Ornette Coleman
American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer (1930-2015) · United States · On the map · Musicians · Died at 85
Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman was an American jazz saxophonist, trumpeter, violinist, and composer. He is best known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation.
Ornette Coleman is read about 378 times a day, in 45 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 13 November 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 115 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?A life in dates
People around Ornette
Close ties
Nasuhi Ertegün Produced Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation (1961)
Charlie Haden Bandmate in The Ornette Coleman Quartet
Dewey Redman Bandmate in The Ornette Coleman Quartet- Ed Blackwell Bandmate in The Ornette Coleman Quartet
- Francis Wolff Produced The Empty Foxhole and New York Is Now!
Pat Metheny Duets: Song X (1986)
Joachim Kühn Influenced by Ornette
Conrad Rooks Directed Chappaqua (1966)
Kristin Hayter Influenced by Ornette
Media & music
Listen
SpotifyPhotos 6
Coleman playing his signature alto saxophone in 1971
Coleman playing the trumpet at the Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, in 1981
Coleman playing the violin with Prime Time in 1978, flanked by guitarists Charlie Ellerbee (left) and Bern Nix (right)
Coleman performing in Toronto in 1982
Coleman playing his Selmer alto saxophone in The Hague in 1994Awards
About this person
His pioneering works often abandoned the harmony-based composition, tonality, chord changes, and fixed rhythm found in earlier jazz idioms; instead, Coleman emphasized an experimental approach to improvisation rooted in ensemble playing and blues phrasing. Thom Jurek of AllMusic called him "one of the most beloved and polarizing figures in jazz history", noting that while "now celebrated as a fearless innovator and a genius, he was initially regarded by peers and critics as rebellious, disruptive, and even a fraud."
