Amongst the greats, Ornette Coleman truly was one of the greatest. Releasing over fifty records throughout his career, Coleman leaves behind an incredible legacy. His prophetic output on his 1959 breakthrough, The Shape of Jazz to Come, truly did shape jazz in its aftermath, breaking out of the bebop mould and going down as one of the most influential and classic albums in the genre. His 1961 output Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation lent its name to the free jazz movement that it birthed. Coleman died today of cardiac arrest in Manhattan at the ripe old age of 85. Relax in Paradise, Ornette!
Ornette Coleman, RIP
