Ornette Coleman

966,953 plays (109,603 listeners)
In your library (0 plays)

115 shouts

Add to my Library Share

Get Ringtones

Fort Worth TX, United States (1930 – present)

Ornette Coleman (born March 9th, 1930) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He is one of the major innovators of the 1960s free jazz movement and one of the most notable figures in jazz history.

Coleman was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, where he began performing rhythm and blues and bebop initially on tenor saxophone. He later switched to alto, which has remained his primary instrument. Coleman’s timbre is perhaps one of the most easily recognized in jazz: his keening, crying sound draws heavily on blues music. Part of the uniqueness of his sound came from his use of a plastic saxophone on his classic early recordings (Coleman claimed that it sounded drier, without the pinging sound of metal), though in more recent years he has played a metal saxophone.

Ornette Coleman is most famous for his albums ‘The Shape of Jazz to Come’ (1959), ‘Free Jazz’ (1961), and ‘Skies of America’ (1972). In ‘The Shape of Jazz to Come’, he and his famous quartet, consisting of Don Cherry on trumpet, Charlie Haden on upright bass, and Billy Higgins on drums, play solos free of a chordal structure, due in part to the absence of the pianist or guitarist that were traditional to previous jazz groups. On ‘Free Jazz’ Ornette Coleman brings together his quartet from ‘The Shape of Jazz to Come’ and multi-instrumental reedist Eric Dolphy, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Ed Blackwell for a forty minute double-quartet recording.

Tagged as:

jazz, free jazz, avant-garde, saxophone, experimental
See more…

Similar Artists

Top Albums

Science Fiction
Ornette Coleman
Buy
- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes Search
- Buy Album
- Amazon $27.98
- eBay Search
The Shape of Jazz to Come
Ornette Coleman
Buy
- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes Search
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
Ken Burns Jazz
Ornette Coleman
Buy
- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes Search
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
The Music Of Ornette Coleman: Something Else!!!
Ornette Coleman
Buy
- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 $8.99
- 7digital $4.00
- iTunes Search
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search

Top Tracks

1	Congeniality	539
2	Lonely Woman	363
3	Eventually	156
4	Law Years full track	154
5	Peace	134
6	Street Woman full track	131
7	Focus on Sanity	130
8	What Reason Could I Give full track	115
9	Chronology	109
10	Happy House full track	105
11	All My Life full track	68
12	Just for You full track	63
12	Rock the Clock full track	63
14	Civilization Day full track	47
15	Science Fiction full track	42

Shoutbox

Leave a comment. Log in to Last.fm or sign up (it’s free).

marbley wrote:
Friday afternoon

man is a GOD

View Profile | Leave marbley a shout
Morngrim wrote:
Wednesday afternoon

Yup, king of free jazz.

View Profile | Leave Morngrim a shout
Martinchus89 wrote:
last week

genius

View Profile | Leave Martinchus89 a shout
YoungHate wrote:
last month

who does the vocals from the title track of Science Fiction?

View Profile | Leave YoungHate a shout
SixShooterSam wrote:
last month

I like his mid to late 70's output the best.

View Profile | Leave SixShooterSam a shout
YoungHate wrote:
last month

yeah, next to koaru abe, this guy is my fave.

View Profile | Leave YoungHate a shout
KlangHarcun wrote:
last month

One of the great jazz composers of all time!!!

View Profile | Leave KlangHarcun a shout
Master_ov_Khaos wrote:
last month

Peace is the best track on The Shape of Jazz to Come

View Profile | Leave Master_ov_Khaos a shout
reza79 wrote:
October 2009

One of the best Jazzmen out there. Iloe Free/avant-garde jazz. Screw the bland trad stuff...

View Profile | Leave reza79 a shout
nonviolent wrote:
October 2009

Ornette Coleman really knows how to pick his bassists.

View Profile | Leave nonviolent a shout
qwrtyboy wrote:
October 2009

I finally tuned into The Shape of Jazz to Come a few months back. Got to say, the bassline on this one is tremendous, I'm hooked instantly.

View Profile | Leave qwrtyboy a shout
Dornelas wrote:
October 2009

I agree. "Change of the century" is the most similar. I like all albuns before the "The Shape of Jazz to Come". "Something Else", "Change of the Century", "The shape of jazz to come" and "Science Fiction" are my favorites. The lastest album, "Soud Grammar" is wonderful too.

View Profile | Leave Dornelas a shout
semenretentum wrote:
September 2009

or This Is Our Music

View Profile | Leave semenretentum a shout
tombom23 wrote:
September 2009

change of the century sounds very similar, if you liked what you heard!!!!!

View Profile | Leave tombom23 a shout
allbadendsall wrote:
August 2009

I've got "The Shape of Jazz...", what would be a good second album?

View Profile | Leave allbadendsall a shout
optimistic_tour wrote:
August 2009

blow, man. blow!

View Profile | Leave optimistic_tour a shout
Welshybb wrote:
August 2009

Air Ship is a wonderful song

View Profile | Leave Welshybb a shout
Scentlesss wrote:
June 2009

Dancing In Your Head - good one.

View Profile | Leave Scentlesss a shout
schokone wrote:
June 2009

what

View Profile | Leave schokone a shout
sergio_ross wrote:
June 2009

Still and forever THE MAN! Coleman.

View Profile | Leave sergio_ross a shout