jazz: The 1960s: From Free Jazz to Jazz-Rock Fusion
The 1960s: From Free Jazz to Jazz-Rock Fusion
Beginning in the late '50s-early '60s, avant-garde or free jazz leaders such as John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy, Pharaoh Sanders, Archie Shepp, Cecil Taylor, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk continued to explore new harmonic, melodic, and rhythmic relationships. The new jazz is often atonal, and traditional melodic instruments often assume rhythmic-percussive roles and vice versa. The lead instruments eschewed traditional melodies for improvised phrases and the accompanists abandonned traditional harmonies to react in real time to the other players.
In the late 1960s many jazz musicians, such as Miles Davis, Larry Coryell, Gary Burton, Keith Jarrett , and Corea , investigated the connections
between rock and jazz in a musical style known as fusion. Impressed by
the innovations of artists like Jimi Hendrix, Davis switched to rock
instrumentation and a more straightforward beat to attract a new
generation of listeners, beginning with his 1969 release,
Sections in this article:
- Introduction
- Jazz Since the 1990s
- Jazz Goes International
- The 1970-'80s: From Smooth Jazz to the Neo-Cons
- The 1960s: From Free Jazz to Jazz-Rock Fusion
- Jazz in the '50s
- Bop
- Swing
- New Orleans Jazz
- Ragtime
- Blues
- Origins of Jazz
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
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