“Change of the Century:” Ornette Coleman’s Breakthrough into the Free Jazz Revolution

Introduction:

The album “Change of the Century,” released in May 1960, marks a pivotal moment in the evolution of jazz. It serves as a bridge between the conventions of bebop and the avant-garde realm of free jazz. With Ornette Coleman leading the charge, the album is a daring exploration of musical freedom, where structure is both created and deconstructed in real time by some of the genre’s most innovative players. Alongside Don Cherry (pocket trumpet), Charlie Haden (bass), and Billy Higgins (drums), Coleman crafted a record that is not just a musical statement but a philosophical one, challenging the very core of jazz’s boundaries.

The Context: A Revolutionary Quartet

Ornette Coleman’s name is synonymous with the advent of free jazz. While his 1959 release “The Shape of Jazz to Come” is often cited as the launch pad for this new musical direction, “Change of the Century”—recorded just months later in October 1959—shows Coleman and his quartet fully embracing their radical, improvisatory approach.

The album was recorded at a time when jazz was in a state of flux. Bebop had dominated the jazz landscape throughout the 1940s and into the 1950s, with its breakneck tempos, complex harmonic structures, and virtuosic solos. Musicians like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Thelonious Monk had established bebop as the vanguard of modern jazz. But by the late 1950s, many artists, including Coleman, were beginning to push against bebop’s rigidity. Coleman believed that music should be less confined by predetermined chord changes and harmonic expectations, and instead be driven by emotion, intuition, and spontaneity.

With “Change of the Century,” Coleman’s quartet exemplified this shift. In the liner notes, Coleman emphasized the album’s collective nature: “When our group plays, before we start out to play, we do not have any idea what the end result will be. Each player is free to contribute what he feels in the music at any given moment… our final results depend entirely on the musicianship, emotional make-up, and taste of the individual member.” This statement encapsulates the essence of free jazz, where the interplay between musicians is not predetermined but fluid, spontaneous, and deeply emotional.

The Tracks: A Closer Look

The album’s seven tracks, all composed by Coleman, highlight the different facets of the group’s revolutionary approach, blending bluesy undertones, fragmented melodies, and dynamic rhythmic shifts.

1. “Ramblin’” – The album opens with one of Coleman’s most celebrated compositions. “Ramblin’” swings with a bluesy swagger, propelled by a walking bassline from Charlie Haden. Coleman’s alto saxophone dances around the melody with an unpredictability that defies traditional expectations, while Don Cherry’s pocket trumpet adds a conversational counterpoint. Despite the freeform approach, “Ramblin’” is still deeply rooted in the blues, showcasing Coleman’s ability to honor tradition while simultaneously breaking free from it.
2. “Free” – The title of this track speaks directly to Coleman’s philosophy. “Free” is one of the most adventurous pieces on the album, featuring rapid-fire improvisations and free-flowing group interaction. Coleman and Cherry engage in call-and-response phrasing, while Haden and Higgins provide a flexible rhythmic framework. The piece highlights Coleman’s belief in allowing each musician the freedom to express themselves without the constraints of conventional chord changes or time signatures.
3. “The Face of the Bass” – This track shines a spotlight on Haden’s bass work. With its intricate melodic lines and rhythmic complexity, “The Face of the Bass” offers a glimpse into the interplay between Haden and Higgins. Their synchronized pulse anchors the piece, while Coleman and Cherry explore its harmonic possibilities, weaving in and out of each other’s phrases.
4. “Forerunner” – On the second side of the album, “Forerunner” showcases Coleman’s angular melodic sense. The theme is deceptively simple, yet its fragmented phrasing and abrupt pauses give it a jarring, almost disorienting feel. As the piece unfolds, the quartet moves between moments of cohesion and dissonance, creating a dynamic tension that keeps the listener on edge.
5. “Bird Food” – With its playful and fast-paced melody, “Bird Food” is a nod to bebop’s complexity. Yet, even in this context, Coleman eschews the rigid harmonic structures of bebop, opting instead for a freer, more open-ended form. Cherry’s trumpet solos are particularly compelling here, as he mirrors Coleman’s fragmented phrasing while also offering his own interpretations of the melody.
6. “Una Muy Bonita” – This track is one of the album’s most unique offerings, with its distinctive, stop-start melody. The theme is based on a series of unexpected pauses and abrupt changes, giving it an almost off-kilter feel. The disjointed nature of “Una Muy Bonita” challenges the listener’s expectations, yet it remains strangely captivating, a testament to Coleman’s compositional genius.
7. “Change of the Century” – The album’s title track is a tour de force of free jazz experimentation. The piece is frantic and chaotic, with cascading lines from Coleman and Cherry that seem to trip over one another. Yet, amidst the chaos, there is a sense of purpose and direction. The quartet moves as a unit, with each member contributing to the overall texture of the piece. This track epitomizes Coleman’s vision of jazz as a collective, spontaneous art form.

The Reception: A Divisive Masterpiece

Upon its release, “Change of the Century” was met with both praise and controversy. Many traditionalists were baffled by Coleman’s unconventional approach, particularly his disregard for standard harmonic progressions. Coleman’s critics argued that he lacked the technical mastery of his predecessors, such as Charlie Parker and John Coltrane. Yet, for many others, Coleman’s music was a breath of fresh air, a bold new direction for jazz.

Jazz critic A.B. Spellman remarked, “This record catches them just as they are sort of rising toward their peak. It has all the excitement and all the newness.” Spellman highlighted the group’s near-telepathic intuition, noting that their interplay was “absolutely extreme and that’s hard to develop.”

AllMusic’s Steve Huey praised the album for its vitality and sense of freedom, calling it “an absolutely essential purchase” and “some of the most brilliant work of Coleman’s career.” Huey observed that by the time of this recording, Coleman was “hitting his stride and finally letting out all the ideas and emotions that had previously been constrained by tradition.”

C. Michael Bailey of All About Jazz compared the album’s impact on free jazz to that of Dizzy Gillespie’s “Bebop” on its respective genre. For Bailey, “Change of the Century” was a turning point for Coleman, as he had “fully gained his traction and is now ready.”

The Legacy: A Blueprint for Free Jazz

In hindsight, “Change of the Century” stands as a landmark album in the history of jazz. It solidified Ornette Coleman’s place as one of the genre’s most innovative and controversial figures. More than six decades after its release, the album’s influence can still be heard in the work of modern jazz musicians who continue to explore the boundaries of improvisation and group interplay.

The album’s importance also lies in its challenge to the very notion of what jazz could be. Coleman’s refusal to adhere to conventional rules—whether harmonic, rhythmic, or structural—opened the door for future generations of musicians to experiment and take risks. “Change of the Century” serves as a reminder that jazz, at its core, is about freedom—freedom to express, to create, and to push the boundaries of what is possible.

References:

1. Swenson, J. (1985). Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. Random House.
2. Cook, R. & Morton, B. (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. Penguin Books.
3. “Change of the Century” album cover art. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Change_of_the_Century.jpg