups featuring keyboards, especially the Hammond organ. ... Ornette Coleman (born March 19, 1930) is an American saxophonist and composer. ... The Art Ensemble of Chicago is an avant-garde jazz ensemble that grew out of Chicagos AACM in the late 1960s. ... The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) is a non-profit organization, founded in Chicago, Illinois, by pianist/composer Muhal Richard Abrams, pianist Jodie Christian, drummer Steve McCall, and composer Phil Cohran. ... Sun Ra (Born Herman Poole Blount; legal name Le Sonyr Ra [1]; born May 22, 1914 in Birmingham, Alabama, died May 30, 1993 in Birmingham, Alabama) was an innovative jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, who came to be known as much for his cosmic philosophy as for... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Charlie Haden, Pescara Italy 1990 Charles Edward Haden (born August 6, 1937) is a jazz double bassist, probably best known for his long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman. ...

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. Religious is a term with both a technical definition and folk use. ... Gnosticism is a blanket term for various religions and sects most prominent in the first few centuries A.D. General characteristics The word gnosticism comes from the Greek word for knowledge, gnosis (γνῶσις), referring to the idea that there is special, hidden mysticism (esoteric knowledge... Mysticism (ancient Greek mysticon = secret) is meditation, prayer, or theology focused on the direct experience of union with divinity, God, or Ultimate Reality, or the belief that such experience is a genuine and important source of knowledge. ... John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967), nicknamed Trane, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. ... Om is a 1965 album by John Coltrane. ...

[edit] 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. European free jazz can generally be seen as approaching free improvisation, with an ever more distant relationship to jazz tradition. 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. 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). American musicians like Don Cherry, John Coltrane, and Pharoah Sanders integrated elements of the music of Africa, India, and the Middle East for a sort of World music-influenced free jazz. 1954 Cool Jazz With Joe EP cover Joseph Arthurlin Joe Harriott (July 15, 1928 in Kingston, Jamaica-January 02, 1973 in Southampton, Hampshire) was a Jamaican jazz musician and composer, whose principal instrument was the alto saxophone. ... Peter Brötzmann (born March 6, 1941) is a German free jazz saxophonist. ... Evan Shaw Parker (born 5 April 1944 in Bristol) is a British free-improvising saxophone player from the European free jazz scene. ... Konrad Conny Bauer (born July 4, 1943) is a world-renowned free jazz trombonist. ... Derek Bailey pictured at the Vortex Club, Stoke Newington, 1991. ... Han Bennink (born April 17, 1942) is a Dutch jazz drummer, clarinetist and percussionist. ... Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the taste of the musicians involved, and not in any particular style. ... Masayuki Takayanagi is a Japanese jazz / noise musician. ... Kaoru Abe (阿部薫) (May 3, 1949 - September 9, 1978) was a unique Japanese free jazz alto saxophonist, who generally played solo. ... Noise music is a sub-genre of experimental music constructed from noise as opposed to recognisable sound or pitches. ... Leandro Barbieri (born on November 28, 1934 in Rosario, Santa Fe Province) better known as El Gato Barbieri (Spanish for Barbieri the Cat) is an Argentine jazz tenor saxophonist and composer who rose to fame during the free jazz movement in the 1960s and from his latin jazz recordings in... Don Cherry (18 November 1936 - 19 October 1995) was an innovative jazz trumpeter probably best known for his long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman. ... John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967), nicknamed Trane, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. ... Reggie Workman, Pharoah Sanders, and Idris Muhammad, c. ... Hand drumming has a significant role in African music African music is as vast and varied as the continents many nations and ethnic groups, so a general description of African music is not possible. ... Arab music is the music of Arabic-speaking people or countries, especially those centered around the Arabian Peninsula. ... World music is, most generally, all the music in the world. ...

[edit] References

• Jost, Ekkehard (1975). Free Jazz (Studies in Jazz Research 4). Universal Edition. 
• Sklower, Jedediah (2006). Free Jazz, la catastrophe féconde. Une histoire du monde éclaté du jazz en France (1960-1982). L'Harmattan, coll. "Logiques sociales". 

[edit] See also

• Free improvisation
• European free jazz

Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the taste of the musicians involved, and not in any particular style. ... There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ...

[edit] External links

• The Real Godfathers of Punk by Billy Bob Hargus (July 1996)
• Free Jazz: The Jazz Revolution of the '60s by Robert Levin (June 2006)