The New Jazz Musings

Most histories will tell you that Free Jazz began in the late 1950s at New York City's Five Spot club. Ornette Coleman's ripping up of the rule book divided people into two bipolar opposite camps. Lenny Bernstein thought he was a genius but some jazz critics saw him as a fraud. However, there is also the occasional historical mention of pianist Lennie Tristano's forays into chord progression-less collective improvisation in the late 1940s.  Harvey Pekar was a comic book writer who, with Robert Crumb,  drove the growth of the underground comic book scene in the 1960s and 1970s. He was also a notorious US talk show guest. Before the notoriety he was a jazz writer, publishing in US and UK jazz journals. In 1963 he wrote an article in the Jazz Journal (November issue) describing Tristano's short forays in 'free jazz', then discussed more contemporary musicians including Coleman and Dolphy. Experimental Collective Improvisation / Harvey Pekar In the late 1940’s Lenni...

On July 17 1971 it will be four years since John Coltrane died. Unquestionably, he is one of the greatest innovators in jazz history, and will eventually be recognized as one of the most significant contributors to 20th century music. But in today's distorted perspective, where yesterday is old and two days ago is ancient, he is already being forgotten. More precisely, he hasn't even been fully discovered, or appreciated. His music is the root of much of today's musical thrust. For that reason alone it deserves another look. From the seriousness of his music as well as his words (there is no music in the Coltrane discography which is "light") it becomes clear that a vital religious energy motivated him. But it was a cosmic religiousity, the utter opposite of anything provincial. Thus, Coltrane was able to say much more than the private utterings of some little sect can convey. Nor was his music political in any narrow sense. Instead, he was political in the mann...