One of the most underrated and criminally overlooked free jazz trumpet/trombone players remains to be Clifford Thornton. Born in Philadelphia sometime in 1936, Thornton studied with hard bop trumpeter Donald Byrd during the mid-'50s and played with numerous other jazz musicians, including the great tuba player Ray Draper. After joining the army,... [+] Read More

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One of the earliest large-group endeavors attempted in the European free jazz movement, the Globe Unity Orchestra was founded by German pianist Alexander Von Schlippenbach in 1966, at first for the specific purpose of performing his composition "Globe Unity," which was commissioned for the Berliner Jazztage. Initially, the 19-piece orchestra... [+] Read More

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One of the first trombonists to explore free jazz, Grachan Moncur III is still best-known for his pair of innovative Blue Note albums (1963-1964) that also featured Lee Morgan and Jackie McLean on the first session and Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock on the later date. The son of bassist Grachan Moncur II, who played with the Savoy Sultans... [+] Read More

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The London Jazz Composers' Orchestra, formed in the early '70s, was organized by Barry Guy among others, and included British improvisers Derek Bailey, Evan Parker, Tony Oxley, Paul Lytton, and many more. Its formation was inspired by Carla Bley and Michael Mantler's Jazz Composers' Orchestra Association, which first came through Europe in 1966.... [+] Read More

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Of all the jazz musicians, Sun Ra was probably the most controversial. He did not make it easy for people to take him seriously, for he surrounded his adventurous music with costumes and mythology that both looked backward toward ancient Egypt and forward into science fiction. In addition, Ra documented his music in very erratic fashion on his... [+] 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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Probably the first of several saxophone-only ensembles who proliferated in jazz after 1975, the WSQ is unquestionably the most commercially (and, arguably, the most creatively) successful. Of course, commercial success is a relative thing in jazz, especially when one is speaking of an avant-garde group. But unlike most free jazz artists, the WSQ... [+] Read More

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