What Is The Connection Between Civil Rights Tension Between 1950s And 1960s
While walking through an art museum, one might stop and read the artwork labels for more insight or details on a piece. Too often, these descriptions will point to the political and social climate as heavy influences of the specific artist or movement. It is natural to generalize a time period and attribute historical events to new elements of art. Like the visual arts, music is no such stranger to academics drawing weak links between historical events and new music styles. In our case, the origins and influences of free jazz are being called into question. While the civil rights tension during the 1950s and 1960s is often cited as the main influence of free jazz, in actuality, free jazz stems from a combination of the civil rights movement,
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The point of the timeline is to compare the similarities between the civil rights movement and Coleman’s own works. However, Rush even qualifies this timeline saying “it is too much to say that the relationship between these [civil movement events] and Ornette’s music was one of cause and effect” (Rush 6). While there might be a connection between the civil rights movement and free jazz, it certainly doesn’t show in interviews and liner notes of the artists. In fact, the experimental nature of artists like Coleman and Brown impact the development of free jazz more than political factors. In an interview with Charlie Haden, the bassist who played in Coleman’s Free Jazz album, he described the saxophonist’s experimental nature as “a desperation to create something that’s never been before” (As quoted in Walser 320). Other free jazz artists like Marion Brown, African-American saxophonist, share similar views with Coleman. In an interview, Brown clarifies that “when I play my music, I’m not playing anything else at all. I’m not putting down anything that you could express in words. I don’t play about religion, or the Universe, or Love, or Hate, or Soul (Gridley 145). While it may seem plausible to connect the turbulent reaction of African-Americans during the civil rights movement to the jarring, animal like sounds in free jazz, perhaps the true reason for the creation of free jazz is the curiosity and experimental mindset of
The point of the timeline is to compare the similarities between the civil rights movement and Coleman’s own works. However, Rush even qualifies this timeline saying “it is too much to say that the relationship between these [civil movement events] and Ornette’s music was one of cause and effect” (Rush 6). While there might be a connection between the civil rights movement and free jazz, it certainly doesn’t show in interviews and liner notes of the artists. In fact, the experimental nature of artists like Coleman and Brown impact the development of free jazz more than political factors. In an interview with Charlie Haden, the bassist who played in Coleman’s Free Jazz album, he described the saxophonist’s experimental nature as “a desperation to create something that’s never been before” (As quoted in Walser 320). Other free jazz artists like Marion Brown, African-American saxophonist, share similar views with Coleman. In an interview, Brown clarifies that “when I play my music, I’m not playing anything else at all. I’m not putting down anything that you could express in words. I don’t play about religion, or the Universe, or Love, or Hate, or Soul (Gridley 145). While it may seem plausible to connect the turbulent reaction of African-Americans during the civil rights movement to the jarring, animal like sounds in free jazz, perhaps the true reason for the creation of free jazz is the curiosity and experimental mindset of