Free Jazz

Free Jazz, originating in the 1950's and peaking in the 1960's, was a radical departure from past styles. Typically after playing a quick theme, the soloist does not have to follow any progression or structure and can go in any unpredictable direction. When Ornette Coleman introduced Free Jazz to New York audiences, many of the bop musicians and fans debated about whether what was being played would even qualify as music; the radicals had become conservatives in less than 15 years. Free Jazz, which overlaps with the avant-garde, remains a controversial and mostly underground style, influencing the modern mainstream while often being ignored.