Free Jazz

The original cover of \”Free Jazz\” (1960) featured a reproduction of one of Jackson Pollock\’s drip paintings, \”White Light.\” The reference is an apt one–like Pollock, Ornette has always had faith that out of chaos, intuition and freedom, beauty will emerge. For the recording session of \”Free Jazz,\” Ornette brought with him two quartets (each with bass drums, and two horns) and had them play simultaneously, giving them only a few very vague directions. What emerged was, like a Pollock painting, a thing of primal beauty and power, formally strange and surprisingly dance-like. It is also (like a Pollock) better experienced than described. Each quartet occupies their own stereo channel (Ornette, Don Cherry, Scott LaFaro and Billy Higgins are on the left channel; and Eric Dolphy, Freddie Hubbard, Charlie Haden and Ed Blackwell are on the right). The music that comes out of the speakers is much more than an experiment; it\’s also much more than just the collective sound of all these wonderful musicians. It\’s an ecstatic work that has been an inspiration to creative musicians for over 40 years, and it will continue to be for many years to come.