This Is Our Music: Free Jazz, the Sixties, and American Culture

264 Pages·2006·3.45 MB·English

by  Iain Anderson

This Is Our Music
PAGEi
.................16065$ $$FM 01-13-1115:38:06 PS
THE ARTS AND INTELLECTUAL LIFE IN
MODERN AMERICA
CaseyNelsonBlake,SeriesEditor
Volumesintheseriesexplorequestionsattheintersectionofthehistory
ofexpressivecultureandthehistoryofideasinmodernAmerica.The
seriesismeantasaboldinterventionintwofieldsofculturalinquiry.It
challengesscholarsinAmericanstudiesandculturalstudiestomove
beyondsociologicalcategoriesofanalysistoconsidertheideasthathave
informedandgivenformtoartisticexpression—whetherarchitecture
andthevisualartsormusic,dance,theater,andliterature.Theseries
alsoexpandsthedomainofintellectualhistorybyexamininghow
artisticworks,andaestheticexperiencemoregenerally,participatein
thediscussionoftruthandvalue,civicpurposeandpersonalmeaning
thathaveengagedscholarssincethelatenineteenthcentury.
AdvisoryBoard:StevenConn,LynnGarafola,CharlesMcGovern,
AngelaL.Miller,PennyM.VonEschen,DavidM.Scobey,andRichard
Ca´ndidaSmith.
PAGEii
.................16065$ $$FM 01-13-1115:38:06 PS
This Is Our Music
Free Jazz, the Sixties, and American
Culture
IAIN ANDERSON
UniversityofPennsylvaniaPress
Philadelphia
PAGEiii
.................16065$ $$FM 01-13-1115:38:08 PS
Copyright(cid:2)2007UniversityofPennsylvaniaPress
Allrightsreserved
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmericaonacid-freepaper
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Publishedby
UniversityofPennsylvaniaPress
Philadelphia,Pennsylvania19104-4112
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Anderson,Iain,1967–
Thisisourmusic:freejazz,thesixties,andAmericanculture/IainAnderson
p. cm.—(TheArtsandintellectuallifeinmodernAmerica)
ISBN-13:978-0-8122-3980-5(cloth:alk.paper)
ISBN-10:0-8122-3980-6(cloth:alk.paper)
(Contents:Theresurgenceofjazzinthe1950s—Freeimprovisationchallenges—thejazz
canon—Freejazzandblacknationalism—Themusiciansandtheiraudience—Jazzoutside
themarketplace.)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
1.Freejazz—UnitedStates—Historyandcriticism. 2.Jazz—Socialaspects—
UnitedStates. 3.AfricanAmericanjazzmusicians. 4.BlackArtsmovement.
I.Title. II.Series
ML3508.A53 2006
781.65(cid:2)5—dc22 2006048961
PAGEiv
.................16065$ $$FM 01-13-1115:38:08 PS
Contents
Introduction 1
1. TheResurgenceofJazzinthe1950s 10
2. FreeImprovisationChallengestheJazzCanon 49
3. FreeJazzandBlackNationalism 93
4. TheMusiciansandTheirAudience 122
5. JazzOutsidetheMarketplace 153
Epilogue 182
Notes 191
Bibliography 227
Index 239
Acknowledgments 253
PAGEv
.................16065$ CNTS 01-13-1115:38:09 PS
This page intentionally left blank
Introduction
In the summer of 1960, jazz composer and alto saxophonist Ornette
Coleman,trumpeterDonCherry,bassistCharlie Haden,anddrummer
EdBlackwellrecordedThisIsOurMusicforAtlanticrecords.Thealbum
capturedanoriginal musicalvisionthathad polarizedperformers,crit-
ics, and fans since the quartet’s New York City debut the previous year.
Coleman reordered structural principles to afford the members of his
group maximum melodic and rhythmic freedom. By allowing each
musician to play inside or outside conventional chord, bar, pitch, and
tempoguidelines,he pursuedanexpressiveand collectiveapproachto
improvisation.Onthesession’sonestandardtune,‘‘EmbraceableYou,’’
Coleman’smotivicdevelopmentquicklydepartedfromGershwin’smel-
ody line, the chord sequence that anchored it, and the four-bar con-
straintsoneachphrase.Byplacingtheseinnovationsatthecenterofhis
musicalconception,ratherthanreferringtothemaspassingembellish-
ments,hechangedtheentiresoundofjazz.
Individually, Coleman’s temporary allegiance to tonal centers, and
high-pitched bent notes, allowed him to approximate a wider range of
humansoundsonhishornthanpreviousinstrumentalists.Collectively,
the absence of orthodox musical reference points forced other band
members to contribute to the performance in new ways. Following the
saxophone into—or propelling it toward—uncharted territory, the
group sacrificed some of its cohesion for improvisational daring and
range. Thus the unison introduction by Coleman and Cherry to
‘‘Embraceable You’’ sounded ragged or sloppy to some listeners, the
perception of harmonic dissonance between the instruments occurred
frequently, and the rhythm section rarely propelled the other players
with any urgency. At the same time, the Quartet’s spontaneity radically
alteredtheemotionalappealofGershwin’ssong,replacingtherelaxed
balladinterpretationfavoredbyNatColeorCharlieParkerwithaplain-
tive dirge-like quality. Later in the year, Coleman recorded an album
thatgavehismusicaname:FreeJazz.1
The trade press quickly employed this title to describe the work of
performers exploring similar musical territory, including Cecil Taylor,
JohnColtrane,SunRa,andlaterAlbertAyler,ArchieShepp,BillDixon,
PAGE1
.................16065$ INTR 01-13-1115:38:12 PS
2 Introduction
PharoahSanders,MarionBrown,MuhalRichardAbrams,RoscoeMitch-
ell,JosephJarman,andmanyothers.YetamusicalanalysisofColeman’s
innovations cannot adequately define the movement to which he con-
tributed so much. For a start, these instrumentalists used free
approaches to improvisation in numerous contrasting ways, drawing
uponsomebutnotallofColeman’spracticesandcombiningthemwith
distinctivepersonalapproachestotone,melodicconstruction,rhythmic
pulse, and just about every other stylistic trait. No wonder jazz writers
used so many terms besides free jazz to try to encapsulate the music’s
essence:freeform,abstractjazz,atonaljazz,anti-jazz,avant-garde,space
music,and‘‘thenewthing,’’tonameafew.Idefinethemovementalso
byitsculturalidentity,bythemeaningsthatlistenersattachedtoit.Free
improvisationincludedstylistsasdiverseasJohnColtrane,CecilTaylor,
and Ornette Coleman not only because they shared a commitment to
experimentalmusicbutbecausetheydominatedacontroversyoverthe
ownershipofjazzimplicitinthetitleThisIsOurMusic.Whosemusicwas
it?Atvarioustimesduringthe1960s,musicians,critics,fans,politicians,
and entrepreneurs claimed jazz as a national art form, an Afrocentric
racemusic,anextensionofmodernistexperimentationinothergenres,
amusicof massconsciousness,andthepreserveofaculturalelite.The
debateoveritsmeaningframedthereceptionoffreeimprovisationand
greatlyinfluencedthestandingofjazzinAmericanculture.
Jazz music has traveled a long way toward respectability in a short
period of time. Its access to the universities and arts foundations, after
initial confinement to bordellos, speakeasies, and other disreputable
spaces,confirmsLawrenceLevine’spremisethat‘‘theperimetersofour
cultural divisions have been permeable and shifting rather than fixed
and immutable.’’2 This book explores the question of who makes deci-
sions aboutthe value of acultural form andon what basis,taking as its
examplethe impactof 1960sfreeimprovisation onthechangingstatus
of jazz. By examining a key transitional moment in the realignment of
hierarchical categories, I synthesize issues of race, economics, politics,
andaestheticsinaninvestigationofthecompetingdefinitionsofAmeri-
canidentity.
Inordertoaccountforthemusic’sshiftingfortunes,Idrawuponand
seektoextendrecentliteratureoncanonformationinjazz.Thenotion
that jazz has a tradition, a history of styles linked by a common set of
valuesthatscholarscantracetoitsearliestdays,hasprovedbothauseful
and a troubling concept forthe music’s champions. Critics, academics,
diskjockeys,magazinepollparticipants,musicians,governmentagents,
entrepreneurs,recordingexecutives,andotherswinacceptanceforkey
aesthetic and ideological traits by promoting representative artists,
recordings,andperformances.Theirchoicesshapethecanon,areposi-
PAGE2
.................16065$ INTR 01-13-1115:38:13 PS
Introduction 3
toryofitsfounders’tastesthatmasqueradesasadefinitivepantheonof
greatworks.Injazz,asinthedisciplinesofEnglishliterature,arthistory,
and film studies, the canon—as the religious antecedents of the word
implies—acquires a sacralized aura by embodying supposedly timeless,
universalqualities.3
Despitethesimilaritiesamongcollegetextsineachofthesefields,the
contentofartisticcanonsisfarfrominevitable.Thecriticalwarbetween
‘‘moldy figs’’ and modernists to define jazz during the 1940s, no less
thanconservativeattacksonmulticulturaluniversitycurriculafiftyyears
later,revealedthattheperceivedauthorityofcanonscanprovokefierce
debate over their construction. The controversies demonstrated also
that strategies of authenticating the past reflect a discourse of power,
and, as Levine has argued passionately, canons are subject to repeated
revision.4Manytheoristshavequestionedtheveryideaofagrandtradi-
tion,uncoveringthe subjectivebasisandexclusionaryprocess ofselect-
ing artistic masterpieces. Guardians of the jazz heritage, including
Wynton Marsalis and Stanley Crouch at Lincoln Center, continued to
battleoverthemusic’sidentityevenasacademicsandreportersexposed
theagendasbehindtheirtactics.5
Inrecentyearsscholarshavedrawnattentiontotheroleofcanonfor-
mation in elevating jazz music’s prestige, arguing that critics’ ability to
isolate and privilege characteristics such as improvisation, swing, and
blues has established the basis for a historical honors list of best per-
formers and performances. As Scott DeVeaux has explained, the tradi-
tionsupportsaviewofjazzasanautonomous,organicartformthathas
evolvedaccordingtoaninherentinternallogic.Itprovidesaframework
for judging the legitimacy of past, present, and future achievements, a
sourceofintegritythatholdsjazzaccountabletoahigherstandardthan
commercial entertainment. Dividing jazz into distinct periods makes
sense of growing stylistic fragmentation and offers its boosters a conve-
nientmethodofexplainingthemusic’spastasastoryofinevitableprog-
ress. In addition, an unambiguous historical narrative provides
musicians—and African Americans in general—with a catalogue of
achievementandheroes.6
Those critics who shaped the intellectual culture of the postwar jazz
worldandlaidthefoundationfortheemergingcanondidnotresemble
their counterparts in art and literature on the surface. The champions
of modern jazz during the 1940s and 1950s drew upon the prevailing
standards of journalism—accuracy, objectivity, and efficiency—to sepa-
ratethemselvesfromtheenthusiastichobbyistswhohadpreviouslydom-
inated the jazz discourse in America. Writers such as Leonard Feather,
WhitneyBalliett,RalphGleason,JohnS. Wilson,andDanMorgenstern
supplemented their day jobs, often at mainstream newspapers, with a
PAGE3
.................16065$ INTR 01-13-1115:38:14 PS