Enchanting Improvisation: Landmark Works and Popular Albums of Free Jazz

Sun In The EastTakayanagi Masayuki

Masayuki Takayanagi – Sun in The East

Masayuki Takayanagi began his career as a professional guitarist at the young age of 19 and left an indelible mark on Japan’s free jazz scene.

His private life was as wild as that of a true avant-garde artist; despite being arrested multiple times, even judges lamented the idea of his musical talent going to waste—remarkable in itself.

The fact that Otomo Yoshihide, who would later compose music for works such as Amachan, studied guitar under Takayanagi further attests to his exceptional skill and talent.

The album introduced here, Free Form Suite, was recorded in 1972 as a studio live session with an audience present.

Released under the name Masayuki Takayanagi & New Direction for the Art, it’s a masterpiece that expresses not only free jazz but also a range of genres such as blues and folk through genuinely “free-form” performances, allowing you to sense even the atmosphere of the times.

Start by listening to the historically significant spiritual jazz classic Sun In The East, and savor a glimpse of its richly layered sonic world!

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Red, Black & GreenPharoah Sanders

Pharoah Sanders – Red, Black & Green (Thembi)

Born in 1940, Pharoah Sanders is a saxophonist who, while rooted in free jazz, has continually pursued his own unique sound by incorporating Black music such as African music, gospel, and funk.

Having performed alongside the late John Coltrane and even taken part in Coltrane’s only concert in Japan, he has often been regarded as Coltrane’s successor.

From the many works released over Sanders’s long career, I’d like to introduce an early masterpiece: Thembi, released in 1971.

Unlike his earlier output, which tended to focus on extended pieces, this album consists of six relatively concise tracks.

Its sound—dreamlike and tinged with a sense of the exotic—is never overly difficult; if you immerse yourself in its spiritual flood of sound, you may find yourself guided to another world beyond this one.

Featuring the playing of Ronnie Laws—no, correction: the scene’s popular pianist associated with so-called rare groove, Lonnie Liston Smith—it’s easy to see why the album is beloved by the club generation.

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(840m)-Realize-44M-44M (Composition 6 E)Anthony Braxton

(840m) Realize 44M 44M (Composition 6 E) – Anthony Braxton

In the post-rock and alternative rock scenes of the 2000s, Battles was a band whose overwhelming originality shocked both listeners and fellow musicians.

One of its early members, Tyondai Braxton—who has continued to earn high praise as a cutting-edge experimental musician after leaving the band—is, in fact, the son of free jazz master Anthony Braxton.

Born in 1945, Braxton is an alto saxophonist influenced not only by traditional jazz but also by contemporary composers such as John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen.

His first leader album, 1968’s “3 Compositions of New Jazz,” captures avant-garde sessions created primarily by a trio of multi-instrumentalists including Braxton himself.

The cryptic symbols and numerical titles might make you hesitate at first, but why not muster the courage to take a step into “this side of the world?”

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Improvisation 4Derek Bailey

Derek Bailey ‎– Solo Guitar (full album) 1971

When it comes to the pioneering figure of improvisation born in the UK and a representative guitarist of free improvisation, it’s Derek Bailey.

Improvisation, as the name suggests, is playing freely in accordance with the performer’s will without imposing constraints.

In fact, one could say that music in ancient times—before music theory and the like had been established—was essentially improvisation itself.

With that in mind, listening to Bailey’s first album released under his solo name, Solo Guitar Volume 1, may reveal a whole different world.

A seasoned professional guitarist by training, Bailey broke with so-called commercial music and became one of the founders of free improvisation, which, in the form of solo guitar performance, produces sounds completely different from what one would typically expect.

Amid the freaky playing, the sudden insertion of “classical guitar” passages somehow conveys a distinctly British sense of humor.

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Thelonious Monk TrioThelonious Monk

Thelonious Monk \ Thelonious Monk Trio, 1954 [Full Album]

This is “Thelonious Monk Trio,” an album by the jazz pianist Thelonious Monk from North Carolina, United States.

He is known for his distinctive improvisational style.

The tracks are as follows: 1.

Blue Monk 2.

Just a Gigolo 3.

Bemsha Swing 4.

Reflections 5.

Little Rootie Tootie 6.

Sweet and Lovely 7.

Bye-Ya 8.

Monk’s Dream 9.

Trinkle, Tinkle 10.

These Foolish Things.

Volunteered SlaveryRoland Kirk

Volunteered Slavery

You can tell from the moment someone slaps the contradictory words “Volunteered Slavery” together for a title that they’re not exactly a conventional soul.

Roland Kirk, the man behind this astonishing album, lost his sight in early childhood, yet not only mastered a variety of instruments—he possessed the almost acrobatic ability to play several wind instruments at once.

If you search the internet for photos of Kirk, you’ll find images of him surrounded by multiple instruments.

Watch a video of him actually performing, and you’ll understand that this goes far beyond a quirky gimmick—it’s the work of a genius.

The album mentioned at the outset was released by Kirk in 1969.

It combines studio recordings with performances from the 1968 Newport Jazz Festival, and it’s a soulful, beautiful work that indelibly captures him reveling in music with unbridled freedom, rooted in a profound love of jazz.

It even weaves in phrases from the Beatles’ then-contemporary hit “Hey Jude,” making it an album where you truly never know what’s going to come next!

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Hat And BeardEric Dolphy

Eric Dolphy – Hat and Beard

Eric Dolphy, a multi-reed player who commanded alto saxophone, bass clarinet, and flute with ease, left his name in jazz history as a giant with an original style.

While his participation in Ornette Coleman’s landmark Free Jazz attests to his significant role in the history of free jazz, it seems important to note that his avant-garde sensibility was rooted in the traditional jazz idiom.

Rather than reconstructing genre frameworks, Dolphy’s music is made unique by a style that unfolds avant-garde creativity grounded in a deep command of music theory.

Recorded in February 1964, just a few months before his passing, Out to Lunch! consists entirely of Dolphy’s original compositions.

The album’s band interplay—where the innovations born of fresh talent and jazz tradition, free-jazz-like improvisation, and memorable motifs all collide—conveys a sense of unbridled freedom coupled with rigorous precision, delivering a superb musical experience to the listener.

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