Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation
- Scores: Noise 4, Unease 3, Complexity 4 (each 1 to 5)
- Genre: Jazz, Free jazz
- Mood: raw, turbulent, exhilarating
- Sound: double quartet, collective improvisation, single 37-minute track, stereo split, no chord changes
Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation is a continuous 37-minute improvisation by a double quartet, recorded in one take with no overdubbing or editing on 21 December 1960 at A&R Studios in New York. Ornette Coleman's working quartet sits in the left stereo channel and a second quartet, with Eric Dolphy, Freddie Hubbard, Charlie Haden and Ed Blackwell, sits in the right, each with its own bassist and drummer. The horns solo or comment freely over the two rhythm sections, linked by short, dissonant composed fanfares. It became a model for later large-ensemble free jazz such as Coltrane's Ascension and Brötzmann's Machine Gun.
Track list
- Free Jazz (Part One) (19:55)
- Free Jazz (Part Two) (16:28)