Vanguard Jazz. avant-garde jazz avant-garde jazz

Apr 25, 2013

“The avant-garde exists in the name of opposing the popular and what is purely commercial in nature…”

Robert McKee, art theorist and screenwriter

Innovative jazz music that arose in the late 50s and early 60s of the last century, very close in sound to free jazz, was a mixture of avant-garde sound with elements of traditional jazz. This was avant-garde jazz - one of the most powerful musical phenomena of the 20th century.

Like a flash

The development of avant-garde jazz on a global scale was influenced by such a bright and colorful personality as John Coltrane. This magnificent jazz musician became a truly significant figure in the history of jazz music, which influenced the school of improvisation and, in particular, avant-garde jazz.

“My main goal is to live a spiritual life and express it in my music. I believe that if you live like this, then you can play easily, because music becomes a part of such a life. Music is very, very deep within us. In each of us. My music is an expression of experience, faith and my being…” - these words of Coltrane best characterize his work.

In the 1940s, this musician was little known and played mainly in small orchestras. But in 1955, John Coltrane became part of the Miles Davis band, which was popular at that time (to which we will return a little later). But it was only a stage. After a while, the collaboration between Miles and John ceases to exist. By the beginning of the 60s, John Coltrane began to create solo music that determined his future work. This is how his most legendary albums A Love Supreme, Giant Steps, Africa/Brass and Coltrane Jazz are born. These works have become a reader for studying the foundations of avant-garde jazz. And the album A Love Supreme received 2 nominations for the Grammy Award and became his best-selling creation.

Avante Garden

Avant-garde jazz, which appeared in the 1960s, was distinguished by a frantic desire to free traditional jazz from the "shackles", and thereby strengthen the harmony of rhythm. This direction began to rely on radically new means of musical expression in jazz, unusual, previously unknown techniques appeared. “When there are no clear boundaries, there is more space for fruitful creativity, for the search for new facets of sound,” said many avant-garde jazz performers. And they were right.

This great musician, whose love lives in the hearts of millions of people around the world, lived only to 41 years. His career was like a flash, bright, powerful, but short. Having become popular at the age of 33, John Coltrane is still one of the most brilliant personalities in the jazz world. In addition, he was canonized by the African Orthodox Church of the Harveyites.

Controversial and ingenious

A shy boy who lives in Illinois, a state where tornadoes and thunderclouds often visit, dreams of becoming an academic performer and the most talented jazzman, has achieved everything he wanted. The whole world recognized the great musician, whose name is Miles Davis.

This man stood at the origins of the development of various areas of jazz music - cool jazz, modal jazz, fusion and avant-garde jazz. His great works once and for all defined the standard of jazz sound for three generations of music lovers.

Davis' work makes it possible to trace the dynamics of the development of contemporary jazz music, from bebop (late 40s of the twentieth century) to modern experimental niches and styles.

Compared to other jazz musicians, Miles Davis never limited himself to one particular style. He fell in love with listeners precisely because he embraced an incredible breadth of sound. The versatility of his talent was emphasized by many critics and jazz experts. And Duke Ellington compared his ability to create with the work of Picasso. The music of Miles Davis is controversial and, at the same time, endlessly saturated. Later it became his hallmark.

Davis' career has been challenging and controversial. In the 50s, he became addicted to drugs and did not appear on the jazz scene for four years. Such "attacks" happened later. But still, a new round of popularity was not long in coming. In the late 1960s, Davis decided to experiment with power tools, influenced by rock music. He completely abandoned the sound, which is characterized by jazz patterns. Davis developed a completely new type of arrangement, when quite long compositions were combined, “cemented” with short riffs.

In the 70s, Miles Davis realized his lifelong dream - a new type of jazz show that became wildly popular among connoisseurs of avant-garde jazz. After that, the musician became a welcome guest at many European and American jazz and rock festivals. But Davis's health was deteriorating inexorably, and the death of friends, illness (pneumonia), a serious car accident, again drugs and legal troubles caused apathy and prolonged depression. After 1975, Miles Davis did not appear on stage for 6 years.

Years later, his return to the stage was heralded by the 1981 recording The Man With A Horn.

His new style of playing, funk rock jazz, was introduced by the album Tutu, released in 1986. It was called "the soundtrack of the decade".

Miles Davis continued to tour and delight with inimitable performances of his avant-garde jazz compositions until his death (1991). Fans of the genre know how great Davies' themes like Seven Steps To Heaven, All Blues, Bitches brew, So What, Solar, Tune Up and Milestones sound.

The achievements of Miles Davis include the creation of a unique style of playing the trumpet, which later had a huge impact on the work of musicians playing in the cool and bebop style. He also stood at the origins of such interesting trends in jazz as jazz-rock and fusion. Davis was inimitable!

There is a pulse!

Avant-garde jazz today exists in a wide variety of and sometimes bizarre forms. It is serious concept art. An eclectic mix of styles, aesthetics and sound are all present in contemporary avant-garde jazz music. While enjoying the compositions of this genre, we feel a spontaneous transition from the beauty of the traditional jazz sound to the eccentric appeal of the avant-garde. Avant-garde jazz is natural, as part of our reality, which pulsates every day in our veins, in ourselves.

Tell your friends:

/ Avantgarde jazz (from French avant-garde vanguard)- Conventional name for groups of styles and trends in modern jazz, focused on the modernization of the musical language, on the development of new, non-traditional expressive means and techniques (in the field of atonality, modal improvisation and composition, sonoristics, electronic sound synthesis, etc.). It is customary to refer to avant-garde jazz as free jazz, "third trend", electronic jazz, some experimental forms of hard bop, cooljazz, jazz-rock, etc.

Arrangement / Arrangement (English arrange arrange, arrange, put in order) - Musical presentation, designed for a certain composition of performers and recorded in musical notation. In jazz, arrangement is a way of fixing the general idea of ​​an ensemble or orchestral interpretation and the main carrier of stylistic qualities, as a result of which it becomes no less important than composition in academic music.

Archaic (early) blues/ Archaic (early) blues - The oldest, traditional type of blues, which is supposed to have developed in the first half of the last century in the South of the USA and has a close connection with African origins, as well as with other traditional genres of American Negro folk music (for example, work- song, holler, ballad and spiritual).

Archaic (early) jazz/ Archaic (early) jazz - The designation of the oldest, traditional types of jazz that have existed since the middle of the last century in a number of southern US states. Archaic jazz was represented, in particular, by the music of the Negro and Creole marching bands of the nineteenth century. The period of archaic jazz preceded the emergence of the New Orleans (classical) style.

Sound Attack / Attack - One of the important dynamic characteristics of sound production in jazz, associated with the initial moment of taking sound in playing a musical instrument or singing. It can be sharply accentuated, aggressive or relaxed. The quality of the sound attack is largely determined by the jazz sound.

African "hand piano"/ African hand piano - Widespread in Africa (on the west coast and in the southern part of the continent) plucked-reed musical instrument related to the xylophone, with a resonant body length from 10 cm to a meter and with one or more rows of reeds of different sizes made of wood located on it or metal, corresponding to sounds of different pitches. It has many local names - Sanza, Mbira, Mbila, Kalimba, Ndimba, Ndandi, Izhari, Mganga, Likembe, Selimba, etc. During the European colonization of America, Sanza was brought by Negro slaves to Cuba, where it still exists.

Base / Base (English lower part, base, support)- An ensemble or part of an ensemble performing the function of accompanying soloists.

Ballad / Ballad (from lat. ballo I dance)- A song genre found among many peoples, originating from ancient round dance songs. The typical features of the ballad are a combination of epic narrative and lyricism, strophic form, slow or moderate tempo, through development of the plot and musical material. In the folk music of American blacks, an original type of ballad has developed, which has some commonality with the blues and retains a connection with African traditions. In jazz, the lyrical ballad style of instrumental playing and singing has become widespread.

Banjo / Banjo (Bonjo) - A stringed plucked musical instrument of African origin, related to the mandolin and guitar. It is extremely widespread in the practice of folk mueing of American blacks, both as a solo and as an accompanying instrument. The original genres of Negro folk music for the banjo contributed to the emergence of ragtime and early forms of jazz.

Barbershop Harmony("Hairdressing Harmony")/ Barbershop Harmony (eng. Barbershop barbershop)- A type of harmonic accompaniment of a melody based on the parallel chromatic movement of voices when connecting chords (mainly seventh chords). This voice leading technique corresponds to the fingering of the banjo, in the practice of playing which, apparently, this peculiar harmonic style was formed. It is also assumed that its origin is connected with the existence in old America of the tradition of semi-folklore amateur music playing by small ensembles that played in barbershops, which at that time were a favorite place for recreation and entertainment of the townspeople (such barbershops usually had a bar, as well as a room for singing and dancing) . Barbershop ensembles influenced the development of American minstrel theater (see minstrel show) and ragtime.

Barrel house style/ Barrel house style, Barrel house piano (eng. barrel house tavern, beer house)- Arose in the second half of the last century and became widespread by the beginning of the twentieth century. archaic style of Negro piano jazz. Barrel house music was performed on the piano in a sharply syncopated, percussive manner, without a pedal, with a clear separation of the functions of the pianist's right and left hands (in the right hand part - a free syncopated melody, in the left hand part - accompaniment such as "bass - chord" with strictly sustained metric pulsation). Barrel house style was also practiced in small ensembles, which, in addition to the piano, could include banjo, guitar, mandolin, harmonica, bass and percussion, as well as primitive folk instruments (kazoo, jug, "singing saw", washboard, comb with tissue paper, etc.).

Bounce / Bounce (English jump, jump)- 1. A kind of swing, elastic rhythmic movement at a moderate pace with emphasis on the main beats of the measure. The opposite of jump with its simplistic, slightly swinged beat and very fast tempo. 2. Fashionable North American dance at a moderate pace on 4/4, which has a resemblance to a slow foxtrot.

Begin / Veguine - A dance of Latin American origin (presumably from the island of Martinique), in quadruple meter, at a moderate pace. It has some similarities with tango and rumba. Received international distribution in the 30s. 20th century The melody "Begine the Beguine" from K.Porter's musical "Jubilee" (1935) is one of the most popular jazz themes.

Bebop - see bop.

Big band (large orchestra) / Big band - A characteristic variety of a jazz orchestra, distinguished by a certain composition of instruments (with the leading role of wind instruments), a specific division of instrumental groups (sections), a peculiar technique of ensemble playing (a combination of arranged sections with improvisations of soloists, the use of special types orchestral accompaniment - background, as well as special types of metro-rhythmic pulsation, mixing timbres, etc.). The number of musicians in a big band is 10 - 20 people. Typical line-up: 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, 5 saxophones and a rhythm group (piano, guitar, bass, drums); some other variants are possible. It is supposed to have a saxophone section (reeds), a brass section (breaststroke) and a rhythm section; a woodwind section (woods), as well as a string group, can be added to them. The development of the big band began in the 20s, and in the early 30s. on its basis, swing was formed - one of the fundamental styles of orchestral jazz.

Beat / Beat (English beat) - In a broad sense - a metro-rhythmic pulsation in music. In jazz, the type of beat (groundbeat, off-beat, on-beat, too-beat, four-beat, etc.) is determined by the interpretation of the metric structure of the measure, the ratio of equity and rhythmic accents, the degree of their coincidence or mismatch. As a rule, a more free and flexible rhythm is opposed to a regular, strictly organized beat. Constantly arising micromixings of rhythmic accents relative to beats reinforce the impression of impulsiveness, internal conflict and tension of the musical movement.

Block chords / Block chords - Jazz piano playing technique based on parallel monorhythmic chord movement in the parts of both hands of the pianist. Another well-known name for it is the technique of bound hands. First developed in the early 40s. Subsequently, this type of chord texture found application in the performing practice of small ensembles (combos) and big bands.

Blues / Blues (presumably from the American idiom to feel blue to be sad or from the English blue devils melancholy,

blues; blue also means blue) The traditional genre of African American music, which is one of the highest achievements of Negro musical culture. Closely connected with African origins, it is represented by many genre varieties in the folk music of the blacks of South, Central and North America. According to researchers, the blues developed from a number of black folk vocal genres, among which the most important are work song, holler, black ballad and spirituals. The bright and unique look of the blues is manifested in the characteristic features of its intonational structure, mode, melody, harmony, and form. The blues tradition is represented in almost all major jazz styles; the leading academic composers of the 20th century addressed her in their work. (including Ravel, Milhaud, Gershwin, Copland, Honegger, Martin and others); many forms and genres of contemporary popular and dance music emerged under her influence.

Blues form - A characteristic type of blues stanza structure. Most often, the blues form refers to the classic twelve-bar AAB question-and-answer structure with a repeated "question" A and a one-time "answer" B, based on the principle of "change for the third time." This structure corresponds to a certain functional-harmonic model (square) with a typical blues cadence D-S-T, which has no analogues in European music. The stability of the repeatedly repeated "blues square" serves as an organizing factor in melodic improvisation. The specificity of the blues form can also manifest itself within the thematic structures of a different scale (8, 10, 16, 20, 24, 32 measures).

"Blue tones" / Blue notes - Zones of labile (unstable) intonation of individual steps of the fret, which do not coincide with the division of the octave into tones and semitones accepted in European practice. Typical of both jazz and all Negro music in general. In the seven-step sounding (heptatonic) they are most often located on the III and VII steps ("blues third" and "blues seventh"), conditionally notated as lowered III and VII steps of the major. The inadequacy of the perception of "blues tones" by Europeans led to the appearance of an erroneous idea of ​​the Negro blues as sad, sad music (from the point of view of European norms, lowering the III and VII steps of the major mode creates a kind of "ominor" major).

"Blues Scale"/ Blue scale - A conditional concept that reflects the European idea of ​​the scale basis of Negro music (primarily blues), limited by the equal temperament system and the associated notation system. In accordance with this idea, the "blues scale" is considered as a seven-step natural major with additional "6 blues tones" - lowered III and VII steps. In fact, these "steps" are part of special internment zones, which have a different pitch volume than similar degrees of the European scale.

Big Band - See Big Band.

Bongos / Vongos - Latin American variety of snare drums (presumably of Indian origin). Usually a block of two bongs of different sizes is used, connected to each other by a wooden block. In pop and dance music, bongos became widespread after the Second World War. In jazz, they are used occasionally.

Bop / Thief - Jazz style that developed by the beginning of the 40s. The sex is also known by the names "bebop", "beebap", "ribap", "mintons-style". Almost all of these names (except the last one) are onomatopoeic in origin and are associated with the practice of scat vocals. The term "mintons-style" comes from the name of the Harlem club "Minton's Playhouse", where the first musicians of bop, its founders, performed. Bop replaced swing, emerging as a new, experimental direction of Negro jazz of small ensembles (combos). The most important trends, characterizing bop - the modernization of old hot jazz, the cult of free solo improvisation, innovation in the field of melody, rhythm, harmony, form and other expressive means.Bop is considered the first significant style of modern jazz.

Boper / Boper - A musician who plays bop.

Brass band / Brass band (English brass - copper, brass; band - orchestra) One of the names of the Negro brass band, referring to the period of archaic jazz. Occasionally found in classical jazz and in the names of modern Dixieland jazz ensembles. See also Marching Band.

Break / Vreak (English breakthrough, break, change) - A short solo improvisational insert that interrupts the sound of the ensemble. It can play the role of a cadence "answer" (see the question-answer principle), completing any section of a jazz piece, or an introduction to a soloist's accompanied improvisational chorus.

Breakdown (breakdown) / Breakdown (English break-down collapse, confusion, jumble)- Fast temperamental Negro folk dance. In the middle of the nineteenth century. gained wide popularity thanks to the minstrel theater (see minstrel show). It was used here in the final performance of the mass dance scenes, built on the free collective improvisation of all participants. The term also referred to the related boogie-woogie piano style popular in Chicago in the first two decades of this century.

Bridge / Bridge (English bridge, crossing)- An intermediate section in the structure of a jazz theme that precedes the final reprise section (for example, the third eight-bar B in a standard thirty-two-bar AABA stanza). Contains elements of thematic development or contrast, which serve as additional incentives for improvisation. Other names for the bridge are rilis (eng. releas - liberation) and channel (eng. channel - path, source).

Boogie-woogie / Boogie woogie (onomatopoeic) - Piano blues style, one of the earliest varieties of Negro instrumental blues (along with archaic guitar blues, 6arrel house blues, etc.). Presumably, it is the result of the transfer of the banjo and guitar technique used to accompany blues singing into the practice of piano music playing by North American blacks. The boogie-woogie style originated in the USA in the second half of the 19th century. It became widespread in the first decades of our century thanks to the so-called. house rent party. His classic images date back to the 20s. During the swing period, boogie-woogie entered the repertoire of 6g bands. The characteristic features of the piano boogie-woogie are reliance on the blues tradition, the predominance of metro-rhythms and off-beat phrasing, saturation with breaks and riffs, improvisation, technical virtuosity, a specific type of accompaniment (walkin bass - "wandering bass") and rhythms in the part of the pianist's left hand (shuffle rhythm). Some features of jazz boogie-woogie (twelve-bar blues square, motor rhythm, fast tempo, ostinato repetition of bass figurations) became attributes created in the 30s. the commercial entertainment industry of a fashionable eccentric dance of the same name, popular in Europe since 1945.

Background / Baskground (English background, background)- A term denoting the accompaniment of a leading melodic voice or soloist's part. The following types of background are distinguished: 1) chordal (the background is a sequence of chords corresponding to the harmonic square of the theme); 2) melodic (the leading voice is contrasted with contrapunctuating melodic voices of accompaniment); 3) riff (based on the technique of riffs - ostinato-repeated melodic patterns); 4) bass (the role of accompaniment is performed by the bass line, which is the functional-harmonic support of the melody); 5) rhythmic (in the form of a clearly organized rhythmic pulsation with accents on the main beats of the measure); 6) mixed (combining features of the above types).

"Jazz Age" - See "Jazz Age".

West coast jazz (West Coast Jazz)/West Coast Jazz - A stylistic direction in modern jazz, formed in a number of California cities in the 50s. (the first samples date back to 1949). West coast jazz emerged primarily under the influence of progressive and bop styles, but it also has other stylistic connections - with symphonic jazz, swing, cool jazz and with European academic music. It is characterized by emotional restraint, strictness of form and voicing, a tendency to use linear-contrapuntal techniques, a predilection for moderate tempos and rounded cantilena melody (in the spirit of ballads and evergreens), softness of sound production (in this sense, West Coast jazz is closer to cool, and not hot-dkazu), sophistication of harmonic and timbre means, a combination of a diatonic lado-tonal base with chromatisms that “colorize” it and various modulation techniques, a “relaxed” character of lead pulsation and, along with a calm, even rhythm, a tendency to complete, symmetrical phrasing. The connection between West Coast jazz and traditional jazz is indicated by the use of this style by musicians.

simultaneous group improvisation. In the field of chamber-ensemble music-making, it is typical for West Coast Jazz to borrow the techniques of the performing technique of large orchestras (up to turning the entire ensemble into a single instrumental group, similar to a big band section). In the orchestral practice of West Coast Jazz, the opposite trend is observed - towards a chamber style of playing, individualization of timbres, strengthening the role of solo improvisation. Also noteworthy is the inclusion in the instrumentation of such instruments, rarely used before in jazz ensembles, as oboe, English horn, bassoon, bass clarinet, bass trumpet, bastrombone, horn, harp, bowed strings; common is the combination of low woodwinds with saxophones. The West Coast jazz style contributed greatly to the development of Europeanized concert jazz.

Vaudeville / Vaudeville - In the modern sense - a kind of everyday comedy with musical numbers, couplets, dances, pantomimes and trick scenes. In the USA, the so-called. American voleville (and as its variety - Negro vaudeville), the specifics of which are associated with the national characteristics of the plot and music, with an appeal to local folklore and everyday material, as well as with the influences of the minstrel theater (see minstrel show).

"Revival of Dixieland and New Orleans Jazz" - See Revival.

Q&A(responsible) principle / Responsorial principle (responsory, responsorium) (from lat.respondeo to answer) - One of the universal, fundamental principles of musical formation, providing for such a type of connection between the elements of the form (buildings, sections, parts; motifs, phrases, sentences, etc.), in which these elements form complementary pairs. The presence of a musical construction that performs the function of a "question" (and therefore has such properties as instability, incompleteness, openness) is a factor that determines the emergence of an "answer" construction (more stable and complete, restoring the previously disturbed dynamic layer balance). The question-corresponding principle finds application in many European musical forms (imitation, reprise, refrain; based on concentric planning, mirror symmetry, periodic repetition, etc.). The simplest way to implement this principle in performing practice is the so-called. antiphon (lat. antiphonos - counter-sound) - the alternation of two groups of the ensemble, the roll call between the soloists, between the soloist and the ensemble. Responsive technique in African American music(work song, holler, spiritual, blues) and jazz is represented by an extraordinary variety of means and techniques - from the simplest (roll call) to the most complex (in the field of the logic of improvisation and composition, harmony and melody, in the distribution of functions between individual performers and instrumental groups).

East Coast Jazz - See East Coast Jazz.

Harlem jazz / Harlem jazz - The general name of a number of styles of Negro jazz of the 20s and 30s, the emergence of which is associated with the musical life of New York Harlem. Here, an original style of blues performance (Harlem blues) was developed, its own school of piano jazz was formed (Harlem stride style), and a special kind of chamber and orchestral swing (Harlem jump) was also formed. In the 20s. Negro vaudeville reached its peak in Harlem. The beginning of the fruitful concert and composing activity of Duke Ellington, who performed with his orchestra in many Harlem clubs and created here a number of original style concepts (jungle style, concert style, lyrical "mood style"), dates back to the same time. Influenced by the traditions of Harlem jazz in the 40s. the bebop style developed (see bop).

Hemiola / Hemiola (hemiole) (lat. one and a half)- Type of rhythmic grouping, in which groups of durations are formed that do not coincide in their total length with the beat cycles of the main meter (for example, 3 two-beat groups in 2 three-beat bars, etc.). The resulting discrepancy between metrical and rhythmic accents creates the impression of a temporary change in meter, violates its stability and thereby dynamizes the musical presentation. This principle is very characteristic of African rhythms, from which it was transferred to African-American music and jazz (see also patteri, stomp).

"Talking Drums"/ Talkint drums - A special type of African drums designed to transmit messages over long distances (up to 10 - 15 km). The device of "talking drums" allows you to extract sounds with a wide range of pitch and timbre shades on them. Thanks to this, the performer can, using a system of special sound signals, encode and transmit a wide variety of information. Variation in the pitch and timbre of the sound of the drum is achieved, as a rule, due to the different tension force of the membrane over its entire area between the center and the edges. Some of the techniques of playing the "talking drums" have found application in the jazz practice of performing on percussion instruments.

Gospel song (eng.Gospel - gospel; song - song)- A genre of Negro religious song on evangelical themes, which became widespread in the United States in the 1930s. Unlike other Negro spiritual genres of folklore origin (such as spiritual, jubilee, etc.), the text and music of goepelsongs were created mainly by professional authors. A gospel song also differs from a choral spiritual in that it is most often intended for solo performance and is much more closely associated with the blues tradition, is more saturated with improvisation, and can have a developed instrumental accompaniment (whereas the spiritual is usually performed a carella).

funky style

In the mid-1950s, jazz began to move away from the non-Greek essence of jazz. To avoid this, many musicians turned to the folk music of American blacks. This sound still remains in the traditional blues and religious gospels. Some performers began to abandon the complex harmonies introduced into jazz by the first boppers. The melodic and rhythmic lines have become simpler.

The developing new direction in jazz naturally absorbed the blues, used in a slow or medium tempo with a special expression, based on a pronounced beat. It was more democratic and intended for a wider audience than the work of innovative boper. This style is called funky. The word funky is slang and means an amplifying definition of a sharp, pungent smell or taste. In jazz, it is synonymous with mundane, "real" music. Jazz funk was a commercial success and featured on most of the vinyl released at the time. However, it gained great popularity in the 70s and 80s with the advent of analog synthesizers, which made it jazz for dance floors.

Of particular importance in the history of funky jazz are: the group of the famous drummer Art Blakey (Art Blackey) "Jazz Messengers", Horace Silver - the father of jazz-funk, Ronald Kirk, Julian Adderley and others.

Free Jazz. Vanguard

The beginning of the 60s is the time of the emergence of waves of protest, social instability, independent of skin color (hippie movement, anarchism, passion for oriental mysticism). These sentiments contributed to the emergence of "free jazz" (free jazz), which was fundamentally different from the mainstream sound, was completely new. The combination of the fullness of spiritual and aesthetic experiences with a fundamentally new approach to the organization of musical material completely fenced off the new jazz from the sphere of popular art. The musicians who created it were obsessed with the idea of ​​"liberating" jazz from what seemed to them to be barriers. They saw them in the sequence of chords, familiar harmonies, measures, in tempered tuning, in a word, in everything on which European music and jazz are based. The main thing for the musicians was the ultimate expressiveness, spiritual nakedness, ecstasy.

Free jazz of the 60s carried a certain ideological component, based mainly on chaotic calls for freedom of expression and love, for social activity and unity of efforts. These ideas have become a creative credo for many members of the jazz avant-garde. For some musicians, the criterion for evaluating their work was no longer the approval of the public, but the presence of an emotional relationship between the performers. Preference was given to collective improvisation. Percussion instruments were pushed forward. All members of the ensemble were considered equal.

The first experiences of new jazz musicians Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, John Coltrane, Archie Shepp, Albert Ayler did not break the ties with mainstream norms. The first free-jazz recordings still appeal to harmonic laws. However, gradually free jazz is completely moving away from tradition. When Ornette Coleman fully introduced free jazz to the New York audience, many of the bebop musicians and jazz experts came to the conclusion that this music could not be considered not only jazz, but, in fact, music. Thus, former radicals became conservatives in less than 15 years. A milestone for the New Jazz was the disc recorded by Ornette Coleman's double line-up "Free Jazz" in 1960.

Free jazz often intersects with other avant-garde movements, which, for example, can use its form and sequence of rhythmic structures. Since its inception, free jazz has remained the property of a small number of people and is usually found in the underground, however, it has a very strong influence on the modern mainstream. Despite the total denial, a certain normativity has developed in free jazz, which makes it possible to distinguish it from other new jazz trends. These conventions concern the general plan of the piece, the interaction of musicians, rhythmic support and, of course, the emotional plan. It should be noted that an old form of collective improvisation has reappeared in free jazz. It has become characteristic of free jazz to work with an "open form" that is not tied to specific structures. The refusal of "new jazz" from European musical norms led to a huge interest in non-European cultures, mainly eastern ones. John Coltrane was very serious about Indian music, Don Cherry - Indonesian and Chinese, Farow Sanders - Arabic. Moreover, this orientation is not superficial, decorative, but very deep, with the desire to understand and absorb the whole character of not only the corresponding music, but also its aesthetic and spiritual environment.

By the beginning of the 70s, interest in free jazz began to capture the creative musicians of Europe, who often combined its principles of "freedom" with the developments of European musical practice of the 20th century - atonality, serial technique, aleatoric, sonoristic, etc. On the other hand, some leaders free jazz are moving away from extreme radicalism and, in the 80s, are moving towards some compromise, albeit original versions of music. Among them are Ornette Coleman with the Prime Time project, Archie Shepp and others.