Avant Garde & Free Jazz User Manual

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Frequently Asked Questions

• What is avant-garde jazz?

  Avant-garde jazz, avant-jazz, or experimental jazz all refer to any form of jazz music that embodies unorthodox characteristics of its own; therefore the term avant-jazz itself, used as a style for the jazz genre, could include other styles such as free jazz, improvisational jazz, and free improvisation.

• What is freefree jazz and why should you care?

  Free Jazz is indeed freer, and at times wilder, and even over the top with its expression of the freedom from jazz’s traditional forms. Many traditionalists will either roll their eyes at it, or offer terse opinions deriding the genre.

• What are some of the best examples of free jazz?

  John Coltrane’s later period is a fine example of free jazz. The pictured Pharoah Sanders Karma album is fantastic example of world music and free jazz coming together to offer a very accessible version of free jazz. You get a mix of time signatures, diverse instrumentation, and varied tempos.

• Who was on the shape of jazz to come?

  The Shape of Jazz To Come features his classic early quartet with Billy Higgins (who would later be replaced by Ed Blackwell) on drums, Charlie Haden on double bass and Don Cherry, arguably Ornette’s most important collaborator, on cornet. Coleman’s 1961 album Free Jazz gave the movement its name.

• Is free jazz avant-garde?

  Perhaps out of all the styles and sub-genres within this music, Free jazz – or Avant-garde as some of it is labeled – is hardest to pin down. It’s hard to classify exactly what constitutes this music, as it means different things to different artists.

• Who was on the shape of jazz to come?

  The Shape of Jazz To Come features his classic early quartet with Billy Higgins (who would later be replaced by Ed Blackwell) on drums, Charlie Haden on double bass and Don Cherry, arguably Ornette’s most important collaborator, on cornet. Coleman’s 1961 album Free Jazz gave the movement its name.

• What is ‘free jazz’?

  An opposition to traditional jazz harmony and chord changes, regular tempos and compositional forms… Early American free jazz recordings tend to swing and refer heavily to the blues, whilst the European tradition often uses the term ‘improvised music’, and may see itself as entirely separate from the jazz lineage.

• What is the difference between jazz and European jazz?

  Early American free jazz recordings tend to swing and refer heavily to the blues, whilst the European tradition often uses the term ‘improvised music’, and may see itself as entirely separate from the jazz lineage. Some incorporate ethnic music traditions, unusual instruments or extreme instrumental techniques.