About Ornette Coleman
Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman was an American jazz saxophonist, trumpeter, violinist, and composer. He is 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. Thom Jurek of 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." In 1995, Coleman and his son Denardo founded the Harmolodic record label. Coleman subsequently switched to alto saxophone, first playing it in New Orleans after the Baton Rouge incident; the alto would remain his primary instrument for the rest of his life. In November 1959, his quartet began a controversial residency at the Five Spot Café in New York City and he released the influential album The Shape of Jazz to Come, his debut LP on Atlantic Records. In the mid 1960s, Coleman left Atlantic for other labels, including Blue Note and Columbia Records, and began performing with his young son Denardo Coleman on drums.
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