ORNETTE COLEMAN — Free Jazz (review)

ORNETTE COLEMAN — Free Jazz album cover Album · 1961 · Avant-Garde Jazz Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
js
In 1961 this record was about as radical and out there as jazz got. During the late 50s-early 60s, Ornette Coleman had managed to catch the media’s eye and had become the lightning rod for all things avant-garde. Although there were others who were pushing the envelope, it was Coleman who was literally on the front lines in the eyes of the general public. His first recordings in 1959, that featured his quartet playing in a free manner, had shocked the jazz world. Deciding to up the ante in 1961, Coleman recorded “Free Jazz” with two simultaneously jamming free jazz quartets in a move that most critics assumed would result in total cacophony. Surely when it first appeared this album probably sounded like total cacophony to most, but it is great to re-visit this old masterpiece and hear just how classic and true to the spirit of original jazz Coleman and his cohorts are on this LP.

The album opens with a quick flurry of notes that sounds like two be-bop bands running into each other before the horns announce the long held notes that become the theme for this piece. From here the horn players began their various solos and the other horn players either back off and let the soloist ride alone, or chip in with improvised counter melodies and riffs. The best moments come when all of the horn players are active in a free form polyphony that recalls the earliest days of jazz. “Free Jazz” was probably the closest jazz had been to its real roots in a long time. Other high points in the recording come towards the end when the two bassists play a very musical simultaneous solo followed by the two drummers interlocking subtle polyrhythms.

This double quartet format is a structure that Coleman would return to later in his career with many of his Prime Time harmelodic jazz rock ensembles. The presence of so many contrapuntal voices definitely brings out some of the best features in Coleman’s unique musical vision. Its great to re-visit “Free Jazz” in the light of all that has happened in jazz since. Its rootsy, earthy approach to improvisation does not sound so radical anymore as it just sounds very natural. If you get this on vinyl you will also get the excellent Jackson Pollock "White Light" gate-fold cover in a total celebration of early 60s beatnik hipster creativity.
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