Top: Bill Dixon

When free jazz hit New York City in the 1960s, there was great debate about it. Could it be considered music? Was it all randomness and spontaneity, or a real advance in the culture of music? It was radically different and unique. Dixon is a seminal figure of that movement. The trumpeter, pianist, and flugelhorn player has spent a lifetime exploring new and uncharted territories of music and sound.

Dixon organized the October Revolution in Jazz in 1964, and soon after co-founded the Jazz Composers Guild. After retiring from teaching at Bennington College in Vermont, he continued working and advancing the movement. His profession as a teacher and his unwillingness to compromise his artistic value led to relative obscurity among contemporaries like Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane. Dixon’s musical output may be small comparatively, but he is so respected and influential that many look to him as a pioneer and leader in free jazz.

“A true artist, who never sacrificed integrity for a lower form of artistry…every time I hear even one note from Bill, it is a lesson in sound and life.” - Rob Mazurek on Bill Dixon

Mazurek grew up around Chicago, rooted in the hard bop jazz of the town. The cornetist began conducting and organizing projects in the 1990s, developing into a cherished improviser. His most recent project began as an invitation by the Chicago Cultural Center and the Jazz Institute, who approached Mazurek about putting together an avant-garde jazz ensemble for a Chicago concert. The celestial entity that formed was Exploding Star Orchestra, a group of over a dozen musicians that first released We Are All from Somewhere Else (Thrill Jockey) in 2007.

That same year, Mazurek met Dixon at the Guelph International Jazz festival and soon discussed collaborating. “He attended my Sao Paulo Underground concert and was excited about the sound we were making,” says Mazurek. This led to discussions of collaboration. “I secured a spot at the Chicago Jazz festival, which made it financially possible to go ahead with the idea. Bill composed a piece and I composed a piece for this. It was quite magical.”

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Posted to Music Features on Sunday, May 11th, 2008 by Justin.