Coleman, Ornette (1930– )

US alto saxophonist and jazz composer. In the late 1950s he rejected the established structural principles of jazz for free avant-garde improvisation. He has worked with small and large groups, ethnic musicians of different traditions, and symphony orchestras. His albums include The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959), Chappaqua Suite (1965), Skies of America (1972), and Sound Grammar (2006), which won the 2007 Pulizter Prize for Music.

In the 1980s, Coleman's group, Prime Time, drew on the various musical styles that have influenced Coleman (including Moroccan music, jazz-rock, and free-jazz improvisation). The recording ‘Song X’ (1986) and a subsequent tour, both made with US jazz guitarist Pat Metheny, brought Coleman and his music a degree of attention he had not enjoyed for some years.

A film, Ornette: Made in America, compiled from footage made in the 1960s and the early 1980s, was released in 1984. He received a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement in 2007.