Ornette Coleman Quotes


So, for instance, if you came to me, I'd ask, 'Do you want to write? Do you want to improvise? Why do you want to play this instrument? What do you want to do?'


Citations

Litweiler, John. Ornette Coleman: A Harmolodic Life. William Morrow and Company, 1992.

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Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman
  • Born: March 9, 1930
  • Died: June 11, 2015
  • Nationality: American
  • Profession: Musician, Composer

Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation. His pioneering performances often abandoned the chordal and harmony-based structure found in bebop, instead emphasizing a jarring and avant-garde approach to improvisation.