Music by people who chose freedom. In life and in music. No compromises, no plan B.
An example.
Ornette Coleman played without chords. Not because he didn’t know them, but because they boxed him in. He didn’t abolish harmony because he couldn’t do it—he did it because it got in his way. That’s jazz: not the music. The attitude. The decision to keep playing instead of repeating yourself.
Joachim Kühn, born in 1944 in Leipzig, classically trained, on his way to becoming a concert pianist—until his brother Rolf brought him a Coltrane record from the West. From then on, jazz was his life. Kühn became the most influential pianist on the GDR scene. But a state that saw freedom as a threat was not compatible with Joachim Kühn. In 1966, he used an invitation to Vienna and didn’t return. The SED had made him swear he would come back. He swore. And left.
Ten years. Ten hours a day. Kühn prepared himself to be able to do everything—and then to forget it all. Coleman didn’t like pianists. The instrument thinks in chords, and chords were exactly what Coleman didn’t want. Kühn was one of the few he still played with. Because Kühn was ready to let go of everything.
Freedom.
“Let’s play, Ornette.”