Directed by Tom Surgal • 2021 • United States
Starring John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Sun Ra
Although the free-jazz movement of the 1960s and ’70s was met with heated controversy, its pioneers—brilliant talents like Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, Sun Ra, Albert Ayler, and John Coltrane—are today acknowledged as central to the evolution of jazz as America’s most innovative art form. FIRE MUSIC showcases the architects of a revolution in sound whose radical brand of improvisation pushed harmonic and rhythmic boundaries and produced landmark albums like Coleman’s “Free Jazz: A Collective Inspiration” and Coltrane’s “Ascension.” A treasure trove of archival footage conjures the kaleidoscopic world of the 1960s jazz scene along with incisive reflections by critic Gary Giddins and a number of the movement’s key players.
Up Next in Free Jazz
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Promises: Through Congress
Directed by Trevor Tweeten • 2021 • United States
Sound and image meet in a mesmerizing, multisensory experience in this journey through Ethiopian American artist Julie Mehretu’s expansive painting “Congress,” which sets the artwork to the acclaimed album “Promises,” a collaboration between elec...
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The Cry of Jazz
Directed by Edward Bland • 1959 • United States
Starring George Waller, Dorothea Horton, Melinda DillonFeaturing music by Sun Ra and his Arkestra, this landmark semi-documentary explores—via a heated conversation between a group of Black and white jazz aficionados—the relationship between jazz ...
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BLACK JOURNAL: Alice Coltrane
Directed by Stan Lathan • 1970 • United States
In this intimate portrait—produced for a segment of National Education Television's “Black Journal” television program—legendary jazz musician Alice Coltrane plays the harp and discusses her thoughts on music, spirituality, family, and the legacy of...
