Format: 1 LP, 180-gram audiophile vinyl
Sleeve: Gatefold with Jackson Pollock artwork
Total Length: 36 minutes
Edition: Limited to 1000 individually numbered copies on white coloured vinyl

Overview

Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation is a landmark studio album by American saxophonist Ornette Coleman, released in September 1961. Recorded in one uninterrupted take on December 21, 1960, it introduced the concept of album-length free improvisation, running a full 37 minutes.

Coleman's "double quartet" format features two independent jazz quartets performing simultaneously in separate stereo channels. The left channel presents Coleman's working quartet, while the right features the former Coleman rhythm section, including Charlie Haden and Ed Blackwell.

Packaging

This reissue replicates the original LP design, featuring Jackson Pollock’s 1954 painting The White Light. The gatefold sleeve includes a cutout window revealing part of the artwork, with full liner notes by critic Martin Williams inside.

Tracklist

Side A

1. Free Jazz (Part 1)
   Side B
2. Free Jazz (Part 2)

Legacy

Free Jazz became the blueprint for future large-ensemble improvisations, influencing seminal recordings such as John Coltrane’s Ascension and Peter Brötzmann’s Machine Gun.