Ornett Coleman died

Today, June 11, in New York, at the age of 85, an American saxophonist and composer, one of the founders of the Free Dzhaz Ornett Coleman, died.

It is reported byReuters .

Ornett Coleman was born in 1930 in the poor area of ​​the Texas city of Fort Urta, at the age of 14 he bought a cheap saxophone and independently learned to play it, and at the age of 15 he created his first group.

In the early 1950s, Coleman moved to Los Angeles and began to take music lessons. In 1957, he founded a quartet, which included Don Cherry, Ed Blackwell and Charlie Hayden, the first album was recorded in 1958, “Someting Else !!!!” . In 1959, the Quartet Coleman received an engagement at the Five Spot New York Club, recorded seven albums in 1959–63, performed at the largest American festivals (in Newport and Monterena), toured in Europe.

Coleman experimented a lot and boldly - he played on a plastic saxophone, introduced melodic continuity, rhythmic asymmetry into improvisational music, refused affection for tonality and the purchase form. In the early 1960s, after the release of Coleman's album “Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation” the term “free jazz” was included in use. The new style caused an ambiguous reaction, many musicians said that Free jazz cannot be considered not only jazz, but also by music. At the same time, Coleman was supported by the composer Leonard Burnstein and the founder of Modern Jazz Quartet John Lewis.

In the mid-60s, Coleman mastered the pipe and violin, composed music for films, recorded the symphonic work “Skies of America” in 1972, connected African music and rock rhythms in 1973, introduced an electrihitar into the ensemble, and in 1977 he recorded the record “Dancing in Youur Head” in Morocco with the participation of local folklore musicians.

In 2007, Ornett Coleman received Grammy for a special contribution to the music, in the same year his album “Sound Grammar” won the Pulitzer Prize.