When Ornette Coleman first caught the attention of jazz enthusiasts in the late 1950s, they weren’t too sure what to think. He played the alto saxophone in a way most people had never heard before, a style that would soon come to be known as “free jazz”. Born in Texas, Coleman began playing rhythm and blues before moving to New York and turning the burgeoning Jazz scene on its ear. He moved beyond the musical architecture of greats like Charlie Parker to include improvisation within the harmonies, liberating jazz from its rigid rules and restrictions. In 2007, his album Sound Grammar won the American Pulitzer Prize for music, a fitting tribute to the legendary father of free jazz.
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Ornette Coleman
When Ornette Coleman first caught the attention of jazz enthusiasts in the late 1950s, they weren’t too sure what to think. He played the alto saxophone in a way most people had never heard before, a style that would soon come to be known as “free jazz”. Born in Texas, Coleman began playing rhythm and blues before moving to New York and turning the burgeoning Jazz scene on its ear. He moved beyond the musical architecture of greats like Charlie Parker to include improvisation within the harmonies, liberating jazz from its rigid rules and restrictions. In 2007, his album Sound Grammar won the American Pulitzer Prize for music, a fitting tribute to the legendary father of free jazz.
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