Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman was an American jazz saxophonist,trumpeter,violinist,and composer. He was best known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre,a term derived from his 1960 album Free Jazz:A Collective Improvisation. His pioneering works often abandoned the harmony-based composition,tonality,chord changes,and fixed rhythm found in earlier jazz idioms. Instead,Coleman emphasized an experimental approach to improvisation,rooted in ensemble playing and blues phrasing. AllMusic called him "one of the most beloved and polarizing figures in jazz history," noting that while "now celebrated as a fearless innovator and a genius,he was initially regarded by peers and critics as rebellious,disruptive,and even a fraud."
Donald Eugene Cherry was an American jazz trumpeter. Beginning in the late 1950s,Cherry had a long tenure performing in the bands of saxophonist Ornette Coleman,as on the pioneering free jazz albums The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959) and Free Jazz:A Collective Improvisation (1960). He also collaborated separately with musicians such as John Coltrane,Charlie Haden,Sun Ra,Ed Blackwell,the New York Contemporary Five,and Albert Ayler.
Archie Shepp is an American jazz saxophonist,educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz.
James Emory Garrison was an American jazz double bassist. He is best remembered for his association with John Coltrane from 1961 to 1967.
John Martin Tchicai was a Danish free jazz saxophonist and composer.
The New York Art Quartet was a free jazz ensemble,originally made up of saxophonist John Tchicai,trombonist Roswell Rudd,drummer Milford Graves and bassist Lewis Worrell,that came into existence in 1964 in New York City. Worrell was later replaced by various other bassists,including Reggie Workman,Finn Von Eyben,Harold Dodson,Eddie Gómez,Steve Swallow,and Buell Neidlinger. All About Jazz reviewer Clifford Allen wrote that the group "cut some of the most powerful music in the free jazz underground".
J.C. Moses was an American jazz drummer.
The New York Contemporary Five was an avant-garde jazz ensemble active from the summer of 1963 to the spring of 1964. It has been described as "a particularly noteworthy group during its year of existence -- a pioneering avant-garde combo" and "a group which,despite its... short lease on life,has considerable historical significance." Author Bill Shoemaker wrote that the NYCF was "one of the more consequential ensembles of the early 1960s." John Garratt described them as "a meteor that streaked by too fast."
Spy vs Spy:The Music of Ornette Coleman is a 1989 album by American composer and saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist John Zorn,featuring the compositions of Ornette Coleman performed in the brief,intense style of Zorn's hardcore miniatures.
Four for Trane is a studio album by tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp released on Impulse! Records in 1965. Four of the five tracks were composed and originally recorded by John Coltrane and rearranged by Shepp and trombonist Roswell Rudd. The other featured players are trumpeter Alan Shorter,alto saxophonist John Tchicai,bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Charles Moffett. Coltrane himself co-produced the album alongside Bob Thiele. The album was Shepp's first release for Impulse!
Archie Shepp –Bill Dixon Quartet is the debut album by saxophonist Archie Shepp and trumpeter Bill Dixon released on the Savoy label in 1962. The album features three performances by Shepp &Dixon with Don Moore and Paul Cohen and a version of Ornette Coleman's composition "Peace" with Reggie Workman and Howard McRae. The album was also rereleased in 1970 as Peace on the French BYG label,flipping the running order on side two,and on CD in 2010 as a "unauthorized European" edition on the Free Factory label,using the Savoy title but the BYG running order.
Consequences is the debut album by the New York Contemporary Five featuring saxophonists Archie Shepp and John Tchicai,trumpeter Don Cherry,bassist Don Moore and drummer J. C. Moses. The album was released on the Fontana label in 1966. In 2020,the Ezz-thetics label re-released the material from Consequences,along with the three NYCF tracks from the B side of Bill Dixon 7-tette/Archie Shepp and the New York Contemporary 5,on a remastered compilation CD titled Consequences Revisited.
Rufus is an album featuring saxophonists Archie Shepp and John Tchicai,bassist Don Moore and drummer J. C. Moses. The album was released on the Fontana label in 1963. This group with the addition of trumpeter Don Cherry became known as the New York Contemporary Five and released Consequences for which this album appears to have been a "pilot".
Bill Dixon 7-tette/Archie Shepp and the New York Contemporary 5 is an album released on the Savoy label originally featuring one LP side by Bill Dixon's septet and one LP side by the New York Contemporary Five featuring saxophonist Archie Shepp. The album resulted from Dixon and Shepp's contractual obligations to provide Savoy Records with a second album after the Archie Shepp - Bill Dixon Quartet (1962) but following a professional separation.
A Tribute to Blackwell is a live album by jazz quartet Old and New Dreams. Recorded in 1987,it features trumpeter Don Cherry,saxophonist Dewey Redman,bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Ed Blackwell. It was released on the Italian Black Saint label.
The Golden Number is an album of duets by the double bassist Charlie Haden recorded in 1976 and released on the Horizon label.
Art Deco is an album by jazz trumpeter Don Cherry recorded in 1988 and released on the A&M label. His quartet played at the Village Vanguard before recording the album.
Coleman Classics Volume 1 is a live album by pianist Paul Bley,saxophonist Ornette Coleman,trumpeter Don Cherry,drummer Billy Higgins and bassist Charlie Haden recorded in California in 1958 and released Bley's on the Improvising Artists label in 1977. The album is an early live recording of Ornette Coleman,made shortly after his first album,Something Else!!!! and featuring the group that would soon record the Atlantic albums The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959) and Change of the Century (1960).
Roger Blank is an American jazz drummer.
Roswell Rudd is a live album by the trombonist Roswell Rudd,the first recording under his name. It was recorded in November 1965 in Hilversum,Netherlands,and was released by America Records in 1971. On the album,Rudd is joined by saxophonist John Tchicai,bassist Finn Von Eyben,and drummer Louis Moholo.
