MUH 271 Free JazzAvantGarde avantgarde is often associated with free jazz but encompasses a wider range of styles and artists John Coltrane is in the spectrum but not typically considered a free jazz player ID: 502029
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Slide1
Free Jazz and Fusion
MUH 271Slide2
Free Jazz/Avant-Garde
“avant-garde” is often associated with free jazz but encompasses a wider range of styles and artists
John Coltrane is
“in the spectrum” but not typically considered a free jazz player
Free Jazz:
Improvisation free from conventional
practices
3 characteristics of free jazz according to Gary Giddens:
No consistent chord progression – emphasis on “melodic structures”
Use of nonstandard meters or avoidance of consistent meter
Disregard for standard form.Slide3
Major proponents of free jazz
Ornette Coleman
Saxophonist,
but played many other instruments; composer
Controversial, particularly at the time; Miles Davis said that he was “all screwed up inside”
1959 appearance at the Five Spot in New York
“
harmelodics
” – Coleman’s improvisational concept, which focused on melodic development (a contraction of “harmony,” “motion,” and “melody.”
Cecil Taylor
Piano player and composer
Extensive formal education in music
“the most explosive and aggressive pianist in the history of jazz”Slide4
John Coltrane
Tenor saxophone, composer
Born in Hamlet, NC Sept. 23, 1926
Played in Miles Davis’ quintet in 1955, left for a time in 1957, returned for
Kind of Blue
Performed
and recorded with Thelonious Monk, Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans, and others
Began playing soprano saxophone in addition to tenor around 1960
Formed his own quartet in the early 1960s
"In his final years and after his death, Coltrane acquired an almost saintly reputation among listeners and fellow musicians for his energetic and selfless support of young avant-garde performers, his passionate religious convictions, his peaceful demeanor and his obsessive striving for a musical ideal."