Free jazz or Free Form in the early- to mid-1970s is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during this period believed that the bebop and modal 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 1960 Ornette Coleman recording Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation. Europeans tend to favor the term "free improvisation". Others have used "modern jazz", "creative music", and "art music".
René McLean is a hard bop saxophonist and flutist. He was born in New York City. He started playing guitar before receiving an alto saxophone and instruction from his father, the alto saxophonist Jackie McLean.
The U.S. state of Missouri has a storied musical history. It has been the scene of major developments in several popular music genres as well as the birthplace of many notable musicians. St. Louis was an important venue for early blues and jazz, as well as country and bluegrass. Kansas City is home to famous performers such as Charlie Parker, Count Basie, Lester Young, and its own distinct jazz style. Ragtime got its influential hold in the city of Sedalia, Missouri, thanks to Scott Joplin and his publisher John Stark, and through another Missouri native, James Scott.
Lester Bowie was an American jazz trumpet player and composer. He was a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and co-founded the Art Ensemble of Chicago.
Julius Arthur Hemphill was a jazz composer and saxophone player. He performed mainly on alto saxophone, less often on soprano and tenor saxophones and flute.
The Black Artists Group (BAG) was a multidisciplinary arts collective that existed in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1968 to 1972. BAG is known for the convergence of free jazz and experimental theater.
J. D. Parran is an American multi-woodwind player, educator, and composer specializing in jazz and free improvisation. He plays the soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, and bass saxophone, as well as the E-flat clarinet, alto clarinet, bass clarinet, contra-alto clarinet, piccolo, alto flute, bamboo flute, Native American flute, bamboo saxophone, and nagaswaram.
Luther Thomas was an alto saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist from St. Louis.
Joseph Bowie is an American jazz trombonist and vocalist. The brother of trumpeter Lester Bowie, Joseph is known for leading the jazz-punk group Defunkt and for membership in the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble.
Black Saint and Soul Note are two affiliated Italian independent record labels. Since their conception in the 1970s, they have released albums from a variety of influential jazz musicians, particularly in the genre of free jazz.
Abdul Wadud was an American cellist known for his work in jazz and classical settings. Jazz musician and fellow composer Tomeka Reid hailed Abdul Wadud's "Camille" in a 2020 feature in the New York Times on music that one could play to make friends fall in love with the cello.
John Lindberg is an American jazz double-bassist.
Charles Wesley "Bobo" Shaw was an American free jazz drummer, known as a prominent member of the Human Arts Ensemble and Black Artists Group. He was born in Pope, Mississippi, United States.
Baikida Carroll is an American jazz trumpeter.
Tomorrow's Warriors is a jazz music education and artist development organisation that was co-founded in 1991 by Janine Irons and Gary Crosby, committed to championing diversity, inclusion and equality across the arts through jazz, with a special focus on "Black musicians, female musicians and those whose financial or other circumstances might lock them out of opportunities to pursue a career in the music industry". Crosby drew inspiration from having been a member of the Jazz Warriors, a London-based group of musicians that in the 1980s showcased many young Black British musicians who went on to achieve international success. Tomorrow's Warriors, which has a multiracial make-up, provides a platform for young musicians wishing to pursue a career in jazz, and aims "to inspire, foster and grow a vibrant community of artists, audiences and leaders who together will transform the lives of future generations by increasing opportunity, diversity and excellence in and through jazz." Alumni of Tomorrow's Warriors have gone on to win several awards.
Kelvyn Bell is an American guitarist and vocalist who plays in jazz and funk idioms.
Floyd LeFlore (1940–2014) was a jazz composer, trumpet player, and poet from St. Louis. In 1968, LeFlore helped to found the Black Artists Group (BAG).
Philippe Gaillot is a French jazz-fusion guitarist, pianist, singer, and composer. He is also a producer and sound engineer.
Red, Black & Green is a live album by the Black Artists Group-affiliated band known as Solidarity Unit, Inc., led by drummer Charles "Bobo" Shaw. The group's sole release, it was recorded on September 18, 1970, at the BAG Room in East St. Louis, Illinois, and was initially issued on LP by Shaw's Universal Justice Records in 1972 as part of the BAG Live Concert Series. On the album, Shaw is joined by saxophonist and flutist Oliver Lake, trumpeters Floyd LeFlore and Baikida Carroll, trombonist Joseph Bowie, guitarist Richard Martin, pianist Clovis Bordeaux, bassists Kada Kayan and Carl Richardson, and percussionist Danny Trice. In 2008, the album was reissued on LP in remastered form and in limited quantities by Eremite Records.
Whisper of Dharma is the debut album by the Human Arts Ensemble, a musical collective that was an offshoot of the St. Louis-based Black Artists Group. Consisting of two 22-minute pieces, it was recorded on October 6, 1972, in St. Louis, and was initially released later that year by the small Universal Justice label. In 1977, it was reissued by Arista/Freedom with different cover art. The album features drummer and group leader Charles "Bobo" Shaw, saxophonists Oliver Lake, J. D. Parran, and James Marshall, trumpeter Floyd LeFlore, trombonist Joseph Bowie, multi-instrumentalist Baikida Carroll, and percussionist Gene Lake, who was six years old at the time of the recording session. On the recording, the musicians supplemented their primary instruments with miscellaneous "small instruments" plus a Tibetan trumpet introduced by Marshall, who had just returned from a trip through India and Nepal.
