From Roots to Fusion —Episode 11

Just two years after the assassination of John Kennedy, a group of musicians led by John Coltrane performed at the Newport Festival. On that stage, they broke almost all the rules of the genre. In front of thousands of fans, jazz exploded. Thus he freed himself from all his ties. “Freedom At Last”. BlackPower. A dense concoction of collective and interactive sounds. But now that jazz was free, where to go?

Some critics said: "This is not music!" However, in the background of those sounds were the cries of the preachers of the spirituals, the poetic but querulous blues of Ma Rainey and Johnny Dodds, the collective sentiment of New Orleans jazz bands, the fantastic flights of Charlie Parker and the obstinacy of Hard Bop.