Free Jazz: Creative Originality, Controlled Surprise

As the Cold War and the McCarthy witch hunt continued relentlessly in the late fifties, a group of bold musicians abandoned bebop and challenged the limits of improvised music. While some critics and elder established stars called them frauds, bogus and charlatans, the trailblazers pressed on in their quest, with icons - pianist Cecil Taylor, saxophonists John Coltrane, and Ornette Coleman assuming leadership status in this music called free jazz or "The New Thing." The spectacular images o...