The jazz world lost influential and iconic figure Ornette Coleman on June 11, 2015. Born in Fort Worth, Texas on March 9, 1930 he was known for his amazing musical talents, including playing an array of instruments. Although mostly known for playing alto saxophone, Coleman also played the violin and trumpet. The saxophonist was 85 and passed away from cardiac arrest.
Coleman was known as one of the major innovators in the Free Jazz movement during the 1960’s. This was when Jazz was beginning to break away from its original roots and musicians such as Coleman began to experiment with new sounds and improvisation. Ornette Coleman was one of the first to actually record one of these musical pieces based solely on improvisation.
Sound Grammar, his first album in almost ten years, was released in 2014 and was recorded live in Germany.
In a memorable interview with Rolling Stone Magazine in 1989 Coleman stated, “I always told people I was commercial, because I was the only person doing what I was doing. Nobody did it but me. There’s not two Coca-Colas; there’s only one Coca-Cola. I thought of myself on that level.”
