That Jazz - Monkey Max Music and File Download

152
Part II: Jazz Greats and Great Jazz: An Evolutionary Riff
In the ’70s, Coleman visited Morocco and played with masters of joujouka,
the native music. Also in the ’70s, running a parallel track to Miles Davis,
Coleman plugged in with his band Prime Time. Alongside Coleman, the band
included two electric basses, two guitars, and two drummers, producing a
whirlwind of sound.
As of 2006, Coleman continues to tour and create new music, making him one
of the most prolific and durable of free jazz’s pioneers.
Cecil Taylor’s stunning tones
Unlike most of his ’60s peers, pianist Cecil Taylor (born 1929) had formal
training in classical music. At the New England Conservatory of Music, he
studied Stravinsky and emulated Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington, and Lennie
Tristano — all of whom used classical elements.
Taylor (see Figure 8-5) wasn’t interested in new electronic instruments
because he considered himself strictly an acoustic pianist. Nor did he favor
the formless approach of Ornette Coleman. Instead, Taylor used phenomenal
technique to achieve stunning, overlapping sounds and tones above a recognizable
structure.
Taylor’s 1966 album Unit Structures explodes like a volcano with percussion,
piano, two horns, and two basses, and various scales, rhythmic patterns, and
musical themes specified by Taylor and the music guided by Taylor’s piano.
His 1978 recording “Unit” is a sextet session in which the group improvisations
empathize amazingly.
Some critics say that although Taylor’s music is improvised, it contains the
imaginative structure, harmonies, contrasting melodies, and rhythmic variations
of great classical music.
Other free jazz players of the 1960s
Some musicians preferred completely free improvisation and others utilized
various means of structuring their music beforehand. All of them took jazz
into new and exciting places. I cover some of these giants in the following
sections.
The Art Ensemble of Chicago
This ensemble arose from the Association for the Advancement of Creative
Musicians (AACM) like the World Saxophone Quartet (covered later in this
chapter). The Art Ensemble included trumpeter Lester Bowie, bassist
Malachi Favors, drummer Don Moye, saxophonist Joseph Jarman, and flutist
and saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell (Bowie died in 1999; Favors in 2004).