 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Free jazz" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(December 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Free jazz | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Late 1950s, United States |
| Derivative forms | |
| Regional scenes | |
| Europe | |
| Other topics | |
Free jazz, orfree form in the early to mid-1970s,[1] is a style ofavant-garde jazz or an experimental approach tojazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regulartempos,tones, andchord changes. Musicians during this period believed that thebebop andmodal jazz that had been played before them was too limiting, and became preoccupied with creating something new. The term "free jazz" was drawn from the 1960Ornette Coleman recordingFree Jazz: A Collective Improvisation. Europeans tend to favor the term "free improvisation". Others have used "modern jazz", "creative music", and "art music".
The ambiguity of free jazz presents problems of definition. Although it is usually played by small groups or individuals, free jazzbig bands have existed. Although musicians and critics claim it is innovative and forward-looking, it draws on early styles of jazz and has been described as an attempt to return to primitive, often religious, roots. Although jazz is an American invention, free jazz musicians drew heavily fromworld music and ethnic music traditions from around the world. Sometimes they played African or Asian instruments, unusual instruments, or invented their own. They emphasized emotional intensity and sound for its own sake, exploringtimbre.
Free jazz was a reaction to the convolution of bop. Conductor and jazz writer Loren Schoenberg wrote that free jazz "gave up on functional harmony altogether, relying instead on a far ranging, stream-of-consciousness approach to melodic variation". The style was largely inspired by the work of jazz saxophonistOrnette Coleman.[2]
Some jazz musicians resist any attempt at classification. One difficulty is that most jazz has an element of improvisation. Many musicians draw on free jazz concepts and idioms, and free jazz was never entirely distinct from other genres, but free jazz does have some unique characteristics.Pharoah Sanders andJohn Coltrane used harsh overblowing or other extended techniques to elicit unconventional sounds from their instruments. Like other forms of jazz it places an aesthetic premium on expressing the "voice" or "sound" of the musician, as opposed to the classical tradition in which the performer is seen more as expressing the thoughts of the composer.
Earlier jazz styles typically were built on a framework of song forms, such astwelve-bar blues or the32-bar AABA popular song form with chord changes. In free jazz, however, the dependence on a fixed and pre-established form is often eliminated, and the role ofimprovisation is correspondingly increased.[3]
Other forms of jazz use regularmeters and pulsed rhythms, usually in 4/4 or (less often) 3/4. Free jazz retains pulsation and sometimesswings but without regular meter. Frequentaccelerando andritardando give an impression of rhythm that moves like a wave.[4]
Previous jazz forms usedharmonic structures, usually cycles ofdiatonic chords. When improvisation occurred, it was founded on the notes in the chords. Free jazz almost by definition is free of such structures, but also by definition (it is, after all, "jazz" as much as it is "free") it retains much of the language of earlier jazz playing. It is therefore very common to hear diatonic,altered dominant andblues phrases in this music.
GuitaristMarc Ribot commented thatOrnette Coleman andAlbert Ayler "although they were freeing up certain strictures of bebop, were in fact each developing new structures of composition."[5] Some forms use composed melodies as the basis for group performance and improvisation. Free jazz practitioners sometimes use such material. Other compositional structures are employed, some detailed and complex.[4]: 276
The breakdown of form and rhythmic structure has been seen by some critics to coincide with jazz musicians' exposure to and use of elements from non-Western music, especially African, Arabic, and Indian. The atonality of free jazz is often credited by historians and jazz performers to a return to non-tonal music of the nineteenth century, includingfield hollers, street cries, and jubilees (part of the "return to the roots" element of free jazz). This suggests that perhaps the movement away from tonality was not a conscious effort to devise a formal atonal system, but rather a reflection of the concepts surrounding free jazz. Jazz became "free" by removing dependence on chord progressions and instead usingpolytempic andpolyrhythmic structures.[6]
Rejection of the bop aesthetic was combined with a fascination with earlier styles of jazz, such asdixieland with its collective improvisation, as well as African music. Interest in ethnic music resulted in the use of instruments from around the world, such asEd Blackwell's West Africantalking drum, andLeon Thomas's interpretation of pygmy yodeling.[7] Ideas and inspiration were found in the music ofJohn Cage,Musica Elettronica Viva, and theFluxus movement.[8]
Many critics, particularly at the music's inception, suspected that abandonment of familiar elements of jazz pointed to a lack of technique on the part of the musicians. By 1974, such views were more marginal, and the music had built a body of critical writing.[9]
Many critics have drawn connections between the term "free jazz" and the American social setting during the late 1950s and 1960s, especially the emerging social tensions of racial integration and thecivil rights movement. Many argue those recent phenomena such as the landmarkBrown v. Board of Education decision in 1954, the emergence of theFreedom Riders in 1961, the 1963Freedom Summer of activist-supported black voter registration, and the free alternative blackFreedom Schools demonstrate the political implications of the word "free" in context of free jazz. Thus many consider free jazz to be not only a rejection of certain musical credos and ideas, but a musical reaction to the oppression and experience ofblack Americans.[10]
Although free jazz is widely considered to begin in the late 1950s, there are compositions that precede this era that have notable connections to the free jazz aesthetic. Some of the works ofLennie Tristano in the late 1940s, particularly "Intuition", "Digression", and "Descent into the Maelstrom" exhibit the use of techniques associated with free jazz, such asatonal collective improvisation and lack of discrete chord changes. Other notable examples of proto-free jazz includeCity of Glass written in 1948 byBob Graettinger for theStan Kenton band andJimmy Giuffre's 1953 "Fugue". It can be argued, however, that these works are more representative ofthird stream jazz with its references tocontemporary classical music techniques such asserialism.[10]
Keith Johnson ofAllMusic describes a "Modern Creative" genre, in which "musicians may incorporate free playing into structured modes—or play just about anything."[11] He includesJohn Zorn,Henry Kaiser,Eugene Chadbourne,Tim Berne,Bill Frisell,Steve Lacy, Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman, andRay Anderson in this genre, which continues "the tradition of the '50s to '60s free-jazz mode".[11]
Ornette Coleman rejected pre-written chord changes, believing that freely improvised melodic lines should serve as the basis for harmonic progression. His first notable recordings forContemporary includedTomorrow Is the Question! andSomething Else!!!! in 1958.[12] These albums do not follow typical 32-bar form and often employ abrupt changes in tempo and mood.[13]
The free jazz movement received its biggest impetus when Coleman moved from the west coast to New York City and was signed toAtlantic. Albums such asThe Shape of Jazz to Come andChange of the Century marked a radical step beyond his more conventional early work. On these albums, he strayed from the tonal basis that formed the lines of his earlier albums and began truly examining the possibilities of atonal improvisation. The most important recording to the free jazz movement from Coleman during this era, however, came withFree Jazz, recorded in A&R Studios in New York in 1960. It marked an abrupt departure from the highly structured compositions of his past. Recorded with a double quartet separated into left and right channels,Free Jazz brought a more aggressive, cacophonous texture to Coleman's work, and the record's title would provide the name for the nascent free jazz movement.[10]: 314
PianistCecil Taylor was also exploring the possibilities of avant-garde free jazz. A classically trained pianist, Taylor's main influences includedThelonious Monk andHorace Silver, who prove key to Taylor's later unconventional uses of the piano.[13]: 792 Jazz Advance, his album released in 1956 for Transition showed ties to traditional jazz, albeit with an expanded harmonic vocabulary. But the harmonic freedom of these early releases would lead to his transition into free jazz during the early 1960s. Key to this transformation was the introduction of saxophonistJimmy Lyons and drummerSunny Murray in 1962 because they encouraged more progressive musical language, such as tone clusters and abstracted rhythmic figures. OnUnit Structures (Blue Note, 1966)[14] Taylor marked his transition to free jazz, as his compositions were composed almost without notated scores, devoid of conventional jazz meter, and harmonic progression. This direction influenced by drummer Andrew Cyrille, who provided rhythmic dynamism outside the conventions of bebop and swing[10]: 319–320 Taylor also began exploring classical avant-garde, as in his use of prepared pianos developed by composer John Cage.[13]: 794
Albert Ayler was one of the essential composers and performers during the beginning period of free jazz. He began his career as a bebop tenor saxophonist in Scandinavia, and had already begun pushing the boundaries of tonal jazz and blues to their harmonic limits. He soon began collaborating with notable free jazz musicians, including Cecil Taylor in 1962. He pushed the jazz idiom to its absolute limits, and many of his compositions bear little resemblance to jazz of the past. Ayler's musical language focused on the possibilities ofmicrotonal improvisation and extended saxophone technique, creating squawks and honks with his instrument to achievemultiphonic effects. Yet amidst Ayler's progressive techniques, he shows an attachment for simple, rounded melodies reminiscent offolk music, which he explores via his more avant-garde style.[13]: 795–796
One of Ayler's key free jazz recordings isSpiritual Unity, including his often recorded and most famous composition,Ghosts, in which a simple spiritual-like melody is gradually shifted and distorted through Ayler's unique improvisatory interpretation. Ultimately, Ayler serves as an important example of many ways which free jazz could be interpreted, as he often strays into more tonal areas and melodies while exploring the timbral and textural possibilities within his melodies. In this way, his free jazz is built upon both a progressive attitude towards melody and timbre as well as a desire to examine and recontextualize the music of the past.[15]
In a 1963 interview withJazz Magazine, Coltrane said he felt indebted to Coleman.[16] While Coltrane's desire to explore the limits of solo improvisation and the possibilities of innovative form and structure was evident in records likeA Love Supreme, his work owed more to the tradition ofmodal jazz andpost-bop. But with the recording ofAscension in 1965, Coltrane demonstrated his appreciation for the new wave of free jazz innovators.[12]: 114 OnAscension Coltrane augmented his quartet with six horn players, including Archie Shepp and Pharoah Sanders.[10]: 322 The composition includes free-form solo improvisation interspersed with sections of collective improvisation reminiscent of Coleman'sFree Jazz. The piece sees Coltrane exploring the timbral possibilities of his instrument, using over-blowing to achievemultiphonic tones. Coltrane continued to explore the avant-garde in his following compositions, including such albums asOm,Kulu Se Mama, andMeditations, as well as collaborating withJohn Tchicai.[10]: 322 [13]: 797
Much ofSun Ra's music could be classified as free jazz, especially his work from the 1960s, although Sun Ra said repeatedly that his music was written and boasted that what he wrote sounded more free than what "the freedom boys" played.[17]The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra (1965) was steeped in what could be referred to as a new black mysticism.[6] But Sun Ra's penchant for nonconformity aside, he was along with Coleman and Taylor an integral voice to the formation of new jazz styles during the 1960s. As evidenced by his compositions on the 1956 recordSounds of Joy, Sun Ra's early work employed a typical bop style. But he soon foreshadowed the free jazz movements with compositions like "A Call for All Demons" off of the 1955–57 recordAngels and Demons at Play, which combines atonal improvisation with Latin-inspired mambo percussion. His period of fully realized free jazz experimentation began in 1965, with the release ofThe Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra andThe Magic City. These records placed a musical emphasis ontimbre and texture over meter and harmony, employing a wide variety ofelectronic instruments and innovativepercussion instruments, including the electricceleste,Hammond B-3, bassmarimba, harp, andtimpani. As result, Sun Ra proved to be one of the first jazz musicians to explore electronic instrumentation, as well as displaying an interest in timbral possibilities through his use of progressive and unconventional instrumentation in his compositions.[18]
.jpg)
The title track of Charles Mingus'Pithecanthropus Erectus contained one improvised section in a style unrelated to the piece's melody or chord structure. His contributions were primarily in his efforts to bring back collective improvisation in a music scene that had become dominated by solo improvisation as a result of big bands.[6]
Outside of New York, a number of significant free jazz scenes appeared in the 1960s. They often gave birth to collectives. In Chicago, numerous artists were affiliated with theAssociation for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, founded in 1965.[19] In St. Louis, the multidisciplinaryBlack Artists Group was active between 1968 and 1972.[20] PianistHorace Tapscott founded the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra andUnion of God's Musicians and Artists Ascension in Los Angeles.[21] Although they did not organize as formally, a notable number of free jazz musicians were also active in Albert Ayler's hometown of Cleveland. They includedCharles Tyler,Norman Howard, and theBlack Unity Trio.[22]
By the 1970s, the setting for avant-garde jazz was shifting to New York City. Arrivals includedArthur Blythe,James Newton, andMark Dresser, beginning the period of New Yorkloft jazz. As the name may imply, musicians during this time would perform in private homes and other unconventional spaces. The status of free jazz became more complex, as many musicians sought to bring in different genres into their works. Free jazz no longer necessarily indicated the rejection of tonal melody, overarching harmonic structure, or metrical divide, as laid out by Coleman, Coltrane, and Taylor. Instead, the free jazz that developed in the 1960s became one of many influences, including pop music and world music.[23]
Paul Tanner, Maurice Gerow, and David Megill have suggested,
the freer aspects of jazz, at least, have reduced the freedom acquired in the sixties. Most successful recording artists today construct their works in this way: beginning with a strain with which listeners can relate, following with an entirely free portion, and then returning to the recognizable strain. The pattern may occur several times in a long selection, giving listeners pivotal points to cling to. At this time, listeners accept this – they can recognize the selection while also appreciating the freedom of the player in other portions. Players, meanwhile, are tending toward retaining a key center for the seemingly free parts. It is as if the musician has learned that entire freedom is not an answer to expression, that the player needs boundaries, bases, from which to explore.[24]
Tanner, Gerow and Megill nameMiles Davis, Cecil Taylor,John Klemmer,Keith Jarrett,Chick Corea, Pharoah Sanders,McCoy Tyner,Alice Coltrane,Wayne Shorter,Anthony Braxton, Don Cherry, and Sun Ra as musicians who have employed this approach.[24]
Canadian artistStan Douglas uses free jazz as a direct response to complex attitudes towards African-American music. Exhibited atdocumenta 9 in 1992, his video installationHors-champs (meaning "off-screen") addresses the political context of free jazz in the 1960s, as an extension ofblack consciousness[25] and is one of his few works to directly address race.[26] Four American musicians,George E. Lewis (trombone),Douglas Ewart (saxophone), Kent Carter (bass) and Oliver Johnson (drums) who lived in France during the free jazz period in the 1960s, improvise Albert Ayler's 1965 composition "Spirits Rejoice."[27]
New York Eye and Ear Control is Canadian artistMichael Snow's 1964 film with a soundtrack of group improvisations recorded by an augmented version of Albert Ayler's group and released as the albumNew York Eye and Ear Control.[28] Critics have compared the album with the key free jazz recordings: Ornette Coleman'sFree Jazz: A Collective Improvisation and John Coltrane'sAscension. John Litweiler regards it favourably in comparison because of its "free motion of tempo (often slow, usually fast); of ensemble density (players enter and depart at will); of linear movement".[29] Ekkehard Jost places it in the same company and comments on "extraordinarily intensive give-and-take by the musicians" and "a breadth of variation and differentiation on all musical levels".[30]
French artistJean-Max Albert, as trumpet player[31][32] ofHenri Texier's first quintet, participated in the 1960s in one of the first expressions of free jazz in France. As a painter, he then experimented plastic transpositions of Ornette Coleman's approach.Free jazz, painted in 1973, used architectural structures in correspondence to the classical chords of standard harmonies confronted with an unrestrained all over painted improvisation.[33]Jean-Max Albert still explores the free jazz lessons, collaborating with pianist François Tusques in experimental films : Birth of Free Jazz, Don Cherry... these topics considered through a pleasant and poetic way.[34]
Founded in 1967, theQuatuor de Jazz Libre du Québec was Canada's most notable early free jazz outfit.[35] Outside of North America, free jazz scenes have become established in Europe and Japan. Alongside the aforementionedJoe Harriott, saxophonistsPeter Brötzmann,Evan Parker, trombonistConny Bauer, guitaristDerek Bailey, pianistsFrançois Tusques,Fred Van Hove,Misha Mengelberg, drummerHan Bennink, saxophonist and bass clarinetistWillem Breuker were among the most well-known early European free jazz performers.[36] European free jazz can generally be seen as approachingfree improvisation, with an ever more distant relationship to jazz tradition. Specifically Brötzmann has had a significant impact on the free jazz players of the United States.[37]
Japan's first free jazz musicians included drummerMasahiko Togashi, guitaristMasayuki Takayanagi, pianistsYosuke Yamashita andMasahiko Satoh, saxophonistKaoru Abe, bassistMotoharu Yoshizawa, and trumpeterItaru Oki.[38] A relatively active free jazz scene behind theiron curtain produced musicians likeJanusz Muniak,Tomasz Stańko,Zbigniew Seifert,Vyacheslav Ganelin andVladimir Tarasov. Some international jazz musicians have come to North America and become immersed in free jazz, most notablyIvo Perelman from Brazil andGato Barbieri of Argentina (this influence is more evident in Barbieri's early work).
South African artists, including earlyDollar Brand,Zim Ngqawana,Chris McGregor,Louis Moholo, andDudu Pukwana experimented with a form of free jazz (and often big-band free jazz) that fused experimental improvisation with African rhythms and melodies.[39] American musicians likeDon Cherry, John Coltrane,Milford Graves, andPharoah Sanders integrated elements of the music ofAfrica,India, and the Middle East forworld-influenced free jazz.
| General topics | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genres |
| ||||||||||||||||
| Musicians | |||||||||||||||||
| Musicians by genre | |||||||||||||||||
| Standards | |||||||||||||||||
| Discographies | |||||||||||||||||
| Festivals | |||||||||||||||||
| Culture | |||||||||||||||||
| Regional scenes |
| ||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||
| Related | |||||||||||||||||
| Media | |||||||||||||||||
