was jazz targetted to the 'head' culture in it's day?

Buick6

too punk to drunk
Whilst I have been a fan of the more 'free' jazz, I've always been curious to know whether it was marketed as head/psychedelic/stoner type music in the same way music like Pink Floyd/Velvet Underground/Sonic Youth/Eno/garage and psych punk bands/Spacemen3 /techno/lo-fi etc..etc..are?

I understand that HEROIN was quite synonymous with most of the jazz legends, but were psychedelics?

I'm mainly curious about the Impulse Label releases, I guess the Miles Davis 70s output, Don Cheery, Ornette Coleman, latter Coltrane, free-jazz but was jazz music per-se taken as a more 'head' type music IN IT'S DAY?
 

zhao

there are no accidents
there were some sleeve designs that were in the psychedelic mode

ayler_alber_albertayl_101b.jpg


but i dont think the "marketing" of freejazz was so conscious an effort on the labels part, kinda i guess because there wasn't much of a market for it!

sure it is psychedelic music but of an entirely different order than the simplistic hedonistic pleasures of acid-rock in the 60s...
 
Last edited:

slim jenkins

El Hombre Invisible
Acid, Pot or Pills? :D


As Zhao says I don't think it was consciously marketed but when Miles went electric he played the famous Rock venue The Fillmore...and what with the Ra/MC5 connection some Heads were undoubtedly exploring the outer reaches of improvisation...and probably scaring themselves to death whilst tripping to the Arkestra or Ayler...:D
 

massrock

Well-known member
I'd say of course the 'real heads' were listening to that stuff at the time. That's my impression anyway.

ESP Disk has to be most obvious link doesn't it? Definitely a 'head' label releasing lots of out there jazz.

Coltrane (and Ayler I think?) quite open about their enthusiasm for LSD from around '64 onwards weren't they? Edit- OK apparently not exactly 'open'.

Pharoah Sanders and Sun Ra of course made fantastic psychedelic music but I don't have them down as drug guys. More a pure cosmic-spiritual trip. Ra was avowedly very anti drugs. I mean you don't need drugs with Ra. He was definitely interested in getting his music to the heads though.
 
Last edited:

mms

sometimes
Whilst I have been a fan of the more 'free' jazz, I've always been curious to know whether it was marketed as head/psychedelic/stoner type music in the same way music like Pink Floyd/Velvet Underground/Sonic Youth/Eno/garage and psych punk bands/Spacemen3 /techno/lo-fi etc..etc..are?

I understand that HEROIN was quite synonymous with most of the jazz legends, but were psychedelics?

I'm mainly curious about the Impulse Label releases, I guess the Miles Davis 70s output, Don Cheery, Ornette Coleman, latter Coltrane, free-jazz but was jazz music per-se taken as a more 'head' type music IN IT'S DAY?

i'm currently discovering (by digging ) that impulse was ridiculously diverse and interesting, impulse has a lush californian hippy vibe running thru it's catalogue. It was more about the freedom of the hippy lifestyle, cosmopolitan and free than drugs perse, i think.
 
Last edited:
Top