That Jazz - Monkey Max Music and File Download

Chapter 8: A Radical Departure: The 1960s and 1970s
Coleman’s music may at times seem random, but it has traits in common with
other jazz:
� Improvisation: Coleman’s goal wasn’t to lead his bandmates, but instead,
it was to create a context where they found their deepest personal
expression through improvisation in a group context. No written melody
or harmony defined the range of improvisation.
� Form: Most of Coleman’s pieces derived their forms only from the spontaneous
ideas of the performers and the ways in which individual listeners
interpreted the music. Like an abstract painting, Coleman’s music
produces vastly different emotions and thoughts in different listeners.
� Distinctive voices: Coleman’s revolutionary sound on alto saxophone
resonates in his sharp tone and soaring improvised melodies. Among
the first free jazz musicians, Coleman forced new sounds from his instruments
through different breathing techniques and also through use of
the horn’s parts, such as the clicking of keys, or tapping on the horn’s
body.
� Swing: Coleman may fly away from any sort of structure, but Charlie
Haden on bass and Billy Higgins on drums swing hard through several
sections on The Shape of Jazz to Come (Atlantic), laying down a loose,
grooving foundation for Coleman’s liberal creations.
� Logic: Coleman exhibited logic to his seemingly free jazz. He and trumpeter
Don Cherry (his frequent collaborator, whom I cover later in this
chapter) often played notes in tandem that implied chords. Coleman’s
approach relied on collective improvisation with gifted bandmates like
bassist Charlie Haden and drummers Ed Blackwell and Billy Higgins.
Check out Coleman on two prime examples of his jazz:
� Coleman’s 1959 album The Shape of Jazz to Come (with its cover by
abstract painter Jackson Pollock) set the jazz world on its ear with its
odd and exotic beauty. Some critics and old-school players didn’t know
what to make of Coleman’s wild, squealing improvisations. Early engagements
at the Five Spot club in New York brought curious legends like
Miles Davis, who watched in awe as Coleman performed using a plastic
saxophone.
� Coleman’s 1960 album Free Jazz (A Collective Improvisation) is another
example of early free jazz. Coleman assembled two quartets and made
them improvise face to face without predetermined chords, tunes, or
structures. The result? An exciting new variety of intuitive chamber music,
in which the players responded to and elaborated on each other’s ideas.
The collective approach signified the desire for social harmony at a time
when America lived in upheaval.
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