Accessories and Paroxysms

One hallmark of free jazz is that it rarely left any instrument out. In fact, its practitioners liked to play instruments other than the ones they specialized in.

Ornette Coleman plays violin during recording session for his album, 1966 (photo: F. Wolff)

Ornette Coleman, for example, decided to begin to play the violin and trumpet - despite a most rudimentary technique. Accidental sounds (squawks,squeaks,gurgles, bumps, bangs and so on) were integrated into the music.
 Drummers such as Sunny Murray decided to put the traditional notion of keeping time aside, choosing to vibrate, murmur and rustle instead.

Drummer Sunny Murray (left), with Gary Peacock, Albert Ayler, Don Cherry
Golden Circle, Stockholm, 1964

© Nils Edstrom/Ayler Records

   Blazing important trails for the future, free jazz was the answer to the concerns of a black community -and, more widely, an entire generation- in crisis. However, when the Beatles burst forth and rock music came to the fore, everything came together in a new way, relegating jazz to the periphery.

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