In the late 1950s, free jazz broke all the rules, liberating musicians both to create completely spontaneous and unplanned performances and to develop unique personal musical systems. This genre emerged alongside the radical changes of the 1960s, particularly the Civil Rights, Black Arts, and Black Power movements.
Free Jazz is a new and accessible introduction to this exciting, controversial, and often misunderstood music, drawing on extensive research, close listening, and the author’s experience as a performer. More than a catalog of artists and albums, the book explores the conceptual areas they opened: freedom, spirituality, energy, experimentalism, and self-determination. These are discussed in relation to both the political and artistic currents of the times and to specific musical techniques, explained in language clear to ordinary readers but also useful for musicians.
Table of Content
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter Overviews
1. Freedom
Free
Harmolodics
Time, No Changes
2. Spirituality
A Love Supreme
Universal Consciousness
The Nubians of Plutonia
New Africa
Karma
Bridge into the New Age
3. Energy
Ascension
Machine Gun
We Now Create
4. Experimentalism
Imaginary Values
Sound Structure of Subculture Becoming
Ankhrasmation
Language Music
Zooid
Conduction
Search and Reflect
5. Self-determination
The Jazz Composers Guild
Self-Reliance Productions
Wildflowers
Uptown and Downtown
6. Ancient to the Future
A Jackson in Your House
Dogon A.D.
Notes
Index
About the author
Jeff Schwartz is a writer, bassist, and librarian in Los Angeles, California.
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