Ornette Coleman

Ornette Coleman was born in Fort Worth, Texas in 1930 and started playing alto saxophone early. He moved to Los Angeles in the 1950s and found musicians who worked with his approach. His playing had dissonant harmonies and angular melodies that didn't follow the usual chord patterns.

He developed a concept he called 'harmolodics,' which treated melody, harmony, and rhythm as equal elements rather than having harmony dictate everything. This wasn't just a style but a different way of thinking about how music could be organized. His 1959 album 'Lonely Woman' featured the title track that became one of his most recognizable pieces, with a mournful saxophone line that felt both structured and free.

Coleman recorded several albums for Atlantic Records in the 1960s, including 'The Shape of Jazz to Come' and 'Change of the Century.' His music drew strong reactions, some listeners found it liberating while others in the jazz world criticized it as chaotic or unmusical. He kept working with his ideas rather than smoothing them out for acceptance.