Free Jazz
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in-pursuit
Well-Known Member
this is also relevant to my interests.
celticelk
Well-Known Member
That was Albert Ayler, yes? (My iPad doesn't show embedded YT video titles.) Ayler's one of the pioneers of free jazz, so it's hard to go wrong with more of his output. Ornette Coleman, of course - he's the guy who invented the term. Late-period Coltrane is arguably free, or close to it. Pharoah Sanders. Cecil Taylor. Roland Kirk.
For more guitar-oriented stuff, try James Blood Ulmer, especially his earlier stuff like *Tales of Captain Black*, or Ronald Shannon Jackson - both of them played with Ornette, and Shannon has a history of hiring good guitarists (the young Vernon Reid, Jef Lee Johnson, Stevie Salas, Fiuczynski, etc.). Definitely check out Last Exit, which was a free group with Shannon, Bill Laswell, Sonny Sharrock, and Peter Brotzmann. Brotzmann's recorded output is all improvised, so you'll want to take a look at that. Sharrock's *Ask the Ages* with Pharoah Sanders is a little more structured, but not much, and has some stunningly beautiful playing, so definitely check that out - one of my desert-island discs. If you can find it, Brotzmann and Sharrock also played on a live Ginger Baker disc called *No Material*, which includes Nicky Skopelitis on second guitar. Brotzmann's son Caspar plays guitar in a Hendrix-inspired free sort of way, and has a few albums kicking around, including an improvised one with Page Hamilton of Helmet called *Zulutime*. Elliott Sharp does a lot of free playing on guitar in a variety of contexts; a good place to start with him might be the live trio record he did with David Torn and Vernon Reid called *Gtr Oblq*.
That's probably enough to be going on with. =) Sorry for the lack of videos, but the iPad doesn't really facilitate that sort of thing. I also recommend getting very familiar with allmusic.com, which is a great resource for music research. Use the credits feature to see who played on albums you particularly like, and then see who else those guys were playing with. You're bound to find some interesting things that way, and it's a great way to waste time if you're an egghead like me. =)
For more guitar-oriented stuff, try James Blood Ulmer, especially his earlier stuff like *Tales of Captain Black*, or Ronald Shannon Jackson - both of them played with Ornette, and Shannon has a history of hiring good guitarists (the young Vernon Reid, Jef Lee Johnson, Stevie Salas, Fiuczynski, etc.). Definitely check out Last Exit, which was a free group with Shannon, Bill Laswell, Sonny Sharrock, and Peter Brotzmann. Brotzmann's recorded output is all improvised, so you'll want to take a look at that. Sharrock's *Ask the Ages* with Pharoah Sanders is a little more structured, but not much, and has some stunningly beautiful playing, so definitely check that out - one of my desert-island discs. If you can find it, Brotzmann and Sharrock also played on a live Ginger Baker disc called *No Material*, which includes Nicky Skopelitis on second guitar. Brotzmann's son Caspar plays guitar in a Hendrix-inspired free sort of way, and has a few albums kicking around, including an improvised one with Page Hamilton of Helmet called *Zulutime*. Elliott Sharp does a lot of free playing on guitar in a variety of contexts; a good place to start with him might be the live trio record he did with David Torn and Vernon Reid called *Gtr Oblq*.
That's probably enough to be going on with. =) Sorry for the lack of videos, but the iPad doesn't really facilitate that sort of thing. I also recommend getting very familiar with allmusic.com, which is a great resource for music research. Use the credits feature to see who played on albums you particularly like, and then see who else those guys were playing with. You're bound to find some interesting things that way, and it's a great way to waste time if you're an egghead like me. =)
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celticelk
Well-Known Member
Some recommended viewing: watch episode 9 of Ken Burns' *Jazz*, which covers the birth of free playing, among other things. Burns and his cohorts are not terribly sympathetic to free playing, but there's some good context in there, and some nice interview bits with Charlie Haden, Ornette's bassist. Follow that up with *Icons Among Us*, which is a good overview of the diversity of the current jazz scene, including some more experimental playing. Both of those are streaming on Netflix.
Pablo Zuta
STFU
kung_fu
Vulcan Lute God
This thread is relevant to my interests. Not all of these guys are strictly free jazz, but they've certainly all flirted with it at one time or another
I basically started with Ornette's "Free Jazz" record and branched utwards from there. You could probably do the same with a variety of the "big band" free jazz albums (Coltrane's Ascenscion for Instance)
Eric Dolphy
Ornette Coleman
John Coltrane
Anthony Braxton
Peter Brotzman
Albert Ayler (though I see you've already mentioned him)
Derek Bailey
Cecil Taylor
Sam Rivers (see also Dave Holland)
Don Cherry
Jackie McLean
Music Revelation Ensemble
Grachan Moncur III
Arthur Blythe
I basically started with Ornette's "Free Jazz" record and branched utwards from there. You could probably do the same with a variety of the "big band" free jazz albums (Coltrane's Ascenscion for Instance)
Eric Dolphy
Ornette Coleman
John Coltrane
Anthony Braxton
Peter Brotzman
Albert Ayler (though I see you've already mentioned him)
Derek Bailey
Cecil Taylor
Sam Rivers (see also Dave Holland)
Don Cherry
Jackie McLean
Music Revelation Ensemble
Grachan Moncur III
Arthur Blythe
kung_fu
Vulcan Lute God
Another cool modern free jazz documentary :
"How about free jazz?"
How about free jazz? part one on Vimeo
"How about free jazz?"
How about free jazz? part one on Vimeo
skarz
Well-Known Member
Roland Kirk was already mentioned but:
A great watch too the mini documentary serie of Derek Bailey about improvisational music whatever the form (or style?):
Derek Bailey: On the Edge (Part 1) on Vimeo
A great watch too the mini documentary serie of Derek Bailey about improvisational music whatever the form (or style?):
Derek Bailey: On the Edge (Part 1) on Vimeo
kung_fu
Vulcan Lute God
^^^
I've watched both of those a few times
It's also worth noting that there was an ornette coleman trio (izenzon/moffett) documentary done at the same time as the Roland Kirk one
I've watched both of those a few times
It's also worth noting that there was an ornette coleman trio (izenzon/moffett) documentary done at the same time as the Roland Kirk one
Peter Brotzman's Machine Gun album is a Free Jazz classic - worth checking out.
On the slightly more improv and less jazz side, I am a big fan of Fred Frith and most of the things he was involved with. When I lived in London, I enjoyed seeing Evan Parker and John Butcher. John Butcher is one of my favourite improvisers.
On the slightly more improv and less jazz side, I am a big fan of Fred Frith and most of the things he was involved with. When I lived in London, I enjoyed seeing Evan Parker and John Butcher. John Butcher is one of my favourite improvisers.
JoeChugs
Well-Known Member
kung_fu
Vulcan Lute God
Bump. I've recently been getting into David Murray big time. He's got a very unique mix of traditionalist and modernist jazz playing.
shadowlife
Contributor
^^^
That was pretty cool- thanks for posting it.
That was pretty cool- thanks for posting it.
kung_fu
Vulcan Lute God
^^
My pleasure
. A few days ago, I threw his name into youtube and that was one of the first videos that came up. Quite a jaw-dropping performance. Today I actually bought his album "GWOTET" after having checked out this video of him playing with theGwo-Ka Masters:
My pleasure
. A few days ago, I threw his name into youtube and that was one of the first videos that came up. Quite a jaw-dropping performance. Today I actually bought his album "GWOTET" after having checked out this video of him playing with theGwo-Ka Masters:
kung_fu
Vulcan Lute God
Somewhat free-jazz related, another cool youtube jazz dc i've checked out a few times:
Julius Hemphil is another guy i've been checking out lately.
Julius Hemphil is another guy i've been checking out lately.
guitareben
Well-Known Member
These might be of interest ^^
kung_fu
Vulcan Lute God
^^
2 classics right there. I recently bought the new Miles Davis Quintet box set "Live in Europe 1969". Much of the early jazz/rock fusion albums are actually quite free sounding.
2 classics right there. I recently bought the new Miles Davis Quintet box set "Live in Europe 1969". Much of the early jazz/rock fusion albums are actually quite free sounding.
Semichastny
Well-Known Member
Eric Dolphy's Out to Lunch, Cecil Taylor's Conquistador, and Ornette Coleman's Science Fiction are always in regular rotation for me. I used to listen to a lot more free jazz, but after a while it just became a chore to me.
