The Uniqueness of Ornette Coleman

Alto saxophonist Ornette Coleman is one of the most influential musicians of all time, influencing everyone from Sonic Youth to Henry Threadgill, John Zorn and The Grateful Dead. His piano-less quartet, which debuted in NYC in the late 50s, did away with the usual jazz improvisation based on song chords and progressions, but instead utilized melody as the jumping off point. He called this Harmolodics, which was also based on the tuning of instruments.