Ornette Coleman
◈ Innovator ◈ Experimentor ◈ Jazz legend
David Mashkevich - IDC 1001H - Professor Hoffman Background ◈ Born in Fort Worth, TX ◈ Played saxophone at a young age ◈ Started his first band in high school ◆ The Jam Jivers ◈ Joined Silas Green (traveling show) - New Orleans ◈ Pee Wee Crayton (band) - Los Angeles Breakout ◈ 1959 - The Shape of Jazz to Come ◆ Experimental style ◈ Atlantic Records ◈ Lenox School of Jazz A watershed event in the genesis of “avant-garde jazz, profoundly steering its future course and throwing down a gauntlet that some still haven’t come to grips with -Steve Huey (AllMusic)
Free Jazz Movement
◈ Did not obey traditional harmonic patterns ◈ Influenced by Thelonious Monk and Horace Silver ◈ Gave the performer a much broader control over how he chose to string together different notes and rhythms Influence in New York ◈ Five Spot Jazz Club - early 1960s ◈ Met with divided reaction ◈ Support: Leonard Bernstein, Lionel Hampton ◈ Opposition: Miles Davis ◈ Lost his label ◈ Refused to change his style to please audiences Later Years ◈ Continued experimenting with music ◈ Began to involve his son as a drummer ◆ Denardo Coleman ◈ 1972 - London Symphony Orchestra ◆ Skies of America Themes Represented ◈ What makes New York City unique? ◆ Fostered Coleman’s innovative work ◈ What is art and what is its purpose? ◆ Challenge the status quo ◈ Meaningfulness ◆ Coleman’s work stood out (for good or bad) Sources ◈ https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ornette-Coleman ◈ http://www.biography.com/people/ornette-coleman-92531 39 ◈ http://www.nndb.com/people/990/000029903/ ◈ http://www.allmusic.com/artist/ornette-coleman-mn00004 84396/biography THANKS!