The Importance and Significance of Free Jazz
Stop reading this article for a second. I want you to go to your music app and listen to the first 2 minutes of Albert Ayler’s Spiritual Unity. Really embrace the feeling of the song, and then come back and read this article.
So, what was that all about? What you listened to was one of the beginnings of the musical phenomenon of avant-garde jazz (more commonly referred to as freeform jazz or just free jazz). Spiritual Unity is an important free jazz album that came out in the mid-60s. This album recieved critical acclaim from audiences all around. But why would people want to listen to this type of jazz? They aren’t even playing on beat! It’s just random notes! All I can say is, yeah, you’re right. But, let's take another look at this type of jazz with some context in mind.
Free jazz is a subgenre of jazz that emerged from the late 50s and stayed popular throughout the 60s. Free jazz itself is pretty diverse in its inspirations and messages, but the one thing that connects all songs together is, you guessed it, it's freeform nature. Most freeform jazz pieces start with what I like to call a “mission statement”, which is a recognizable melody that all band members play. The “mission statement” is supposed to set the mood for the song, as a mission statement would. After that, everything descends into heavy improvisation. The bass and drums are usually the only constants throughout the entire piece, but even then those can change. It’s free jazz. The song then would end with a reiteration of the “mission statement”. Ghosts: First Variation, the song that you should’ve listened to at the beginning, is the perfect example of this.
What inspired the idea of free jazz? Let’s take a look at the jazz scene as it was. In the late 50s, jazz at this point had left the popular spotlight. Rock music was the new pop music. The most popular forms of jazz were hard bop and cool jazz (the knowledge of these terms aren’t important, just imagine the type of jazz that plays in old detective movies). Free jazz is argued to be the next natural progression of the sound of jazz. Musicians (especially jazz musicians) are known for pushing the boundaries of their respective musical genres and try to evolve the sound of what they play. Ornette Coleman is one of these musicians. He is said to be one of the pioneers of the subgenre after he released the album The Shape of Jazz to Come in 1959. This album was revolutionary in bringing the idea of the openness and freeness of jazz and inspired many jazz musicians to jump on the wave. Why did he do it? I don’t know. Probably to show off his musical prowess or something (and succeeding, because wow, this album rules).
Another (more romantic, yet less supported) idea of the popularization of free jazz is the civil rights movement. Keep in mind, the free jazz movement was popular in the late 50s and throughout the 60s. The civil rights movement also happened around the same time. While the civil rights movement is not solely responsible for the creation of the free jazz subgenre, it most likely served as an inspiration for many jazz musicians in their pieces. Musicians always write about their experiences and what surrounds them, so it wouldn't be wrong to assume that the fight for civil rights played a part in the popularization of free jazz. However, this idea is sort of dangerous, because it erases the idea that other forms of jazz that existed around that time as well weren’t inspired by civil unrest.
Miles Davis released arguably his best album, Kind of Blue, in 1959, the same year that The Shape of Jazz to Come was released as well. These two landmark albums would help define the two types of jazz that were popular in the 60s: free jazz and modal jazz. There are tons of examples of other forms of jazz that released at that time that was inspired by civil rights events. Alabama by John Coltrane or Fables of Faubus by Charles Mingus are crazy-popular jazz tunes that were inspired by civil rights injustices.
But let’s get back on track here. Political leanings were not the only form of free jazz expression. The more common expression of free jazz is spiritual. In my honest opinion, the medium of free jazz is the perfect way to express your spiritual beliefs. The idea of sprituality is that the soul and body are seperate. In a sense, the idea of free jazz breaking away from the conventions of modern music is perfect for the idea of the soul breaking away from the body after one dies. The freeness one feels after the soul leaves the body is perfectly encapsulated in the idea of free jazz. It’s a morbid, yet relaxing feeling to think about.
John Coltrane and Sun Ra are the two biggest perpetrators of spiritual free jazz. Coltrane was always known for his spiriuality in his jazz. A Love Supreme is a great example of his spirituality being showcased in his music. While A Love Supreme is grounded in ideas of hard bop, Coltrane’s later works go into full free jazz territory. Albums like Ascenscion and Om are big band ensembles that have the same layouts as most free jazz tunes. Listening to such albums can be overwhelming and confusing, but what I like to do to mitigate this feeling is to focus on one instrument, and see how it fits in to the overall picture and feeling of the song. Sun Ra is also known for his spirituality of his music, from his name and aesthetic down to his playing in free jazz. Sun Ra has played with countles people, from solo works to a big band arangement that he called his “Arkestra”. While my personal knowledge of Sun Ra is limited, the tunes of his that I have listened to have roots in old African American music like ragtime and old swing.
I hope this short read helped you understand the importance of free jazz. Its establishment never really left the jazz scene after its fall from popularity. Jazz fusion, the natural progression after free jazz, still has its inspirations from free jazz. While I don’t expect you guys to finish this article and start listening to albums like Machine Gun by the Peter Brötzmann Octet and automatically understand and like them, I just hope to instill a sense of appreciation for the art form. Hell, I still have trouble understanding what the point of some free jazz albums are. What I do to remedy this situation is look up the album on google as I’m listening to see if I can find the artist’s explanation for the album, or better yet, someone who knows more about me’s explanation of what the album means to them. So yeah, free jazz, it’s great. Thanks for reading!
