Andrew Cyrille is perhaps the preeminent free-jazz percussionist of the 1980s and '90s. Few free-jazz drummers play with a tenth of Cyrille's grace and authority. His energy is unflagging, his power absolute, tempered only by an ever-present sense of propriety. Cyrille is at his best in an utterly free context, as on his encounters with the... [+] Read More

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Genius is a rare commodity in any art form, but at the end of the 20th century it seemed all but non-existent in jazz, a music that had ceased looking ahead and begun swallowing its tail. If it seemed like the music had run out of ideas, it might be because Anthony Braxton covered just about every conceivable area of creativity during the course... [+] Read More

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In the early '70s, Altschul was the drummer for Circle -- a band which (with a membership that also included Chick Corea, Dave Holland, and Anthony Braxton) might possibly have been the most technically adept free jazz ensemble ever. Altschul's drumming with that band was stylistically all-encompassing -- in his own words, "from ragtime to no... [+] Read More

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Born Martii Juhani Vesala, the percussionist changed his name early in his musical career. Vesala studied music theory and orchestral percussion at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki from 1965-7. He played with such musicians as Eero Koivistionen and Seppo Paakkunainen during the mid-to-late ‘60s. In 1972 he recorded Triptykon for ECM with... [+] Read More

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One of the most prominent and influential Italian jazz musicians, pianist/composer Giorgio Gaslini's music has wed elements of 20th century classical music (serialism, aleatory) with avant-garde jazz and pop idioms; he terms his widely encompassing style "total music." Gaslini took piano lessons as a child and began performing at the age of 13.... [+] Read More

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At his best, Jack DeJohnette is one of the most consistently inventive jazz percussionists extant. DeJohnette's style is wide-ranging, yet, while capable of playing convincingly in any modern idiom, he always maintains a well-defined voice. DeJohnette has a remarkably fluid relationship to pulse. His time is excellent; even as he pushes, pulls... [+] Read More

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One of the founding fathers of free improvisation in Britain. In the mid-'60s, Stevens helped found Spontaneous Music Ensemble (SME), an influential group that included most of England's top experimental jazz musicians. The band's lineup evolved and fluctuated, but at one time or another Paul Rutherford, Trevor Watts, Derek Bailey, Evan Parker,... [+] Read More

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Jarman was not so accomplished a saxophonist as his reed-playing partner in the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Roscoe Mitchell. But Jarman's sense of color was fine, his blunt-edged improvisations projected an emotionally immediacy of their own, and his interest in poetry and theatre informed the band's live performances. While attending high school... [+] Read More

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Originally comprised of saxophonists Roscoe Mitchell and Joseph Jarman, trumpeter Lester Bowie, bassist Malachi Favors, and later, drummer Famoudou Don Moye, the Art Ensemble of Chicago enjoyed a critical reputation as the finest and most influential avant-garde jazz ensemble of the 1970s and '80s. Whether or not that reputation was wholly... [+] Read More

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