Enchanting Improvisation: Landmark Works and Popular Albums of Free Jazz

ExtractionTakayanagi Masayuki

Masayuki Takayanagi & New Direction – Extraction

Alongside Masahiko Togashi, Masayuki Takayanagi, a guitarist, held a leading position in the early days of Japanese free jazz.

Having played a pedagogical role during the importation of guitar music from around the world—jazz, bossa nova, tango—into Japan, he placed free jazz ensembles at the core of his own music.

2 Days In AprilFred Anderson

The Fred Anderson Vision Festival Concert, June 1, 2008

In Chicago, where Anthony Braxton teaches, the fervor for free jazz showed no signs of cooling even into the 2000s.

While running a free-jazz live venue in Chicago, Fred Anderson released the masterpiece “2 Days in April,” winning the annual grand prize in the jazz category from The Wire magazine for a free jazz recording.

The Genius of Bud PowellBud Powell

Bud Powell – Tea For Two

This is the album “The Genius of Bud Powell” by jazz pianist Bud Powell from New York State, USA.

Bud Powell is said to have had a close friendship with jazz pianist Thelonious Monk and to have learned music from him.

The tracks are as follows: A1.

Tempus Fugit A2.

Celia A3.

Cherokee A4.

I’ll Keep Loving You A5.

Strictly Confidential A6.

All God’s Chillun Got Rhythm B1.

So Sorry Please B2.

Get Happy B3.

Sometimes I’m Happy B4.

Sweet Georgia Brown B5.

Yesterdays B6.

April in Paris B7.

Body and Soul C1.

Tea for Two C2.

Hallelujah C3.

Parisian Thoroughfare C4.

Oblivion C5.

Dusk in Soudi D1.

Hallucinations D2.

The Fruit D3.

The Last Time I Saw Paris D4.

Just One of Those Things D5.

A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square

Dust to DustButch Morris

Butch Morris – Dust to Dust, Pt. 2 & 3

Since around the 1980s, the free music scene has adopted a method called “Conduction,” in which a conductor is placed to control the overall performance while a group engages in collective improvisation.

Butch Morris is a representative musician of this approach.

Unit StructuresCecil Taylor

Cecil Taylor – Unit Structures (Full Album)

This is Unit Structures, an album by jazz pianist Cecil Taylor from New York State, USA.

He is recognized as a pioneer of free jazz, but he also received classical music training.

The tracks are as follows: 1.

Steps 2.

Enter, Evening 3.

Enter, Evening 4.

Unit Structure/As Of A Now/Section 5.

Tales

exitHoward Riley

howard riley trio – exit (1969)

A pianist with a career similar to Keith Tippett’s is Howard Riley.

He began making music in the late 1960s from a place somewhere between jazz and rock, and by the early 1970s his work took on a stronger contemporary classical character.

By the time he reached his 1975 masterpiece, Overground, he was performing free improvisation that blended all of these elements.

LeoJohn Coltrane

John Coltrane – Leo

The modern jazz master John Coltrane passed through hard bop and modal jazz, ultimately arriving at free jazz.

This piece is one of the tracks from Interstellar Space, a duo with Rashied Ali, who played drums in the quartet he formed in his final years.