Ornette Coleman

Ornette Coleman was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. He was born on March 9, 1930, in Fort Worth, Texas, and began playing saxophone and trumpet as a child. Coleman was a key figure in the development of free jazz, a style of jazz that emphasizes improvisation and eschews traditional chord progressions and harmonic structures.

Coleman first gained national attention in the late 1950s with the release of his album "The Shape of Jazz to Come," which featured his innovative compositions and free improvisations. He went on to release several more groundbreaking albums throughout the 1960s, including "Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation" and "The Empty Foxhole."