Change of the Century

album by Coleman

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July 21, 2026

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Change of the Century is an album by American jazz saxophonist and composer Ornette Coleman, released in 1960. It is a significant work in the development of free jazz, a style that emerged in the late 1950s. Coleman's "harmolodic theory" abandoned traditional harmonic patterns, allowing improvisers greater freedom to explore melodic and expressive elements. This album, recorded with trumpeter Don Cherry, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Billy Higgins, is considered a classic example of this innovative approach to jazz improvisation and structure.1

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Ornette Coleman
…Jazz to Come (1959) and Change of the Century (1960). Coleman moved to New York City, where his radical conception of structure and the urgent emotionality of his improvisations aroused widespread controversy. His recordings Free Jazz (1960), which used two simultaneously improvising jazz quartets, and Beauty Is a Rare Thing…
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…Jazz to Come (1959) and Change of the Century (1960). Coleman moved to New York City, where his radical conception of structure and the urgent emotionality of his improvisations aroused widespread controversy. His recordings Free Jazz (1960), which used two simultaneously improvising jazz quartets, and Beauty Is a Rare Thing…
Read More