Ornette Coleman

The biography of Ornette Coleman. Like Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker, he changed the way we listen. His "free" improvisations added a new vocabulary to the alto saxophone; and his "harmolodic" compositions, shattering harmonic and rhythmic conventions, gave jazz a new musical language.

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Ornette Coleman is one of the great architects of jazz. Like Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker, he changed the way we listen. His soaring, cascading, note-rich "free" improvisations added a new vocabulary to the alto saxophone; and his "harmolodic" compositions, shattering Western harmonic and rhythmic conventions, gave jazz a new musical language. This is a full-length biography of the jazz legend, making extensive use of previously unpublished interviews and detailed musical examples that further illustrate the text. It is a compelling portrait of a living legend and a lively history of postwar jazz.