Paul Desmond
Paul Desmond (born Paul Emil Breitenfeld; November 25, 1924 – May 30, 1977) was an American jazz musician who played the alto saxophone and wrote music. He supported the cool jazz style and was part of the Dave Brubeck Quartet. He wrote the group’s most famous song, “Take Five,” which is still the best-selling jazz song ever.
Sun Ra
Le Sony’r Ra, born Herman Poole Blount on May 22, 1914, and died on May 30, 1993, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, pianist, synthesizer player, and poet. He is best known as Sun Ra, a name he chose later in life. Sun Ra created experimental music, developed a unique philosophy, and performed in dramatic, theatrical ways.
Albert Ayler
Albert Ayler ( / ˈ aɪ l ər / ; July 13, 1936 – November 25, 1970) was an American jazz musician who played the saxophone and wrote music. After learning to play rhythm and blues and bebop music, Ayler started recording songs during the free jazz movement of the 1960s. Some critics say his style is very different from what is usually considered free jazz.
Cecil Taylor
Cecil Percival Taylor (March 25, 1929 – April 5, 2018) was an American pianist and poet. Taylor received classical training and was one of the early innovators of free jazz. His music is known for a high-energy, physical style, featuring complex, spontaneous playing that often includes tone clusters and intricate polyrhythms.
Don Cherry
Donald Stewart Cherry OOnt (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. He played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins. After finishing his playing career in the American Hockey League, he coached the Bruins for five seasons.
Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. He was known for his unique techniques on the saxophone, such as overblowing, using harmonies, and creating sounds with multiple tones at once. He also used a style called “sheets of sound.” Sanders played an important part in the development of free jazz and spiritual jazz.
Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp was born on May 24, 1937. He is an American musician who plays the saxophone, teaches, and writes plays. Since the 1960s, he has been an important figure in helping to develop a type of jazz called avant-garde jazz.
Eric Dolphy
Eric Allan Dolphy Jr. (June 20, 1928 – June 29, 1964) was an American jazz musician who played many different instruments, wrote music, and led bands. He was best known for playing the alto saxophone, bass clarinet, and flute.
Ornette Coleman
Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American musician who played the saxophone, trumpet, violin, and composed music. He is best known for helping create the free jazz genre, a term from his 1960 album Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation. His early works often avoided the harmony-based structures, tonality, chord progressions, and fixed rhythms common in earlier jazz styles.
Sonny Rollins
Walter Theodore “Sonny” Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is a retired American jazz tenor saxophonist who is highly respected as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. Over a career that lasted more than 70 years, Rollins led the recording of more than 60 albums. Several of his songs, including “St.