|
|
|
|
Jazz 101 Style
Avant-Garde
|
|
The terms "avant-garde" and "free jazz" are often used
interchangeably, an unfortunate circumstance that has led to a number of
misconceptions. When free jazz first emerged in the 1960s, it was an avant-garde
movement. Musicians like Ornette Coleman, who felt constrained by the standard
conventions of bop, forged a new style of improvisation with a number of
variable factors that were not based on any predetermined, underlying harmonic structure.
Free jazz is best represented by the work of such musicians as Coleman, Albert Ayler,
and John Coltrane. By contrast, the various avant-garde jazz communities of the
1970s and 1980s disdained the label "free jazz," because much of their music emphasizes
composition and is highly organized. Avant-garde jazz has many regional schools
that meld elements of free jazz with third-stream innovations and ethnic music.
Prominent avant-garde musicians include Anthony Braxton, George Lewis, Roscoe Mitchell
and Sun Ra.
|
|
|
Traditional
